Appeal No. 2003-1407
Application No. 09/733,667
(b) cutting a sheet of electrically conductive material into commutator
segments of predetermined shape and dimensions for attachment to
said outer surface portions of said subsections; and thereafter
(c) attaching said commutator segments to said outer surface portions
of said subsections such that said segments form respective
commutator surfaces interrupted by said rib members,
wherein said support member has a generally cylindrical configuration
and said major surface portion is generally cylindrical, and
wherein said rib members have a heightwise dimension less than the
thickness of said commutator segments such that said commutator
segments are attached to said outer surface portions of said support
member, the respective upper surface of each segment is substantially
discontinuous with said respective upper surface of each next adjacent
rib member.
The Examiner rejected claims 9, 10, 12, 13 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as unpatentable over the combination of Hartzell and Ito; claims 14 and 15 under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over the combination of Hartzell and Ito, as applied
to claims 9, 10, 12, 13 and 16, further combined with Binder. (Answer pp. 3-4).
Appellants have indicated (Brief, p. 4) that “[c]laims 9, 10 and 12-16 stand or
fall together.” We will consider the claims separately only to the extent that separate
arguments are of record in this appeal. 37 CFR § 1.192 (c)(7) and (8) (2001). See
In re McDaniel, 293 F.3d 1379, 1383, 63 USPQ2d 1462, 1465 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (“if
the brief fails to meet either requirement, the Board is free to select a single claim
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