Appeal No. 1997-3965
Application No. 08/389,069
skew angle. Since Yamada has a constant skew angle, no
selection of an appropriate track is required. Applying the
teachings of Yamada to the combination discussed above, there
is no motivation in any of the references to select a track
where the skew angle is non-zero, so that the rails can be
aligned at that skew angle and the slider body can be aligned
parallel to the tangent to the track.
The examiner relies on Toensing's slider body being parallel
to an intermediate track, but the application of Kuroda and
Ono eliminates Toensing's angular relationship, and no
reference teaches a reason to reestablish a zero degree angle
between the slider body and the intermediate track.
Accordingly, we agree with appellant that the examiner lacks
the motivation to maintain the angular relationship between
the slider body and the tangent to an intermediate track.
We note that were we to apply the teachings of Yamada to
Toensing first, before applying Kuroda and Ono, we would reach
the same conclusion. Toensing has the rails and slider body
at a zero degree angle to the tangent to an intermediate
track. Yamada teaches obliquely aligning the rails on the
slider body at the skew angle so as to orient the slider
9
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007