Appeal No. 2004-1052 Page 5
Application No. 09/848,132
In the anticipation rejection before us in this appeal, the examiner determined
(answer, pp. 3-5) that claim 15 was readable on the belt and pulley system disclosed in
the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION section of Winninger.1 The examiner asserts
(answer, p. 5) that a tensile modulus of approximately 7000 N/mm/mm converts to
approximately 6.8 daN/% of elongation per belt width centimeter per strand and that
approximately 10,000 N/mm/mm converts to approximately 8.5 daN/% of elongation per
belt width centimeter per strand. Lastly, the examiner concludes (answer, p. 5) that the
claimed tensile modulus range of approximately 7000 N/mm/mm to approximately
10,000 N/mm/mm (i.e., approximately 6.8 daN/% of elongation per belt width centimeter
per strand to approximately 8.5 daN/% of elongation per belt width centimeter per
strand) encompasses the 5.5 daN/% of elongation per belt width centimeter per strand
1 That section provides:
The Applicant markets striated belts with V-shaped teeth, the so-called adapted-modulus
belts, said belts comprising polyamide 6.6 twisted strands and being intended for electric
household appliances, such as linen washers and dryers.
Such belts have a stress-elongation diagram, which characterizes their modulus of
elasticity and the average slope of which, between 1% and 10% of elongation, is substantially
equal to 5.5 daN/% of elongation, per belt width centimeter and per strand.
Said belts are mounted, with a fixed distance between axes, by tensioning them and,
once positioned, by releasing them (the so-called automatic mounting process or "snap-on").
Anyway, belts of this type but usable for automotive applications are not on the market at
the present time.
As a matter of fact, the use of twisted strands in a striated belt intended for automotive
applications, so as to transmit power between an engine and a receiving device, such as an
alternator, means a number of problems, especially owing to the acyclic property of the engine
output curve, said acyclic feature being sharper for four-cylinder engines than for six- or
eight-cylinder engines and being quite greater in diesel engines than in gasoline engines.
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