Appeal No. 1997-0961
Application No. 08/254,654
of the answer, it does not necessarily follow that all closed loop control circuits necessarily have
comparator and deviation control circuits corresponding to appellants= claimed comparator
means and deviation control means. In fact, Fales discloses a closed loop valve control circuit
which lacks a comparator. In Fales valve control circuit, the LVDT (80, 81, 83) has a movable
spool 75 attached to the valve member 68 to produce a signal that is representative of the valve
position. The LVDT signal is rectified by a rectifier circuit 87, and the rectified LVDT signal is
fed back by circuit connections to adjust the power applied to energize the valve=s solenoid
coil 78.
In view of the foregoing, the examiner has not made a sufficient factual showing or
advanced sufficient technical reasoning to support his position of inherency about the
comparator means. Based on the prior art applied by the examiner we are therefore
constrained to reverse his decision rejecting appealed claims 2 through 11.
On remand to the examiner, the examiner should give due consideration to the following
matters.
First, the examiner should review the U.S. Patent No. 4,790,511 issued to Norbert
Gehrig et al. and possibly other patents of record in the file wrapper for supporting an art
rejection under 35 U.S.C. ' 102(b) or ' 103. In the Gehrig patent, a comparator circuit 7
(called an amplifier) compares a signal representing the desired valve position with a feedback
signal representing the actual valve position to produce an error signal that is used to control the
current supplied to energize the valve control solenoid 6. See
column 2, lines 25-37, of the Gehrig specification.
The second matter requiring the examiner=s attention relates to the recitation in claim 2
of Aelectronic input signals@ in the plural and Aelectronic feedback signals@ in the plural. In
contrast, appellants= summary of the invention on page 2 of the brief refers to an Ainput
4
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