Appeal No. 2001-2140
Application No. 09/217,484
Looney 3,148,595 Sep. 15, 1964
Nordlund 4,564,169 Jan. 14, 1986
Messina 4,949,936 Aug. 21, 1990
THE REJECTION
Claims 6 through 8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
103(a) as being unpatentable over Messina in view of Nordlund
and Looney.
Attention is directed to the appellant’s brief (Paper No.
10) and to the examiner’s answer (Paper No. 11) for the
respective positions of the appellant and the examiner with
regard to the merits of this rejection.
DISCUSSION
Messina, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses a
valve actuator 1 comprising a tubular body 2 closed at its
ends by a pair of heads, two pistons 4 and 5 respectively
bearing toothed portions, i.e., racks, 20 and 21, and a pinion
gear 22, these elements being arranged as best shown in Figure
2. The actuator also includes “end of stroke elements which
can be directly adjusted from the outside of the body 2 and
directly engage, by contact, with the pistons” (column 2,
lines 36 through 38). In Messina’s words,
3
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