Appeal No. 2003-0384
Application 09/557,718
cylindrical housing composed of a lens section 20, a tube section
22 and an electronics section 24, a transparent lens 28 covering
one end of the housing, a cover plate 42 having a tapered
configuration (see Figure 3) covering the other end of the
housing, a three-tube color camera disposed within the housing
with its lens 58 positioned adjacent the transparent lens 28, a
support cable 15 attached to the housing at an anchor flange 38,
a triaxial cable 16 attached to the housing at a cable connector
44 in the cover plate 42, and a viewfinder housing 18.
As framed and argued by the appellant, the dispositive issue
with respect to the rejection of independent claim 7 is whether
Chapin teaches or would have suggested a camera meeting the
limitations in the claim requiring the camera housing to have a
tapered front end and a transparent back end wherein the housing
body and front end coact to position the camera in a stream of
water with the front end oriented upstream and the back end
oriented downstream.
The depiction of Chapin’s camera 10 in Figures 1 through 3
provides a reasonable basis for viewing the camera as having a
tapered front end defined by the tapered cover plate 42 and a
transparent back end defined by the transparent lens 28. The
elongated cylindrical shape of the housing provides a reasonable
3
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