Appeal 2007-1167
Application 10/784,056
prior art references where employed as a mosaic to recreate a
facsimile of the claimed invention.
The motivation or incentive to combine Blevins with Wright is
provided by their similar uses. Both devices provide a means for guarding
weed trimming devices from other objects. Blevins discloses a guard with a
clamp that is movable up and down the shaft of a weed trimmer, but the
guard is unable to move perpendicular to the shaft. Thus, the device in
Blevins can only guard the weed trimmer at one distance. Wright discloses
a guard with a clamp that is movable both along the shaft of a weed trimmer,
and the guard has a spatial guide that allows movement perpendicular to the
shaft of the weed trimmer. The perpendicular movement allowed by the
spatial guide in Wright solves the problem that Blevins can only guard at
one distance.
Furthermore, Blevins discloses that its guard “may be mounted on
handle 36 by suitable bracket means 39” (Blevins, col. 3, ll. 49-50).
However, without the ability to move the guard perpendicular to the shaft of
the weed trimming device, the guard would not be useful at other positions
along the shaft. The spatial guide in Wright solves this problem by allowing
the guard to be adjusted to different positions as the bracket is repositioned
up and down the shaft.
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