Appeal No. 2000-1632
Application No. 09/055,308
Rumsey’s damper may be fairly regarded as being formed along a
circumference of the device. Third, claims 1 and 10 merely call
for the ball receiving groove to be formed along “a
circumference” (as opposed to “the circumference”) of a
turntable, with the clear implication being that the turntable
may have more than one circumferential boundary. Fourth, and
most importantly, the Rumsey reference itself describes the
bearing tracks of the damper as being “at a circumference” of
the inertia member 12 and “at a circumference” of the chamber 15
(column 3, lines 26-29).
Appellants argue (main brief, page 6) that Rumsey’s
“mixture” of plastic bearing balls and steel spheres is never
described as having the plastic balls and steel spheres in an
alternate, or every other, type of arrangement. We acknowledge
that Rumsey never uses the word “alternate” to describe the
arrangement of bearing balls and spacer elements; however, that
fact is not dispositive. For the reasons articulated supra in
the findings of fact portion of this decision, we are of the
opinion that an artisan would have viewed the disclosure of
Rumsey as teaching an arrangement of plastic bearing balls and
steel spheres wherein the balls and spheres alternate.
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