Appeal No. 2003-0679 Page 7
Application No. 09/730,163
The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the references would
have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591,
18 USPQ2d 1089, 1091 (Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425, 208
USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981).
The Admitted Prior Art teaches a mowing implement including a mobile central
frame, a pair of mowing units respectively mounted to opposite sides of the central
frame and at least one swath former being associated with one of the pair of mowing
units.
Welsch discloses a mower for harvesting crop. As shown in Figure 1, the mower
includes a windrow grouper attachment (i.e., a swath former) 12. The windrow grouper
attachment includes a crop conveyor 34 attached to the main frame 14 of the mower by
a vertically swingable support 30 which is selectively disposable in a lowered working
position where it intercepts crop exiting the mower and transfers it side ways and in a
raised non-use position wherein it permits crop exiting from the mower to be deposited
into a windrow directly behind the mower. The vertically swingable support 30 for the
crop conveyor is mounted to a slide 26 that is in turn mounted for shifting laterally on a
transverse beam 20 of the mower main frame 14. By selectively manipulating the
conveyor 34 among its working, non-use and shifted positions, it is possible to deposit
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