Appeal No. 2000-2116 Page 6
Application No. 09/246,460
in the rear wall of the receptacle in order to support and cause to operate a rotating
spreader element 40. As a consequence of this arrangement, feedgate 58 cannot be
moved to a closed position “substantially preventing” material from passing through the
opening, as is required by claim 76, for it cannot be lowered beyond the level of screw
conveyor shaft 16, and thus leaves an opening equal in height to the radius of the screw.
Park discloses a manure spreader having a rear wall (tailgate) that is rotatable
between a closed position and an open position. While the rear wall does not have an
opening through which material flows, the examiner apparently is of the view that the
tailgate constitutes a rotatable “feedgate,” to use the language of the appellants’ claims.
The base of the receptacle is provided with a conveyor to move the manure to a rotating
spreading device at the rear of the receptacle. The tailgate is mounted on the same axis
as the spreading device, which is spaced above the base of the receptacle. The tailgate is
movable between a closed position in which it prevents material from exiting the
receptacle and a non-regulation (open) position where the material is allowed to
substantially freely flow from the receptacle. While not preferred, it would appear that the
tailgate also can be placed in an intermediate position where it would regulate the flow of
material from the receptacle (see page 2, lines 54-61, and note the unnumbered securing
notches on rack 75 in Figure 4).
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