Appeal No. 1999-1785
Application No. 08/512,656
35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being clearly anticipated by Bechman.
We note that claim 20 requires that the “internal member is
substantially solid.” This claim appears to be directed to
the embodiment of appellant’s invention seen in Figure 7 of
the application, where the internal member 32" is shown to be
a solid shaft. In looking at the bearing assembly of Bechman,
we see an internal member 18 having an internal pocket or
chamber 21. It appears to us that the internal member of
Bechman is not “substantially solid”, as required by
appellant’s claim 20 on appeal. We must agree with appellant
that a “substantially solid” internal member does not appear
in Bechman (brief, page 8). Since each and every feature of
appellant’s claim 20 is not explicitly or inherently shown in
Bechman, we will, therefore, not sustain the examiner’s
rejection of claim 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b).
We next review the examiner’s rejection of claim 17 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Totten. Claim
17 recites that:
said seal member includes a seal body and a seal lip
and wherein said seal body seats against said
12
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