Appeal No. 2004-1966
Application No. 09/683,703
“jolted” or otherwise directed out of their proper
course through encountering stones, ruts or other
obstructions in the road, which will at all times
prevent such shocks from being transmitted to the
operator of the vehicle through the steering post, and
which will remain in a locked position as regards the
vehicle until changed by the operator [page 1, lines 11
through 22].
In general, the steering mechanism comprises a steering
wheel 1 which is mechanically linked to the road wheels through a
chain of interconnected elements including a steering post 2, a
plate-like extension 4, a casing 6, a gear post 10, a disk-like
extension 14, an arm 11a, a worm gear 11 and a cooperating gear
sector (see Figure 1). The safety features described above,
which are not germane to the issues presented in this appeal,
stem from the structural relationship between the casing 6, the
plate-like extension 4 and the disk-like extension 14.
The appellants contend that the appealed rejection is
unsound because Hanger does not teach, and would not have
suggested, a device meeting the limitations in independent claim
1, and the corresponding limitations in independent claims 9 and
16, requiring (1) a steer-by-wire steering system, (2) a steering
input shaft that is not mechanically linked to the steered wheels
and (3) a female receptacle that comprises at least one stop
3
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Last modified: November 3, 2007