Appeal No. 1998-3423 Page 3
Application No. 08/584,962
handles. As illustrated in the drawings, the handles and the jaws are connected together
by pivots such that they are movable in the same direction with respect to one another
between a nested position and a deployed position (Figures 4-6). The pivot axes are
oriented at angles to each other, so that during the final phase of rotation of the jaws into
the nested position (Figures 5 and 6), the handles are drawn together, causing them to
become interlocked by virtue of the interaction of projections 19 on one handle with
notches 20 on the other. Owing to this arrangement of elements, an advantage is provided
when an additional implement, such as a knife blade, is deployed for use from inside a
handle. As explained in column 3, in order to free an implement stowed in a handle for
use, the jaws are rotated to the deployed position (Figure 4), whereupon the handles
become spreadable and the implement can be moved to its operating position. The jaws
then are rotated to the nested position (Figure 7), at which point they become interlocked.
As explained in line 47 et seq.,
such interlocking allows a convenient working position for a pocket knife
implement. When the jaw members are projected from the handles, a
selected implement can be swung to its open position, whereupon the jaw
members can be swung to their nested or retracted position so as to
interlock the handles together. As shown in FIG. 7, the projected implement
9 will be in a projected working position with the interlocked side-by-side
handles forming a convenient grip allowing manipulation of the implement
without the danger of the implement closing on the hand of the user.
If the Frazer device were modified in the manner proposed by the examiner, that is, so that
the handles moved with respect to the jaws in opposite directions, it would appear that this
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Last modified: November 3, 2007