Appeal No. 99-0228
Application No. 08/721,504
This is an appeal from the decision of the examiner
finally rejecting claims 1-16, which constitute all of the
claims of record in the application.
The appellant's invention is directed to a hole cutting
apparatus (claims 1-12) and method (claims 13-16). The
invention is illustrated by reference to claims 1 and 13,
which read as follow:
1. A hole cutting apparatus, comprising:
a hollow tube having:
a distal end terminating in a cutting edge;
a proximal end;
a lumen, extending between said distal and proximal
ends, said lumen being of smaller diameter near said
distal end than at said proximal end; and
ejection means constructed and arranged for urging a
slug of material cut by said hollow tube from a piece of
said material and lodged in said distal end towards said
proximal end.
13. In the method of cutting a hole in material having a
thickness by forcing the distal end of a hollow cutting tube
having distal and proximal ends through said material to
remove a discard slug having said thickness of said material,
removing said tube from said material, and ejecting said slug
from said tube, the improvement comprising:
providing said cutting tube in the form of a hollow tube
having a lumen, extending between said distal and proximal
ends, said lumen being of smaller diameter near said distal
end than at said proximal end; and
2
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