Appeal No. 2006-0045
Application No. 10/190,473
THE REJECTION
Claims 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12-15 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Templeton in view of Buhl.
Attention is directed to the main and reply briefs (filed March 29, 2005 and July
11, 2005) and answer (mailed May 19, 2005) for the respective positions of the
appellant and examiner regarding the merits of this rejection.
DISCUSSION
Templeton, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses a boot seal for an
automotive ball and socket joint 41 composed of a socket portion 42 mounted on a
wheel arm 43, a ball stud portion 44 mounted on a wheel knuckle 45, and a lubricant
fitting 49 (see Figure 4). The boot seal 10 consists of a rubber tubular body 11, a metal
ring 12 crimped on one end of the body and a self-lubricating plastic collar 13 partially
embedded in the other end of the body. The collar includes a cylindrical portion 29
having an inner periphery 33 forming a radial bearing, a flat end face 34 forming an
axial bearing, a plurality of axially extending grooves 35 on the inner periphery 33, and a
plurality of radial grooves 36 on the end face 34. In use,
[t]he collar 13 receives the stud shank therethrough and the inner
peripheral cylindrical wall 33 of the collar embraces the cylindrical portion
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007