Appeal 2007-1885
Application 11/000,309
operations within the sterile work chamber (Specification 2). Representative
independent claim 1, as presented in the Brief, appears below:
1. An isolator system comprising a sterile work chamber in which
a sterile condition is maintained, a robot which is placed in the
sterile work chamber and has an operating arm for performing
various operations within the sterile work chamber, and a
sterilizing gas supply unit for supplying a sterilizing gas to the
interior of the sterile work chamber, said isolator system
additionally comprising:
a gas supply unit for supplying a gas from outside of the sterile
work chamber to the interior of the robot, said gas supply unit
having a top end opening opened inside the operating arm at a top
end side, and a base portion opening opened inside the robot at a
base portion side,
wherein when the sterile work chamber is sterilized with the
sterilizing gas, the gas from the gas supply unit is supplied to the
interior of the robot through one of the top end opening and the
base portion opening, and the gas circulated through the interior of
the robot is discharged to the outside of the robot through the other
opening, and the pressure inside the robot is reduced relative to the
pressure inside the sterile work chamber to which the sterilizing
gas is supplied from the sterilizing gas supply unit.
The Examiner relies on the following references in rejecting the
appealed subject matter:
Petersen US 5,730,777 Mar. 24, 1998
Suzuki US 6,267,022 B1 July 31, 2001
Claims 1-4 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over
Petersen in view of Suzuki.
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