Appeal No. 2003-0106
Application 09/502,680
Contrary to the examiner’s position, we find no teaching or
suggestion in Shannon of angularly adjusting the height of the
holder (34) incrementally and thereby the height of the at least
one plate incrementally. Based on the disclosure of Shannon
(e.g., col. 4, lines 10-18), it appears that when the moldboard
(18) of the scraper is brought into close vertical relationship
with the dolly (10), the carriage or holder (34), with the
replaceable blade or plate (12) attached thereto, is manually
swung upwardly from the generally horizontal position seen in
Figure 5 into a substantially erect position, as shown in Figure
6. It appears to us that such movement of the carriage or holder
(34) in Shannon is intended to be continuous and that no
incremental movement of the holder is contemplated or desired.
Moreover, we note that the examiner’s attempt to apply the
dictionary definition of “incrementally” noted above, appears to
us to be merely an attempt on the examiner’s part to read that
terminology out of the claim entirely, without giving it any
meaningful weight whatsoever. In that regard, we consider that
“angularly adjusting the height of the holder” as set forth in
appellants’ claim 28 would itself have been understood to involve
“the action or process of increasing,” while the terminology
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