Appeal No. 2005-2659
Application No. 09/881,108
1. A pinion slip-off preventive structure of a starting apparatus in which a pinion is
prevented from slipping off a pinion shaft, said pinion being splined to a spline portion
formed on said pinion shaft and being in meshing engagement with a ring gear of an
internal combustion engine while urged in a direction toward said ring gear from a side
remote therefrom by means of an elastic member,
said structure comprising:
a projected portion extending from an end face of said pinion shaft in an axial
direction thereof and having a groove formed on a smooth surface thereof in a
circumferential direction thereof;
a snap ring fitted in said groove; and
a stopper having an abutting surface in abutting engagement with an end face of
said pinion and an engaging portion engaged with said snap ring.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner as evidence of anticipation
are:
Lafitte 2,960,879 Nov. 22, 1960
Schneider DE 3928796 Mar. 7, 1991
Our understanding of the Schneider reference cited above is by way of an English
language translation provided by the USPTO.
THE REJECTIONS
Claims 1-4 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticiapated by Schneider.
Claims 1 and 3-5 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Lafitte.
For the details of these rejections reference is made to the Examiner’s Answer.
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