Appeal No. 2006-0711
Application No. 10/407,020
where the sealing ring comprises a supporting ring, a sealing
disc attached to the supporting ring, the sealing disc including
a projection conically deformed in an axial direction of the
shaft, having a first section in contact with the shaft, and the
first section includes a helical groove having a base and a
trapezoidal profile configured to allow return of a medium toward
the interior space, wherein the width of the profile is greater
than a total depth of the profile (Brief, page 2).
Representative independent claim 1 is illustrative of the
invention and is reproduced below:
1. A sealing ring for sealing a shaft relative to an
interior space, the sealing ring comprising:
a supporting ring; and
a sealing disc attached to the supporting ring, the sealing
disc including a projection conically deformed in an axial
direction of the shaft and having a first section in contact with
the shaft, the first section including a helical groove having a
base and a trapezoidal profile and configured to allow return of
a medium toward the interior space, wherein a width of the
profile at a region of the base is greater than a total depth of
the profile.
The examiner has relied upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:2
2The examiner discusses Hayashida, U.S. Patent No. 4,568,092, issued Feb. 4, 1986, and
Johnen, DE 100 33 446 A1, published Feb. 21, 2002, as evidence of obviousness (Answer, page
6) but fails to positively recite these references in the statement of the rejection (Answer, page
2
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