Appeal 2006-2825
Application 10/691,916
FF7. Kessler’s electric control means 14 sends an electric braking signal,
via connector 20, to a solenoid 22 on trailer 12. The armature of solenoid 22
is drivingly coupled to the piston rod of trailer braking master cylinder 24 to
generate a hydraulic pressure signal that is transmitted via a hydraulic line to
the wheel cylinder 26 of a conventional drum braking or disc braking wheel
assembly (Kessler, col. 4, ll. 28-37).
FF8. Kessler’s solenoid 22 includes helically-wound insulated wire
windings 52 around a ferromagnetic armature 54 slidably disposed in a bore
56 in solenoid 22. Armature 54 is coupled to piston rod 34, either directly
(Fig. 3) or via lever 60 and chain linkages (Fig. 2) (Kessler, col. 4, ll. 52-55
and col. 5, ll. 1-17).
FF9. For redundancy, Kessler’s solenoid 22 may be provided with double
windings 53 independently suppliable with electric signals (Fig. 7) as a
safety feature by which solenoid 22 will continue to operate to provide
braking, albeit at a reduced level, in the event that power is lost to either one
of the windings 52 or 53 as a result of, for example, a partial separation of
trailer connector 20 (Kessler, col. 4, ll. 61-67).
FF10. Kessler’s electromechanical braking system does not include an
emergency stop device “which responds to the omission of the electric
current” and supplies a braking signal to the electric magnet for the actuation
of a hydraulic braking cylinder in case of omission of the current.
ANALYSIS
As a preliminary matter, we note that the language in the paragraph
bridging pages 5 and 6 of Appellants’ Specification directed to alternative
dependencies of the dependent claims does not impact in any way the
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