Appeal No. 2006-1848
Application No. 10/352,360
not solve the problem confronting the inventor of a hauler having all
four sides enclosed, as required by law.
Elliott is directed to a trailer (2) having all four sides enclosed
and used to haul cargo, where the cargo is loaded using forklifts.
(Elliott, Figure 1). The sides of the enclosed trailer have bi-fold doors
(10) that allow for easy loading and unloading from either side.
(Elliott, column 2, lines 1-10 and column 3, lines 20-31) (“[W]hen bi-
fold doors 10 along one side are open, they completely expose the
interior of trailer body 2 for purposes of loading.”). Elliott teaches
that by completely enclosing the load during transportation, the safety
of transportation is significantly increased by reducing spills and upset
due to shifting loads. (Elliott, column 2, lines 38-41).
Based on our review of the prior art, we find that one skilled in
the art at the time of the invention would have looked to these
references to solve the general problem facing the inventor. We
further find that there is sufficient motivation to combine these
references to render the claimed invention obvious.
The advantages of using bi-fold doors on a side of a trailer for
ease of loading and unloading and for preventing debris from being
deposited on the highway, is taught in Elliott. It is our opinion that it
would have been obvious to carry forward this concept to improve the
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