Appeal 2007-0756
Application 10/652,853
SC1 and SC2, and valves PC1 to PC8, respectively, of Nohira (Answer 3-4)
and Appellants do not contest this determination (e.g., Appeal Br. 11).
Rather, Appellants contend that, because Nohira’s suction valves SI1 and
SI2 are located above and below the regulators SC1 and SC2, the regulators
SCI and SC2, not the suction valves SI1 and SI2, are closer to the suction
ports of the pumps (Appeal Br. 11 and 14). We conclude that the Examiner
is correct. The findings and reasoning on which we base this conclusion are
as follows:
1. Though not labelled in Fig. 9, Nohira’s pumps are illustrated as
dashed-line squares directly to the left of and slightly overlapping
suction valves SI1 and SI2 (note labelling of analogous structure in
Fig. 1 as pressure pumps HP1 and HP2 – Nohira, col. 4, ll. 26-43).
2. The suction ports of Nohira’s pumps are not labelled in any of the
drawings. In the annotated Fig. 9 on page 10 of the Answer, the
Examiner labels the “suction port” with a lead line pointing generally
to the dashed lines between the pump and the motor, at a height closer
to the pump than to the motor. The Examiner asserts, however, that
the suction ports of the pump cannot be located anywhere else but on
the perimeters of the pumps, as the suction ports of the pump are
where the hydraulic fluid is coming into the pump (Answer 9).
Appellants do not provide any evidence or explanation to rebut the
Examiner’s assertion, which seems reasonable on its face.
Appellants’ contention that the Examiner “simply cannot properly
argue that the dashed-line squares adjacent SI1 and SI2 are the recited
pumps and at the same time assert that these are also the recited
suction ports of the pumps” (Reply Br. 4; Appeal Br. 13) is not well
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