Appeal 2007-0422
Application 09/943,685
Appellants invented “a drive shaft coupling including a rotational
range of ‘free-motion’ for interconnecting a driving component and a driven
component” (Specification [0001]). Claim 1, the only independent claim,
reads as follows:
1. A drive shaft assembly for interconnecting a
driving component of an agricultural machine and
a driven component of an agricultural implement,
comprising:
a first shaft;
a second shaft engaging said first shaft for
enabling torque transmission without relative
rotational movement and enabling relative axial
sliding motion therebetween; and
a joint component of a universal joint
operably interconnecting one of said first and
second shafts to one of the agricultural driving and
driven components, said joint component is both
rotatable through a specified range of free-motion
rotation without torque transmission and is fixed
from axial movement relative to one of said second
shaft, the agricultural driving component of the
agricultural machine and the agricultural driven
component of the agricultural implement.
The Examiner relies upon the following as evidence of
unpatentability:
Ferguson US 4,551,115 Nov. 05, 1985
Walters US 5,706,901 Jan. 13, 1998
Appellants seek review of the Examiner’s rejection of claims 1-11 as
unpatentable over Walters in view of Ferguson. Appellants’ counsel, W.R.
Duke Taylor, presented oral argument in this appeal on April 5, 2007.
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