Appeal No. 1999-1765 Page 21
Application No. 08/839,193
threadedly engaged with the tie plate, be of an
increased diameter as a substitute for welding a
sleeve to this end of the tube and have the sleeve
be threadedly engaged with the tie plate, because
such amounts to no more than the use of art
recognized alternatives (answer, page 10).
Because the rod 12, 26 of Jabsen does not directly threadedly
attach to grid 13, nor is it “capable” of being directly
threadedly attached to grid 13, we can find no incentive or
motivation in the prior art references relied upon that would
have led one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the
invention was made to have modified Jabsen in view of the
teachings of Meier in the manner suggested by the examiner.
The examiner additionally argues (answer, page 10) that
[a]lternatively, it would have been prima facie
obvious to have modified Meier et al by having the
tube or water rod extend through the tie plate a
sufficient distance to allow the end cap to be
attached thereto, externally of the tie plate,
because such is no more than a known alternative as
evidenced by the teachings thereof in Jabsen.
We are unpersuaded by this argument. In that regard, we
note that Meier does not provide an end cap on rod 9, but the
rod is instead abutted by nut 10 inside the threaded opening
21a of plate 5. Meier additionally lacks a tube which extends
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