Ex parte CHEESEMAN - Page 3


          Appeal No. 1998-2558                                                        
          Application No. 08/744,894                                                  


               We reverse the aforementioned rejection.                               
               The examiner characterizes the teachings of Machida as                 
          follows:                                                                    
               Machida et al. disclose the use of a tubular plastic                   
               housing having uniform wall thickness, with endcaps                    
               having terminals for electrical connection to an                       
               external device, and housing openings which allow                      
               cells to be guided along the interior cavity of the                    
               closely conforming walls.  Embodiments of this tubular                 
               plastic housing may have either one (Figure 7) or two                  
               (Figure 1) substantially flat wall surfaces.  The                      
               Machida et al. reference differs from claims 1, 4, and                 
               7 in that it fails to disclose the use of a plastic                    
               extrusion process.  [Examiner's answer, pp. 4-5.]                      
               To account for the limitation in appealed claim 1 that the             
          tubular, plastic, sleeve-shaped housing is "formed by a process             
          consisting of extrusion," the examiner relies on the teachings              
          of Stutzbach.  Specifically, the examiner states:                           
               Stutzbach et al., however, disclose the manufacture of                 
               a battery casing wherein they make use of an                           
               "...extruded tubular member of preferable rectangular                  
               cross section having upper and lower ends."  See                       
               column 4, lines 25-35.  This tubular member is of                      
               uniform wall thickness, serving to "reduce the overall                 
               weight of the casing and to minimize material costs."                  
               [Id. at p. 5.]                                                         
               The examiner then concludes:                                           
               It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in                 
               the art at the time the invention was made to utilize                  
               an extrusion method like that of Stutzbach et al. in                   
               order to reduce the weight, cost, and complexity of                    
               fabricating a casing like that of Machida et al.                       
               [Id.]                                                                  


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