Appeal No. 1999-1536 Page 5
Application No. 08/938,592
However, it is the examiner's position that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art, in view of the teachings of Black, to provide Ristvedt with a shunting mechanism for
switching between a plurality of coin-collecting bags (answer, page 4). Appellants (brief, page
4) argue that "there is no apparent reason why one would want to divide coins directed to the
overflow receptacle 174 into two or more batches" and the examiner agrees (answer, page 4).
However, it is apparent to us that a shunting mechanism for dividing coins directed to the
overflow receptacle is not the modification proposed by the examiner (see answer, page 4).
Rather, the examiner's proposed modification is directed to provision of a shunting mechanism
for diverting sorted coins of a given denomination between a plurality of coin-collecting bags
(212, for example) so that "the machine can continue operating when the target count is
reached because the coins are shunted to a second bag" (answer, page 5).
Black discloses a centrifugal coin sorter comprising a stationary table 4 and a rotating
disc 16 and unitary outer disc member 38 provided with a plurality of radially extending
channels 46 through which coins move by centrifugal acceleration due to rotation of the discs.
Each of the channels 46 is provided with one straight side and a plurality of pins 64. The pins
are so spaced from the straight sides that the innermost pin will engage and arrest the largest
coin, while the next smaller coin 68 continues radially therepast but is arrested by the next pin
64. The smaller the coin, the farther outwardly it will move in a channel 46 before being
arrested by a pin 64 corresponding to the denomination of that coin (column 3, lines 27-34).
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