Appeal No. 1999-1165 Page 5
Application No. 08/753,174
stated on page 6 of the Answer, or that the Vollers wrench is capable of operating in the
manner required in the closing lines of claim 1, which is implicit in the examiner’s rationale.
As we stated above, the objective of the appellants’ invention is to solve problems
which exist in the field of plumbing drain line connections. From our perspective, the
preamble of claim 1 establishes this environment as a part of the claim, that is, that the
wrench is for rotating a plastic slip nut relative to drain line components that are axially
opposed, are tubular, and have a diameter of greater than one inch. We share the
appellants’ opinion that without consideration of the words in the preamble, the relationship
between the various elements of the invention that is set forth in the last seven lines of the
claim, requiring that there be a “neutral condition” in which ends of the body portion and
that the inner surfaces of the handles are spaced apart “a given distance” which, along with
the resiliency of the polymeric material, allow the handles and the body portion to be
“moved laterally onto said one drain line component,” would be meaningless.
Vollers discloses a wrench for removing the top from a soda bottle or the like. Its
general shape has some commonality with the shape of the claimed wrench, in that it
comprises a C-shaped resilient body portion that terminates in first and second spaced
apart end portions, from which extend first and second legs, and the inner surface of the
body portion is provided with surfaces for engaging the cap of the bottle. However, there
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