Appeal No. 2001-2140
Application No. 09/217,484
inward displacement of the pistons. Representative claim 6
reads as follows:
6. A device for adjusting a central position of pistons
and, accordingly, an angular position of a pinion in valve
controlling actuators comprising a tubular body, in which
first and second pistons are tightly slidably arranged, said
first and second pistons being provided with opposite racks
meshing with a central pinion, said central pinion being
adapted to turn through discrete angles, said device further
comprising limiting means, accessible from an outside of said
tubular body, for limiting the displacement of one of said
pistons toward said pinion, wherein said limiting means
comprise first limit means for limiting an inward displacement
of one of said pistons, said first limit means including a
stem having an unthreaded portion tightly passing via a gasket
through said one piston and an adjoining threaded portion
which can be engaged in a threaded seat formed in a recess of
a head of the actuator, said unthreaded portion being provided
with an enlarged head portion which can abut against an inner
surface of said one piston. 1
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied on by the examiner to support the
final rejection are:
1Given the context of claim 1, the reference in its
preamble to “valve controlling actuators” should instead be to
-–a valve controlling actuator–-. Also, the recitation in
claim 8 that “said limiting means,” defined in parent claim 6
as being a means for limiting piston displacement “toward” the
pinion, further comprises a second limit means for limiting
“outward” piston displacement is inconsistent with the
underlying disclosure which indicates that the means for
respectively limiting inward (toward the pinion) and outward
piston displacement are separate and distinct structures.
2
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