Appeal No. 1998-3369
Application No. 08/546,295
to a second predetermined position (i.e., the parked
position). Nakatsu's applied voltage varies according to the
position of the actuator. As indicated by the examiner
(Answer, page 4), Nakatsu does not teach using a plurality of
discrete voltage levels.
Onodera, on the other hand, discloses applying a retract
signal to the actuator and then repeatedly detecting the
position of the actuator and increasing the current if the
actuator has not yet reached the landing zone (or parked
position). The purpose of Onodera's retraction method is to
insure that a strong enough drive force is delivered for the
actuator to reach the parked position without the drive force
being so strong that the actuator forcibly collides with a
stopper (see column 2, lines 42-50).
The examiner indicates (Answer, page 4) that it would
have been obvious to apply Onodera's method of retracting the
actuator to Nakatsu's disc drive to insure that the actuator
reaches the parked position without crashing into the crash
stop. We need not determine the obviousness of combining the
two references, as even if one skilled in the art would have
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