Appeal No. 1999-0525
Application 08/590,859
to a speed sensor ring (column 3, lines 15 through 25) that
includes the feature of an annular toothed ring 38 (a magnetic
rotor) formed out of a non-metallic molded elastomer material
having the same formula as a sealing member 30. The ring 38
can be molded concurrently with the molding of the sealing
member 30 using a single elastomer formulation and single mold
cavity to produce the sealing member and the toothed ring in a
single molding operation. Figure 1 of Hixson, II is described
by the patentee as depicting a toothed rotor constituting an
integral part of the seal assembly (column 2, lines 42, 43).
Once again, it is our viewpoint that one having ordinary skill
in the art would have
understood the ring 38 and sealing member 30 of Hixson, II as
distinct entities, notwithstanding the teaching that they are
concurrently formed from the same material, and in a single
molding operation to form the integral arrangement of Fig. 1,
for example. As readily discernible from Fig. 1 of Hixson,
II, the ring and sealing member are clearly spaced from one
another.
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