Appeal No. 2000-0511
Application No. 08/758,343
extend the gripping assembly 16 and gripping element 34 toward the gripping assembly 15.
When the implement is moved downward over a can of greater diameter than the clearance
between the gripping element 34 and gripping assembly 15, the upper rim of the can will
engage the underside of the body 35 to swing the element 34 upward to its inoperative position
shown in Figure 2. The can is then gripped directly between the gripping assemblies 15, 16 by
depressing the actuating member 14.
Independent claim 1 requires (1) a clamping member which is both "designed to at least
partly surround and grip an article" and "adjustable to the size of the article" and (2) an
anchoring member "designed to abut and stabilize the article" and movable from a retracted
position to an extended position "independently of said clamping member" (emphasis ours).
We construe this language as requiring that the anchoring member be capable of abutting and
stabilizing the same article which the clamping member is capable of at least partly surrounding
and gripping. In other words, a device having a clamping member which is capable of
gripping an article of a first type, but incapable of gripping an article of a second type, and an
anchoring member which is capable of abutting and stabilizing an article of the second type
only, would not meet the limitations of claim 1. For the reasons which follow, we conclude
that Blue cannot be construed so as to meet both limitation (1) and limitation (2).
At the outset, we agree with the appellant, for the reasons stated on page 8 of the brief,
that, notwithstanding that the support portion 11 of Blue is made of spring steel, it is not
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