Appeal No. 1997-4445
Application 08/305,076
including the three time periods 7(i), 7(ii), and 7(iii) when
the enable signal is first restored.
Claim 8 recites "controlling said exciting current
supplying circuit, when the exciting current is applied to
said stepping motor during an enable excitation time interval
beginning from application of said step signal [to perform
functions (i), (ii), and (iii)]" (emphasis added). As noted
at oral hearing, the underlined limitation is intended to
refer to the interval (see the modified copy of Figure 6)
including the three time periods 8(i), 8(ii), and 8(iii)
between the time the enable signal +STACT is restored and the
time it is terminated.
Against this background of what is intended to be
claimed, we begin our claim interpretation.
The first interpretation involves the "exciting time
period" limitations in functions (i), (ii), and (iii) of
claims 6-8. This language does not clearly refer to the
"enable excitation time interval," but the limitations seem
related. We interpret an "exciting time period" to refer to a
time period during which the exciting current enable signal is
ON. This is consistent with the arguments in the brief (e.g.,
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