Appeal No. 2006-0812
Application No. 09/391,294
claimed corner support member.
There are several meanings which can be ascribed to the term
“single.”
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1977) gives the
following meanings at page 1083:
single adj. 1a: not married b: of or relating to celibacy 2:
unaccompanied by others: LONE, SOLE, <the ~ survivor of the
disaster> 3a (1): consisting of or having only one part,
feature, or portion <~ consonants> (2): consisting of one as
opposed to or in contrast with many: UNIFORM <a ~ standard
for men and women> (3) consisting of only one in number
<holds to a ~ ideal> b: having but one whorl of petals or ray
flowers <a ~ rose> 4a: consisting of a separate unique whole:
INDIVIDUAL <every ~ citizen>; b: of, relating to, or
involving only one person 5a: FRANK, HONEST <a ~ devotion> b:
exclusively attentive <an eye ~ to the truth> 6: UNBROKEN,
UNDIVIDED 7: having no equal or like: SINGULAR 8: designed
for the use of one person or family only <a ~ room>
In the context of home construction, definitions 3a and 6
appear to be the broadest reasonable interpretation – that a
“single member” is one whole building member.
We recognize that this interpretation is not as narrow as a
member which is “uniform throughout” or “formed from a single
homogeneous piece.”
The next claim elements are:
a first support member flange lying in the first plane and
extending outwardly from said first portion a predetermined
distance and extending continuously along the entire length
of said first portion and from said cornered inner surface
radially outwardly; and
8
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