Appeal No. 2002-0612
Application No. 09/254,631
It does not necessarily flow from the disclosure of Arnold
at column 2, lines 44-46, that the head 53 is secured to the
casing by screws that the housing parts 20, 53 are tightened in
such a way that the end faces of the unnumbered element provide a
sealing function. To provide such a sealing function, the axial
dimension of the unnumbered element would have to be precisely
sized relative to the adjacent shoulders formed in the outlet
passage by the joining of the housing parts. Whether this is the
case in Arnold cannot be determined from the drawings alone, in
our view. Accordingly, we cannot agree with the examiner that
Arnold meets these claim limitations.
The Pierce reference, additionally applied against claim 17
for its alleged suggestion of placing the upper end of the outlet
passage 60 in housing part 20 of Arnold in axial alignment with
the lower end of the passageway of the sealing element, does not
make up for the deficiencies of Arnold discussed above. In
particular, in Pierce it is the tapered sides of the bushing,
rather then the ends thereof, that function to seal the
passageway.
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