In re Reichel

This is an appeal from a decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office, affirming the decision of the examiner rejecting all of the claims of appellant’s application, four in number, for want of patentability in view of the prior art.

Claim 1 is illustrative of the claims on appeal and reads as follows:

1. An expansible diaphragm device comprising means providing a chamber and including a supporting shell, a diaphragm closing said chamber and movable in response to a difference in pressure at opposite sides of the diaphragm, said diaphragm having a peripheral flange…