Appeal No. 1998-2945 Page 9
Application No. 08/624,734
First, the phrase "said power cylinder" in claim 1, lines
11-12, and claim 2, lines 10-11, lacks antecedent basis.
While claims 1 and 2 have previously recited "power cylinder
piston," "power cylinder housing," and "cylinder," it is not
clear that "said power cylinder" was intended to refer back to
any of those terms. In that regard, we note from Figures 1
and 2, that the power shaft 44 extends out of one end of the
cylinder 32 for connection to the mechanism being operated
(see page 4, lines 24-25, of the specification). Accordingly,
the examiner should determine if the lack of antecedent basis
for "said power cylinder" in claim 1 and claim 2 renders
claims 1 and 2, and claims dependent thereon, indefinite under
35 U.S.C. § 112, 2¶.
Second, the two position valve clause in claim 7 (see
lines 7-12) contains an error. Specifically, the two position
valve clause recites that the "one end" of the power cylinder
housing is connected to the working fluid exhaust in both
positions (i.e., the one position and the second position) of
the two position valve. As shown in Figure 1, in one position
of the valve 24, the discharge line 20 is connected to the
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