Appeal No. 1999-0635 9
Application No. 08/688,825
otherwise unobstructed opening of said door . . . while
leaving an upper portion of the opening unobstructed" as
required by all of the independent claims.
Hutchinson discloses a guard (7) comprised of "wire mesh
or the like" for use with a conventional toggle-joint elevator
guard gate (5) of the 1920's. The outer edge of the guard (7)
is bound by means of a strip (10), which is attached to the
outer edge of the guard gate (5) by means of rivets or the
like. The opposite end of the guard (7) is secured to a
roller (13) provided at the bottom with a spindle (14)
rotatably mounted in a bracket (15) carried by the elevator
wall. A coiled spring is provided in the roller (13) to hold
the guard in tension such that it unwinds when the guard gate
(5) is closed and re-winds when the gate is opened, without
any additional effort by the elevator operator. The purpose
of the guard (7) is to prevent umbrellas, canes and the like
from becoming jammed within the toggle-joints of the gate
(page 1, lines 91-101).
It is the examiner's position that it would have been
obvious to use Hutchinson's open mesh (7) attached to and
stored on a roller (13) "in lieu of the extensible doorway as
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