Appeal No. 2004-2291 Page 6
Application No. 10/318,506
conductive means, disposed on the car, for engaging the magnetic flux
and causing movement of the car along the rail to produce eddy currents in the
conductive means resulting in a braking force between the magnet means and
the conductive means.
The appellants argue (brief, p. 6; reply brief, pp. 3-4) that even if one would
interpret the weight 5 of Mutaguchi as a ''car'' it is not moveable along a rail in a
curvilinear pattern about a vertical reference. The examiner's response (answer, p. 10)
to this argument is that Figure 16A of Mutaguchi shows element 5 movable on rail 3 in a
curvilinear pattern with a radius R about a vertical reference, Y-axis.
Damping mass 5 of Mutaguchi is not disclosed as being moveable along a rail
disposed in a curvilinear pattern about a vertical reference. Mutaguchi teaches (column
11, lines 39-67) that a pair of parallel guide rails 3 having pedestals 4 are placed on the
base frame 2 fixed on a floor 1 of a carriage of a gondola, and that each guide rail 3 is
arcuate and has a radius of curvature R centered at O as shown in Figure 16A. Figure
16A depicts a front view of a vibration damping device. Thus, the rails are disposed in a
curvilinear pattern about a horizontal reference, not a vertical reference as required by
claims 21 and 23. Accordingly, claims 21 and 23 are not anticipated by Mutaguchi.
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