Appeal No. 1997-3515
Application No. 08/390,226
inside a controlled atmosphere housing. The carrier, the
track and the other magnetic levitation elements are located
outside of the housing. The magnetic means does not propel
the carrier; its purpose is only to levitate the pallet. No
discontinuous track segments are disclosed, nor are a
plurality of housings and valves between housings with one
track segment being associated with each housing. From our
perspective, then, Kita would not have taught one of ordinary
skill in the art to propel a wheeled carriage by magnetic
means along a segmented track through housings by means of a
system in which one magnetic element is located within the
housing and the other outside the housing.
Nor is the rejection rescued by adding the teachings of
Kawaguchi. This reference is directed to a compound motor
drive system in which a wheeled carrier moving on a track is
swiftly driven to a new station and coarsely positioned
thereat by means of a linear motor, before being precisely
positioned by a step motor. The extent of its applicable
teachings is that one of the elements of a magnetic drive
motor can be on a wheeled carrier. The mere fact that
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