Appeal No. 2000-0499
Application 08/716,431
light of the remarks of the appellant and the examiner. As a
result of this review, we have reached the determination that
the applied prior art of Coleman is anticipatory to
appellant's claim 6 and the applied prior art of Coleman and
De Groot establishes a prima facie case of obviousness with
respect to claims 1 through 5. Inasmuch as the prima facie
obviousness of claims 1 through 5 has not been rebutted by
additional evidence from the appellant, we will affirm both
the rejection of claim 6 and the rejection of claims 1 through
5. Our reasons follow.
Coleman discloses in col. 11 and Fig. 19 a clamping strap
for a bulk material container which releases from sealing
engagement the top plate 156 from the container when excessive
internal force is applied to the top plate. The level of
internal pressure at which the clamp releases sealing
engagement from the container can be adjusted by lock nuts 191
and 192. Thus, Coleman discloses a clamp that can release the
cover from sealing engagement with a container at a
predetermined level.
On page 5 of the brief, appellant first argues that
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