Appeal No. 2004-2071
Application No. 09/893,109
outer links alternatively arranged and articulately connected
together (see Figures 1 and 5). Each inner link includes a
bushing 12 and a pair of inner plates 13 connected to opposite
ends of the bushing, and each outer link includes a pin 11 and a
pair of outer plates 14 connected to opposite ends of the pin
with the pin extending through the bushing. The chain also
comprises a rigid roller 15 made of metal and an elastic roller
16 made of elastic material arranged end to end and fitted on the
bushing so as to jointly form a roller assembly which moves into
and out of contact with the teeth of an associated sprocket.
Of particular relevance to the obviousness issues raised in
this appeal is the disclosure in the Japanese reference that the
desirable noise suppression and durability characteristics of the
subject chain stem from the axial width and radial thickness
parameters of the elastic roller. The reference teaches that the
elastic roller has a uniform thickness which is greater than that
of the rigid roller. This allows the elastic roller to suppress
run noise by (1) engaging the sprocket before the rigid roller
does and (2) elastically deforming so as to absorb the shock of
the initial contact and prevent the rigid roller from crashing
into the sprocket at high speed. The reference also teaches that
there is a direct correlation between the durability of the rigid
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