Appeal No. 1999-2328 Page 6
Application No. 08/485,492
disposed to fit at the interfaces. From our perspective, one of ordinary skill in the art
would have understood that this refers to the L-shaped tables shown in Figures 2 and
4, which in their left-hand portions (as shown in the drawings) present horizontal and
vertical interfaces constituting a right angled corner with rolling members interposed
between the horizontal and vertical surfaces and held there by the magnetic forces.
The subject matter in dependent claims 2, 7 and 8 also can be discerned from
the drawings, as can that of independent claim 11, with regard to which we note that the
range of distance occupied by the balls was set forth in the claim as originally filed.
Further regarding the issue of the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art to
understand the structure and operation of the present invention from the original
Figures 1-4, we point out that the appellant’s prior U.S. Patent No. 5,524,499, of which
the present application is a continuation-in-part, discloses in Figures 3a, 3b and 4, as
the prior art, systems in which rolling elements are held firmly between surfaces by
magnetic force, and in Figure 9 an arrangement in which the members have two
interfaces at right angles to one another, which devices are explained in columns 5 and
7-8, respectively. We also again note that like elements in the other embodiments of
the appellant’s invention are shown in the same general manner as the elements of
Figures 1-4.
On the basis of the above reasoning, we find that, contrary to the examiner’s
conclusion, the original disclosure supports the position that the subject matter recited
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