Appeal No. 1999-2677
Application 08/878,769
retainer/base plate 4 does not meet the limitations in
independent claim 30 relating to the base plate side inner
face portion.
The British reference discloses “a crimped joint between
a first part having a flange and a second part having a
deformable
edge zone” (page 1, lines 6 through 8). The second part,
exemplified as the pipe-mounting base plate 2 of a heat
exchanger, includes a rectangular groove-shaped cross-section
for receiving a seal 3 and the flange 4 of the first part.
This groove-shaped cross-section comprises an inner face 13, a
lower face 14 for accommodating the seal and an outer face 15
having portions 7 adapted to be deformed or crimped over the
flange 4.
In rejecting claim 30 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a), the
examiner has determined that it would have been obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was
made “to modify [the Japanese air bag apparatus] to include a
side inner face as taught by [the British reference] in order
to form the area to capture the flange in an alternative and
structurally equivalent manner” (final rejection, pages 2 and
4
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