Appeal No. 2005-0487
Application No. 09/961,821
1. A piston-cylinder assembly comprising
a cylinder containing a blocking medium,
a piston rod which is axially movable in said cylinder, and
a piston affixed to said piston rod and dividing said
cylinder into two working spaces, said piston comprising at least
one flow-through opening connecting said working spaces, a ring
groove bounded by axially opposed side walls, and an elastically
deformable valve ring seated in said ring groove with axial play,
said valve ring frictionally engaging said cylinder, said at
least one flow-through opening comprising at least one pocket
formed in at least one of said side walls, said at least one
pocket being completely open when said piston rod is at rest with
respect to said cylinder, said valve ring moving toward one of
said side walls as a function of the direction of movement of
said piston rod, said valve ring deforming into said at least one
pocket to at least partially seal off said at least one pocket
when the piston rod exceeds a predetermined speed relative to the
cylinder, so that flow of said blocking medium between said
working spaces is impeded and said speed is limited.
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied on by the examiner to support the
rejections on appeal are:
Freitag et al. 4,595,182 Jun. 17, 1986
(Freitag)
Ludwig 4,635,908 Jan. 13, 1987
THE REJECTIONS
Claims 1, 3 and 6 through 8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ludwig.
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