Appeal No. 2002-1792 Page 6
Application No. 09/467,577
emitted from the louvers creates a low pressure area thereby holding the bottom 26 of
container 16 closely adjacent the deck 12. Ambient air is drawn in through the
openings in the guide rails 22, as depicted by arrows 27 in Figure 9, which assists in
moving the containers in the downstream direction.
Claims 1 and 10
The appellant argues (brief, pp. 9-11; reply brief, pp. 1-2) that claims 1 and 10
are not anticipated by Lenhart '423 since (1) the guide rails 22 of Lenhart '423 are not
an elongated plate1 as recited in claims 1 and 10; and (2) the guide rails 22 of Lenhart
'423 do not disclose downstream and upstream edges as recited in claims 1 and 10.
Specifically, the appellant states that an artisan viewing the guide rail 22 of Lenhart '423
would not consider it to be an elongate plate having top and bottom edges and
upstream and downstream edges and a plurality of openings within the plate edges as
recited in claims 1 and 10.
In our view, the subject matter of claims 1 and 10 is readable on the guide rails
22 of Lenhart '423. The claimed "elongated plate" is, in our opinion, readable on each
of the guide rails 22 of Lenhart '423 since each guide rail 22 is, as shown in Figures 1-
1 The appellant states (brief, pp. 5-6 & 9) that the word "plate" as used in the application has its
ordinary and accustomed meaning of a smooth, flat, relatively thin piece of material (The American
Heritage Dictionary).
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