Appeal No. 1998-0146
Application 08/407,058
motor in both directions while cleaning because this would
"wear the cleaning member and clean the objective lens more
evenly, providing longevity for the cleaning disk" (FR4;
EA5).
Appellants argue that Nonaka cannot be relied on
because Nonaka does not disclose wear of the cleaning member
(Br23). It is also argued that Nonaka is directed to a
floating head where the data disk is cleaned by reversing
the direction of rotation whereas in the claimed invention
the lens is cleaned by direct contact (Br24). Therefore,
Appellants argue, it is improper for the Examiner to rely on
a motivation to combine based on wear (Br25).
The Examiner responds that Nonaka teaches the
advantages of having a reversing motor control which would
have suggested applying this kind of control to Yamamoto to
facilitate proper cleaning of the objective lens (EA10).
This is a close question of obviousness. We agree with
Appellants that Nonaka is irrelevant to the problem of
cleaning an objective lens. Nonaka teaches reversing a
motor, but it does so to clean the record head and surface
of a magnetic disk. We find no logical reason why one of
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