Appeal No. 97-1074
Application 08/170,224
1. A pressure measurement device for measuring the pressure
within an infusion tube (12) as a medicamentous substance flows
through the infusion tube by operation of an infusion pump that is
connected to the infusion tube, said device comprising;
a pressure sensor (20),
a housing (14) comprising at least one chamber (16) with one
side of said chamber being defined by a deformable membrane (18)
contacting a wall of the infusion tube, and said chamber
containing said sensor at a location within said chamber that is
spaced from said membrane, and
a fluid (24) within said chamber between said membrane (18)
and said sensor (20), said fluid being nonliquid, said fluid
having a Poisson ratio of at least 0.49, and said fluid having an
instantaneous modulus of elasticity of under 10 Mpa, so that said
sensor has a linear pressure response curve.
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of
obviousness are:
Koen et al. (Koen) 4,993,265 Feb 19, 1991
Stuebe et al. (Stuebe) 5,117,827 Jun 02, 1992
Kalinoski et al. (Kalinoski) 5,209,125 May 11, 1993
Claims 1-7 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Koen in view of Kalinoski and Stuebe.
The respective positions of the examiner and the appellant
with regard to the propriety of these rejections are set forth in
the final rejection (Paper No. 9), the examiner's answer (Paper
No. 15) and the examiner’s second answer (Paper No. 17) and the
appellant's brief (Paper No. 14) and reply brief (Paper No. 16).
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