Appeal No. 2000-1465 Page 3
Application No. 09/037,485
The appellant’s invention is directed to improvements in strainer assemblies in
which the flange assembly that extends around the opening in the basin can be replaced
when it becomes damaged or discolored without replacing the entire strainer assembly.
Claim 5 reads as follows:
5. A strainer assembly for bathtub drains and the like, comprising,
a strainer assembly having a circular horizontal flange with a center opening
adapted to fit over and around a vertically disposed drain port in the bottom of a fluid
receptacle,
a hollow bushing extension extending downwardly from said center opening and
terminating in an open lower portion with external threads,
a hollow attachment bushing having a center opening threadably secured around
said lower portion of said bushing extension and extending downwardly therefrom, said
attachment bushing having a lower open end with at least one crossbar extending
thereacross,
a bearing hub formed in the center of said crossbar on the center axis of said
center openings, and
a vertically disposed threaded aperture in said hub to threadably receive a
threaded connecting stud from a closure valve,
the attachment bushing having both internal and external threads positioned directly
opposite each other on inner and outer internal and external surfaces thereof with the
internal threads threadably receiving the external threads on the open lower portion of the
bushing extension.
It is the examiner’s view that all of the subject matter rejected in this claim is
disclosed in Bergin, except for the separate bushing extension. However, the examiner is
of the opinion that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the
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