Appeal No. 2000-1233
Application No. 09/040,532
examiner turns to the teachings of either Kosugi or Christiaens. Kosugi discloses (Figures 1 and 2)
a pick-up for an optical disk that includes a lens barrel 12 that is held for movement in a radial
direction via radial gas bearings 13a through 13d, and Christiaens discloses (Figure 1) a gas bearing
21 that is used in a device for rotating a disk turntable 3 over a frame 1.
In brief, appellants argue (brief, pages 9 through 13; reply brief, pages 2 through 5) that all
of the proposed combinations of references fail to set forth a prima facie case of obviousness
because Watanabe, Kosugi and Christiaens are all concerned with the turntable, and the axis about
which the turntable rotates, and not with the support that enables relative movement between that
axis and the recording head.
We agree with appellants’ arguments. Although the vibration dampers of Watanabe, and the
gas bearings of Kosugi and Christiaens are indeed well known in the art (answer, pages 4 and 5),
nothing in the record teaches or would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art the
relocation of the dampers and bearings to the specifically claimed location that enables relative
movement between the noted axis and the recording head. Accordingly, the obviousness rejections
of claims 2 through 6 and 20 through 25 are reversed.
The obviousness rejections of claims 7 and 8 are reversed because the spring teachings of
Tokunaga, and the capacitive transducer teachings of Sidey and Williams do not cure the noted
shortcomings in the teachings of Malissin, Cheng, Watanabe, Kosugi and Christiaens.
DECISION
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