Appeal No. 99-0622 Page 3
Application No. 08/637,717
BACKGROUND
The appellant's invention relates to a fall arrest
apparatus to be worn by workers at risk of falling from a
structure such as a tree, pole or building. The apparatus
utilizes support straps having connections to a harness or
belt worn by the user which rupture upon application of a
force exceeding a threshold level to sever any connections
between the strap and locations on the harness or belt
disposed at or below the waist of the worker. An
understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading
of exemplary claims 25, 42 and 52, which appear in the
appendix to the appellant's brief.4
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Dalmaso 4,253,544 Mar. 3, 1981
Leach 5,325,818 Jul. 5, 1994
(filed Aug. 4, 1993)
Brda 3,604,973 Aug. 20, 1987
4The copy of claim 52 in the appendix to appellant's brief contains two
minor errors relative to claim 52 as amended in Paper No. 11. Specifically,
the phrase "adapted to be" has inadvertently been inserted in line 9 instead
of line 12.
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