Appeal No. 2002-1066
Application No. 09/304,021
Appellants’ invention pertains to a drive mechanism and
control mechanism for controlling the operation of a wire cutting
apparatus. As explained by appellants on pages 1-2 of the
specification in the “Background Of The Invention” section
thereof, a known wire cutting apparatus, disclosed in U.S. Patent
5,850,773 to Burns, utilizes a drive mechanism including a
continuously rotating electric motor 21 coupled to a wire cutting
device 20, 42 by a one-revolution clutch/brake mechanism 28.
According to appellants, the clutch/brake mechanism in this known
cutting apparatus is susceptible to reliability problems.
Appellants seek to improve upon the performance of this known
apparatus by providing a control system that does not require the
use of a one-revolution clutch/brake mechanism. A further
understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of
exemplary claim 1, which appears in the appendix to appellants’
main brief.
The references relied upon by the examiner in the final
rejection are:
Green 4,512,225 Apr. 23, 1985
Yankaitis et al. (Yankaitis) 5,921,160 Jul. 13, 1999
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