Appeal No. 1996-1300
Application No. 08/076,722
The issue before us is whether Fukumoto discloses all of
the features of claim 7 on appeal, including the function of
the "link, slot, extending pin, worm gear and worm" to "hold
the manual locking lever in the locked position". It is the
examiner's position that "appellants' reliance on an
unrealistic and narrow definition of 'held' to distinguish
their invention over the prior art is unsustainable. The
link, slot, worm gear and worm of Fukumoto 'holds' the manual
locking lever in locked position when an external force is
applied and prevents it from moving from the locked position
since the link is misaligned with projection 7 on lever 3
resulting in an idling movement of the link, slot and
extending pin" (answer, page 7). We disagree.
A door lock with elements corresponding to the elements
of appellants' claim 7 is disclosed by Fukumoto, including
housing 2, electric motor 26 (figs. 9 & 12), worm 27, worm
gear 18, lever 5 (corresponding to appellants' link), lever 30
(corresponding to appellants' manual locking lever) and a pin
which slides in the slot in lever 5. The door lock device "in
FIG. 1 is in a locked condition" (col. 4, line 1). The
transition to the unlocked condition of figure 2 is described
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