Appeal No. 2006-1824
Application No. 10/131,068
requirement of the device. Moreover, the specification further
discloses (¶ 0006):
Irrespective of orientation, a convective device utilized
for convective thermal treatment of persons performs at
least three basic functions. These functions are 1) the
conveyance of thermally conditioned air from at least one
inlet port into the device, 2) the imposition of a heat gain
or loss that changes the temperature of the thermally
conditioned air, and 3) the extravasation of the thermally
conditioned air from the device.
The three basic functions performed by the convective device do
not include expelling air onto a person. Thus, it reasonably
appears that the capability of expelling air onto a person is an
embodiment, rather than a requirement, of the convective device.
We remand the application for the examiner and the
appellants to address on the record whether the broadest
reasonable interpretation of “convective device” in view of the
appellants’ specification requires that the device is capable of
expelling air onto a person.2
Shelton discloses an inflator device which, when attached to
a plastic bag (94) such as an ordinary 30 gallon or 55 gallon
bag, provides a large volume of air at low pressure for inflating
air-inflatable objects (96) such as boats, air mattresses and
2 If the examiner continues to rely upon Kappel, the examiner must explain why
Kappel’s device, which has perforations (70) for forced air convection onto a
person (col. 2, lines 45-48), indicates that Shelton’s device for inflating
air-inflatable objects (col. 1, lines 5-7) is a convective device.
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