Appeal No. 2003-0106
Application 09/502,680
claims its broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the
specification. To that end, we look to the amendment filed May
14, 2001 (Paper No. 6) wherein the language in question was first
introduced into the claims of the present application. On pages
3 and 4 of that amendment appellants direct us to page 7, lines
10-24 of the specification for support for the limitation in
question. Page 7 of the specification discusses the parallelogram
linkage (20) and movement of such linkage via an actuator (22) to
provide adjustment of the height of the plate holders (16, 18).
More particularly, it is indicated that the actuator (22)
comprises a hand-operated hydraulic piston and cylinder
assembly including a cylinder 94 housing the piston (not
shown) and a rod 96 telescopically received within the
cylinder 94 and attached to the piston. This type of
assembly is often referred to as a “bottle jack”, although
any suitable actuator (e.g., a ratchet-type lift) may be
used. In the usual manner, the jack 22 includes a pedestal
98, from which the cylinder 94 projects, and a crank
mechanism 100 that controls extension of the rod 96 relative
to the cylinder 94. The mechanism 100 also includes a
removable arm 102 and a release screw (not shown) that
permits retraction of the rod 96 when activated. As is also
customary, a screw 103 is threadably connected to the distal
end of the rod 96.
Further description of the actuator or jack (22) and its
relationship to the parallelogram linkage (20) is found on page
8, lines 1-23 of the specification, wherein it is noted that
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