Ex parte ROMAN - Page 5




                 Appeal No. 2000-1479                                                                                     Page 5                        
                 Application No. 08/915,355                                                                                                             


                 substantially continuously laterally across the width of the                                                                           
                 bag splitter assembly.2                                                                                                                


                          Roman's invention is directed to a bag splitter assembly                                                                      
                 for tearing open conveyed bags containing municipal solid                                                                              
                 waste and emptying the contents therefrom.  As shown in                                                                                
                 Figures 2 and 3, the bag splitter assembly comprises a series                                                                          
                 of pivotally mounted splitter blades 36 and 36' which are                                                                              
                 located above a bag transporting conveyor 30.  Confronting                                                                             
                 serrated edges 48 and 48' of the splitter blades tear open the                                                                         
                 conveyed bags while the trailing edges of the blades contain                                                                           



                          2The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)                                                                        
                 applies to the verbiage of the claims before it the broadest                                                                           
                 reasonable meaning of the words in their ordinary usage as                                                                             
                 they would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art,                                                                          
                 taking into account whatever enlightenment by way of                                                                                   
                 definitions or otherwise that may be afforded by the written                                                                           
                 description contained in the appellant's specification.  In re                                                                         
                 Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027 (Fed. Cir.                                                                           
                 1997).  See also In re Sneed, 710 F.2d 1544, 1548, 218 USPQ                                                                            
                 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983).  In this case, it is our                                                                                    
                 determination that the term "horizontally-disposed" as used in                                                                         
                 the claims under appeal would be understood by one of ordinary                                                                         
                 skill in the art to mean that the canard-like blades which are                                                                         
                 disposed substantially continuously laterally across the width                                                                         
                 of the bag splitter assembly lie in a plane more horizontal                                                                            
                 than vertical.                                                                                                                         







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