Appeal No. 2000-1667 Page 8
Application No. 09/071,305
It would have been obvious in view of these
teachings of Bach et al, to resurface a
gravel road using stones recovered by the
apparatus of Henthorn et al in order to
provide a productive use of the gravel, and
to simultaneously provide a road that
drains well. [Examiner's Answer at page 7].
Appellant argues that Henthorn does not disclose the step
of separating coarse material from fine material such that
coarse material is deposited on top of fine material.
Bach discloses a method and apparatus for processing
ballast which includes the steps of removing ballast from the
crib between track ties (Col. 1, lines 15-19). The ballast is
separated from the dirt and returned to the track. The dirt
is sent to a dirt bin 70 (Col. 4, lines 25-28).
Henthorn discloses a farm tractor field stone collection
implement which collects field stones and dumps the stones at
a non-cultivated site (Col. 2, lines 51-54).
We agree with the appellant that neither Henthorn nor
Bach discloses the step of “separating course material from
the fine material such that coarse material is deposited on
top of fine material” as recited in claim 18. Bach discloses
that the large ballast material is removed from the field, the
dirt is removed from the ballast and the ballast is returned
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