Appeal No. 2006-1815
Application No. 10/178,767
Appellant’s invention relates to an improved structure of a fuel injection pump
for use in internal combustion engines which results in an increase in service life of
the fuel injection pump. More specifically, it is an objective of the invention to
provide an improved structure of a fuel injection pump which is designed to
minimize undesirable wear of bearing surfaces of the fuel injection pump (page 2,
lines 9-11), particularly those located at either side of the cam (42) and including
washers (50, 60) as shown in Figures 2(a) through 3(b) of the application drawings.
Independent claim 1 is representative of the subject matter on appeal and a copy of
that claim can be found in the Claims Appendix attached to appellant’s brief.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the
appealed claims are:
Higginbotham et al. (Higginbotham) 5,183,340 Feb. 02, 1993
Shinohara et al. (Shinohara) 6,289,875 Sep. 18, 2001
Claims 1, 2, 11 and 12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Shinohara in view Higginbotham.
Rather than reiterate the examiner's commentary regarding the above-noted
obviousness rejection and the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
appellant regarding the rejection, we make reference to the final rejection
(mailed October 28, 2004) and the examiner's answer (mailed June 7, 2005) for the
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