Appeal 2007-1325
Application 10/065,722
1 condition to allow the drink opening to be resealed with the drink plug after
2 the contents are poured out.
3 In Waterbury, the tab closure has a mounting plug 14 (referred to as a
4 mounting element) and a drink plug 15 (referred to as a closure element)
5 connected by a hinge portion 16 (referred to as a hinge connection) in the
6 form of a strap (Waterbury, col. 2 ll. 67, 68, col. 3, ll.1). The mounting plug
7 in Waterbury is also inset within a recess 22a formed in the lid 11 of a drink
8 container.6 Thus, when the free end of closure plug 15' is in a folded back
9 condition, a user may drink directly from the container without having to
10 discard the closure, as done in Dart. (FF. 11).
11 In Mueller, the tab closure 100 (Fig. 16) has a mounting plug 122 and
12 a drink plug 102 connected by a hinge portion 120 in the form of a strap or
13 strip of material 120. The drink plug 102 has the same configuration as
14 Dart’s drink plug. (FF. 17). The cap 50 includes a recess (see Fig. 12, lead
15 line 12) which is sized to receive the mounting plug 122 therein so that the
16 drink plug 102 remains attached to the lid when the drink plug is in its open
17 condition allowing the contents to be poured out, again in a manner similar
18 to Dart. (Mueller, col. 3, ll. 49-53)
19 In Aichert, the tab closure 10 (Fig. 16) has a mounting plug 7 and a
20 drink plug 11 connected by a hinge portion 9 in the form of a strap or strip of
21 material. The lid 4 has a pouring orifice 5 which can be sealed closed by a
22 pivoted cover section 10 and opened to allow the contents to be poured out
23 while the closure tab remains attached to the cap 4. (FF. 13) The closure tab
6 Waterbury describes its “lid is provided with a recess 22a of
substantially the same shape and depth as the outer configuration and
thickness of the mounting element 14.” (Waterbury, Col. 4, ll. 3-6)
27
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Last modified: September 9, 2013