Appeal No. 1998-3300
Application 08/722,907
material from which the seal is formed, the annular rim being generally planar so that the plane of the
annular rim can be oriented generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of a marker casing of a
marking instrument into which the seal is to be incorporated,
a concave sealing disk attached to and extending over a circular area defined within the internal
diameter of the annular rim, a cross-section of the concave sealing disk being in the form of an arc, the
arc having an apex orientable toward an interior of a marker instrument casing into which the seal is
incorporated, the concave sealing disk further comprising a full diameter slit through a radial center and
cross-section of the disk, cooperative sealing disk halves on either side of the full diameter slit, the
cooperative sealing disk halves having lateral sealing surfaces which are substantially flush along an
entire length of the slit when the disk is in a sealed configuration, the cooperative sealing disk halves
being deflectable to a non-concave configuration by a marker nib which is linearly advanced from an
interior of a marking instrument into the seal, contacting the seal approximately at the apex, and the
cooperative sealing disk halves being returnable to a sealed concave configuration with the lateral
sealing surfaces in substantially flush contact upon retraction of a marker nib through the slit and out of
contact with the sealing disk halves.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the appealed claims
are:
Hoffman 261,457 July 18, 1882
Kroutl 1,541,826 June 16, 1925
Lai 5,092,701 Mar. 3, 1992
Bross 1561812 Apr. 2, 1970
(German Patent)
Di Silvestro 6122885 Aug. 31, 1979
(Swiss Patent)
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