Appeal No. 2002-1788 Page 4
Application No. 09/217,667
denied, 465 U.S. 1026 (1984), it is only necessary for the claims to "'read on' something
disclosed in the reference, i.e., all limitations of the claim are found in the reference, or
'fully met' by it."
Claims 1, 3, 14, 40 and 44 read as follows:
1. A friction drive apparatus for feeding a strip material in a longitudinal
direction along a feed path for performing a work operation such as printing,
plotting, or cutting, said strip material having a first longitudinal edge and a
second longitudinal edge, said friction drive apparatus comprising:
a first friction wheel associated with said first longitudinal edge of said
strip material;
a second friction wheel associated with said second longitudinal edge of
said strip material;
a first motor drive for rotating said first friction wheel;
a second motor drive for rotating said second friction wheel;
a detection sensor for monitoring lateral position of said strip material,
said detection sensor disposed behind said first friction wheel and said second
friction wheel with respect to direction of motion of said strip material, said
detection sensor generating a detection sensor signal;
a processor for controlling said first motor drive and said second motor
drive independently, said processor receiving said detection sensor signal; and
means for automatically aligning said strip material with respect to said
feed path upon loading of said strip material into said friction drive apparatus and
prior to said work operation, said sheet material being automatically aligned
based on said detection sensor signal.
3. The friction drive apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said apparatus
further comprises:
a second sensor disposed on an opposite side of said friction wheels from
said detection sensor, said second sensor generating a second sensor signal
being received by said processor to automatically align said strip material with
respect to said feed path when feed direction of said strip material is reversed.
14. A method for initially aligning a strip material in a friction drive apparatus,
said method comprising the steps of:
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