Appeal No. 2005-2098
Application No. 09/810,641
distance from the center of the disc to the annular zone is from one third to
one half of the radius of the disc and the radial distance from the
circumference of the disc to the zone is from one quarter to one third the
radius of the disc, and, exclusively within the annular zone, a plurality of
perforations, each having a diameter less than one quarter the width of the
annular zone and being essentially uniformly spaced in the zone such that
the distance between any pair of adjacent perforations is less than twice
the greatest dimension of either perforation.
Because the annular zone is located where, (in a typical orbital
sander with a vacuum device drawing air through exhaust ports), the
exhaust ports are also located, the perforations are effective to cooperate
with the vacuum device to remove swarf from the surface of the
workpiece. Moreover there is no need to orient the disc in any specific
manner because, given the distribution and size of the perforations, with
conventional sanders having vacuum exhaust devices, at least two are
always in register with each exhaust port and several others are in close
proximity.
A further understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of
independent claims 1 and 8, a copy of which appears in the Appendix to appellant’s
brief.
The prior art references relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the appealed claims
are:
Marton 4,184,291 Jan. 22, 1980
Gutknecht et al. (Gutknecht) 5,309,682 May 10, 1994
Jöst 5,810,650 Sep. 22, 1998
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007