Appeal No. 2003-1472
Application No. 09/606,955
teachings to implement the saw blade reorientation proposed by the
examiner in Enders. Based on the teachings of the applied
references in their entirety, it is our opinion that it would not
have been obvious to so modify Enders. In this regard, there are
several structural features of Enders related to its operation that
would act as disincentives to modifying Enders in the manner
proposed. For example, in Enders,
[t]he yoke member 27 is urged into engagement with the
guide channel 35 by means of a spring 36 which is
disposed around the crank pin 25, and also, by means of
the leverage exerted about the axis of the pivoted
bearing 30 when the jig saw 10 is brought into engagement
with a workpiece. [Column 3, lines 17-22.]
However, if the orientation of the blade is reversed as proposed by
the examiner, the leverage exerted about the axis of the pivoted
bearing when the jig saw is fed into engagement with the workpiece
would tend to urge the yoke member out of engagement with the guide
channel, the very antithesis of the method of operation described
in the Enders specification. Moreover, reorienting the saw blade
in the manner proposed by the examiner would result in the teeth of
the blade being brought into engagement with the unnumbered blade
support illustrated by Enders in Figures 1 and 2, with the
likelihood of damaging the blade and/or the blade support. In
addition, if the orientation of the saw blade in Enders is
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