Appeal No. 98-1457 Page 15
Application No. 08/530,006
Thus, Hynds may be fairly viewed as teaching that the Fig. 3
cross-sectional shape for the suspension link 12 is merely
exemplary, and that other cross sectional shapes may be
employed for a vehicle wheel suspension link so long as they
adequately take into account the strength and resistance
requirements of the link.
From my perspective, the basic engineering knowledge of
the strength characteristics of an I-shaped cross-sectional
configuration, the above-noted teaching of Hynds, and the
teachings of Schlechtendahl regarding the use of an I-shaped
cross sectional configuration in a connecting rod are 3
sufficient to establish prima facie that it would have been
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the automotive vehicle
suspension art to provide the intermediate section of
Crandall's suspension link with an I-shaped cross-sectional
configuration in order to take advantage of the well known
strength characteristics such a configuration provides. This
view is bolstered by the circumstance that there is nothing in
3The claimed "vehicular wheel suspension link" is merely
a special purpose connecting rod.
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