Ex Parte Muller et al - Page 3

                Appeal 2007-1588                                                                             
                Application 10/964,098                                                                       

                      The references of record relied upon by the examiner as evidence of                    
                obviousness are:                                                                             
                Schaefer (Schaefer ‘398)  US  2,544,398  Mar. 06, 1951                                       
                Schaefer (Schaefer ‘048)  US  2,581,048  Jan.  01,  1952                                     
                Niaura     US 6,318,521 B1  Nov. 20, 2001                                                    
                      Claims 1-5 and 7-9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as                             
                unpatentable over Niaura in view of Schaefer ‘398 or Schaefer ‘048.1                         

                                           FINDINGS OF FACT                                                  
                      Niaura discloses a vibration damper for a motor vehicle having a                       
                housing or cylinder 2 and a piston 13 connected to piston rod 16 which is                    
                attached to one part of the motor vehicle.  A shaft is fixed to the bottom of                
                the container or housing 2.  On the bottom of the shaft is a fork member 10.                 
                Niaura does not show a cylindrical collar attaching the fork member to the                   
                shaft at a point axially distant from the bent portion.                                      
                      The examiner has cited the two patents to Schaefer to show this                        
                feature.                                                                                     
                      Schaefer ‘398 discloses a shaft 2 connected to a fork 1.  The                          
                connection in Schaefer ‘398 is two jaws with relatively thin walls 7.  The                   
                jaws are on either side of the shaft and Schaefer ‘398 can weld the edges of                 
                the jaws along the shaft as at 12 in Figure 3.                                               
                      Schaefer ‘048 also shows a connection of a shaft 2 to a fork 1.  In                    
                Schaefer ‘048 the connection is provided by two semicylindrical members                      

                                                                                                            
                1 The 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections of the claims over                      
                Thomas have been withdrawn by the Examiner.  See page 2 of the Answer.                       
                                                     3                                                       

Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  Next

Last modified: September 9, 2013