Appeal No. 2005-2176 Page 4
Application No. 10/266,229
In reading claim 1 on Reighard, the examiner considers the pump housing to be
met by Reighard’s machine 10 and the claimed inlet and outlet of the pump housing to
be met by the radial ports 70 of sleeve 45 and outlet port 100 of the manifold block 17,
with the claimed filter to be met by the combination filter, check valve and relief valve
cartridge 18 located in the manifold block 17, such filter thus being positioned in a
chamber between the inlet and the outlet as called for in claim 1.
The examiner’s reading of the claim on the structure of Reighard requires that
the manifold block 17 be considered part of the pump housing. The appellant argues, in
essence, that Reighard’s manifold block cannot be considered part of the pump housing
and that the outlet 100 is thus not the outlet of the pump housing. Rather, the appellant
urges that the outlet port 72 of the sleeve 45 is the outlet of the pump housing and that
the filter cartridge 18 is thus positioned downstream of the pump outlet rather than
between the inlet and outlet of the pump (brief, pages 5-7).
We find no error in the examiner’s reading of the pump housing as including not
only the sleeve 45 but also the manifold block 17, which is bolted to the bottom wall of
reservoir 14 and receives the lower flange 73 and outlet port 72 of the sleeve 45 of the
pump 16, thus in fact housing the pump. While, akin to the filter chamber 68 of the
appellant’s invention which is downstream of the pump piston 73 and inlet passage 70
of the appellant’s pump, Reighard’s manifold block 17 is located downstream of the
pump piston which achieves the pumping action of the pump, we see nothing in this
which precludes the manifold block 17 from being considered part of the pump
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