Appeal No. 1999-1531
Application No. 08/675,912
and the prior art to ascertain whether the subject matter as a
whole "would have been" obvious.
We turn now to the examiner’s evidence of obviousness.
The patent to Threefoot teaches (page 5, lines 37 through
95) a conveyor system that includes (Figs. 3A, 4) a stop or
detent roller 86 biased by compression springs into the path
of oncoming boxes or cases. When current passes through a
solenoid 93, an armature 92 is pulled down removing the roller
86 from the path of the boxes or cases, thereby permitting a
box to roll downwardly onto a conveyor 17. As we see it, one
having ordinary skill in the art would not have discerned from
the overall teaching of Threefoot that the roller 86 was
capable of being depressed by the force of a box or case
acting thereon.
The Carlson patent discloses (column 5, line 36 to column
6, line 37) an integrated buffing and grinding system that
includes a pallet stopping device 64 comprising a cylinder 67
6
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