Appeal No. 96-2501
Application 08/177,243
c) have no points of contact with one another and thereby provide
an open region of travel (96) for fluids passing through the
conduit 31 along its longitudinal axis and absolutely no
"crotches" where fibrous material, etc. can gather and hang-up
and encourage clogging or plugging of the mixer when fibers,
clumps and par- ticulates are contained within the fluids to be
mixed, as essentially seen in Figures 7-9 of the application
drawings. In this regard, we note that the examiner's
interpretation of the limitation contained in the last two lines
of claim 7 and of the term "longitudinal axis," in particular, is
contrary to any reasonable understanding of appellant's claimed
subject matter based on the application disclosure and the clear
meaning of "longitudinal axis" as it would be understood by one
of ordinary skill in the art.
In light of the foregoing considerations, it is clear
to us that neither Doom nor Kao teaches or suggests a mixing
apparatus which anticipates that defined in appellant's claim 7
10
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007