Appeal No. 2002-2074
Application No. 09/494,965
Wood discloses a pneumatic ball thrower for use in
practicing baseball, softball, cricket, tennis, handball,
racquetball and other sports. The thrower includes a guide 16
for receiving the ball, a pneumatic ram assembly comprising a
cylindrical tube 64 coaxial with the ball guide, and a shuttle
rod assembly comprising a piston 92 disposed in the cylindrical
tube and a shuttle rod 90 extending from the front of the piston
and adapted to be driven into the ball guide to eject the ball
therefrom. The thrower receives pressurized gas from a remote
reservoir (not shown) via tubing 23 and stores a charge of the
pressurized gas in a first plenum 132. Actuation of the thrower
releases the charge from the first plenum into the cylindrical
tube to accelerate the piston and shuttle rod forwardly and push
the ball down the ball guide at a predetermined velocity
dependent on the pressure of the charge.
In proposing to combine Garrett and Wood (see pages 6 and 7
in the answer), the examiner concludes that it would have been
obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having
ordinary skill in the art to replace the explodable cartridge of
Garrett with a chamber containing a charge of compressed gas as
taught by Wood “as a substitution of equivalent means for
launching a projectile” (answer, page 6 and page 7).
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