Appeal 2006-3169
Application 09/829,883
3. Saurer’s body 3 is not bonded to the housing 1 along the entire extent
of their normally (i.e., in the unloaded condition) contacting surfaces.
Specifically, there is no bond between body 3 and housing 1 in an annular
area of the body 3 lying directly beneath flange 5 of housing 1 and extending
outwardly to the point where the flaring portion of the housing merges with
the cylindrical portion (Saurer, col. 3, ll. 19-30). Upon axial movement of
member 2 in a downward direction, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3, and resultant
distortion of body 3, the unbonded area of body 3 will draw away from the
adjacent inner surface of the housing to provide a cavity between body 3 and
flange 5 (col. 3, ll. 30-38). The cavity permits air, or other compressible
fluid, to be confined and expelled through a breather opening 10 to provide
additional resilience or serve as a means for damping (col. 1, ll. 21-26;
col. 3, ll. 38-39).
4. Saurer ensures that there will be no bond between body 3 and the
inner surface of housing 1 in the area along the flaring portion of housing 1
by coating the inner surface of the flaring portion with a flux coating 12 of
“anti-stick” composition for preventing adhesion of rubber to metal (Saurer,
col. 4, ll. 4-9).
5. While Saurer refers to the annular area of body 3 “which normally
contacts with the portion of the inner surface of the housing to which flux
coating 12 was applied” (Saurer, col. 4, ll. 34-37), Saurer does not describe
that area of body 3 as being bonded to the inner surface of housing 1. On
the contrary, according to Saurer, that area of body 3 “will be free to draw
away from such surface” (Saurer, col. 4, ll. 37-38) upon application of a
load.
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Last modified: September 9, 2013