Appeal No. 1997-4111 Page 10 Application No. 08/540,947 Claim 7 reads as follows: A mold venting plug in the form of an elongated rod, comprising a side surface between two ends, a molding surface at one end, at least one groove formed in the side surface, each such groove extending from the end opposite the molding surface to a point spaced apart from the molding surface, the side surface at said one surface being without grooves, and complementary to the surrounding surface defining the hole.3 Cain discloses a mold vent plug. Figure 1 of Cain shows a fragment of a mold 10 for molding a tire at the molding surface 12 having a bore 14 therein with a counterbore 16 at the molding surface 12 thereof. A gap 18 is formed between the counterbore 16 and a vent plug 20 inserted in the bore 14 of the mold. As illustrated in Figure 2, the plug 20 has an axis hole 22 plugged at the molding surface end of the plug 20. The hole 22 ends in the head portion 24 of the vent plug 20 which has an enlarged diameter head for press fitting into a straight bore in the mold. The straight bore 14 in the mold is counterbored as at 16 to form the gap 18 between the mold 3There is no proper antecedent basis in claim 7 for either "the surrounding surface" or "the hole."Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007