Appeal 2007-0388
Application 10/337,459
immediately understood that the transverse passage of such a cruciform
device must vent outside the wheel structure and further that the eutectic
fuse material must be disposed between the transverse bore and the free end
of the housing, isolated from the transverse bore by the piston, to prevent
melting eutectic fuse material from being cooled and hardened by venting
tire air.
As to the specific question of "teaching away," a reference may be
said to teach away when a person of ordinary skill, upon examining the
reference, would be discouraged from following the path set out in the
reference, or would be led in a direction divergent from the path that was
taken by the applicant. In re Gurley, 27 F.3d 551, 553, 31 USPQ2d 1130,
1131 (Fed. Cir. 1994). Stanton's teaching that good heat transfer contact
between the rim 22 and the stem 30 of the safety device is desirable is not
inconsistent with a safety device having a cruciform housing wherein the
entire fuse material is disposed between the transverse bore and the free end
of the housing, and thus outside the passage through the rim. Stanton's
disclosure regarding the tapered head fitting flush against a tapered surface
of passage 28 of rim 22 addresses a concern about interfacial heat transfer
between discrete, non-unitary elements and a recognition that heat transfer
losses at interfaces can be significant in the absence of good thermal contact.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the interfacial heat
transfer concern to be wholly separate from consideration of the particular
location of the fuse material within the stem or housing of the safety device.
While location of the entire fuse material outside the wheel rim structure
might result in reduction in sensitivity of the fuse material to wheel rim
temperature, this can be accommodated by selecting a fuse material with a
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