Appeal No. 2001-0738
Application No. 08/953,606
frame or frame rails whatsoever. As to Wallace, while this
reference does indeed disclose a frame comprising frame rails
having a downwardly sloping intermediate section between a front
section and a mid section, there is no teaching of a subframe
having vertical attachment members, much less any teaching of
vertically extending rear attachment members attached to the
downwardly sloping intermediate sections of the frame rails.
Concerning Mukai, the frame rails 13 thereof do not include a
downwardly sloping intermediate section connecting a front
section and a mid section. Rather, as can be seen in Figure 4,
the frame rails 13 of Mukai are straight, at least in the area
of concern at the location where the suspension cross member 17
is mounted.
From our perspective, the only suggestion to combine
selected elements of the Ni, Wallace and Mukai references in a
manner that results in a frame assembly wherein a vertically
extending rear attachment of a subframe is attached to a
downwardly sloping intermediate section of a frame rail, as
called for in claim 12, is found in the luxury of hindsight
accorded one who first viewed appellants’ disclosure. This, of
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