Appeal 2007-1314
Application 10/227,933
Appellants claim an improved pneumatic flow control valve for a pneumatic
brake system. The improvement consists in the design of the valve seats. With
reference to Figure 2, inlet/exhaust valve 50 has a first seating surface 61 and
second seating surface 62 which are rounded.
Claim 1, reproduced below, is further illustrative of the claimed subject
matter.
1. An inlet/exhaust valve assembly for directing the flow of
a fluid comprising:
a cylindrical portion with a cavity extending therethrough and
having an inner diameter and an outer diameter;
a first valve seat having a rounded seating surface on the outer
diameter of the cylindrical portion; and
a second valve seat having a rounded seating surface on the
inner diameter of the cylindrical portion, the rounded seating surfaces
facilitating self-alignment of the first and second valve seats with
respective additional seating surfaces that contact the rounded seating
surfaces of the first and second valve seats for creating a seal between
the first and second valve seats and the respective additional seating
surfaces.
The references of record relied upon by the Examiner as evidence of
obviousness are:
Abel US 4,649,803 Mar. 17, 1987
Oda US 4,763,876 Aug. 16, 1988
Bayliss US 5,690,397 Nov. 25, 1997
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