Appeal No. 98-1523 Page 9
Application No. 08/705,744
Claims 21, 22 and 26 recite a clip pin extending from the
seal surface. The examiner is of the opinion that projection
73 depicted in Fig. 4a is a clip pin. We do not agree. The
College Standard Dictionary, at 861 defines a pin as “a short
stiff piece of wire, with a sharp point and a rounded, usually
flattened head.” In our view a person skilled in the art
would not consider the projection 73 to be a pin. Therfore,
we will not sustain the rejection as it is directed to claims
21, 22 and 26.
We turn next to the examiner’s rejection of claims 18,
20, 23 through 25 and 27 as unpatentable as anticipated by
Radosav. In the examiner’s opinion, Radosav discloses all
features of the claimed invention as illustrated in Figs 2, 4a
and 9. The examiner specifically points to clips 36, 60 and
60'.
The appellant argues that Radosav does not disclose
“clips” but plates. The appellant also argues that the plates
have no radial extensions and that Radosav does not disclose
clip pins.
As is depicted in Fig. 2, Radosav discloses an element 36
between the stationary seal component (40) and bolts to hold
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