Appeal No. 2000-1971
Application No. 09/002,537
Floe pertains to a trailer and tongue structure
comprising a tongue 42 of extruded aluminum (col. 5, lines 27-
39) having a cross section as shown in Figure 2. Floe
describes the cross section shape of the tongue as follows:
Tongue 42 has an upper generally rectangular portion
with a support surface 70 that is about 3.0 inches
in width, and a lower approximately oval portion,
separated by walls 72 and 74 to form channels 50 and
51. The lower oval shaped portion and the
longitudinal ridges are designed to provide
strength. [Col. 5, lines 45-50.]
An objective of Floe’s invention is the provision of an
improved trailer tongue “that allows cooperation with a
vehicle-mounted hitch assembly to maximize the permissible
angle between the tongue and the hitch assembly” (col. 2,
lines 47-50). To this end,
{t]he tongue structure [42] has a predetermined
cross-sectional shape with opposed longitudinally
extending channels [50, 51] arranged to cooperate
with the support structure [120 in Figure 9] of the
vehicle-mounted hitch to minimize unwanted contact
between the tongue and the support structure to
avoid damage to the tongue or the hitch. [Col. 3,
lines 26-33.]
See also col. 6, lines 54-68 and Figure 9 for a further
explanation of how channels 50, 51 achieve this objective.
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