Appeal No. 1999-0346 Page 7
Application No. 08/760,683
Claims 1 through 8 recite a bushing which includes
a first and second elastomeric member, said
elastomeric members shaped in a complementary manner and
compressively preloaded to fill an annular space between
the sleeve and the jacket so that the sleeve and the
jacket are substantially coaxial when the bushing is in a
substantially unloaded condition;
wherein the first and second elastomeric members
each have a spring rate such that the bushing has a first
spring rate when measured in a first radial direction and
a second spring rate when measured in a second radial
direction offset one hundred and eighty degrees from the
first radial direction.
Claims 9 and 10 recite a suspension system having a bushing
which includes
a first and second elastomeric member, the
elastomeric members shaped in a complementary manner and
compressively preloaded to fill an annular space between
the sleeve and the jacket so that the sleeve and the
jacket are substantially coaxial when the bushing is
substantially unloaded;
said suspension system characterized by a first
spring rate when measured in a first radial direction and
a second spring rate when measured in a second radial
direction offset one hundred and eighty degrees from the
first radial direction.
However, these limitations of claims 1 through 10 are not
suggested by the applied prior art. In that regard, while
Damon does teach a suspension system which includes a bushing
characterized by a first spring rate when measured in a first
radial direction and a second spring rate when measured in a
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