Appeal No. 2004-2052
Application 09/509,147
With particular regard to the requirement in claim 1 on
appeal that the adapter block be “removable from the laboratory
magnetic stirrer without removing a fastener,” we note that the
turntable of Jones is described (col. 3, lines 9-22) and shown in
Figure 6 as being rotatably mounted on an upstanding hollow shaft
(24) which is threaded at its upper end (26) so that it can
receive a nut (27) that is used to securely hold the turntable
(12) in position on the base (11) of the chemical analyzer and to
exert a downward force of selected magnitude against the
turntable so that an effective fluid-tight seal is maintained
between the bearing surface (31) of the reaction tubes (21) of
the turntable and the contact or sealing surface (30) on the
platform (14) of the analyzer base. There is no teaching or
suggestion in Jones of any other form of mounting for the
turntable and clearly no basis, other than that afforded by
speculation and conjecture, which would have led one of ordinary
skill in the art to conclude that the turntable of Jones is
somehow adapted for seating on a laboratory magnetic stirrer so
as to achieve the functional requirements of claim 1 and also
mountable in such a way as to be structurally removable from a
laboratory magnetic stirrer without removing a fastener.
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