Appeal No. 96-1406
Application No. 08/054,074
With respect to independent claim 1, the examiner
basically takes the position that Hatada teaches the invention
of claim 1 except for the use of sensor chips. The examiner
cites LeBlanc as a teaching of connecting a plurality of
sensor chips in side-by-side relation to each other. The
examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to the
artisan to attach the sensor chips of LeBlanc together in the
manner taught by Hatada [answer, pages 3-4].
Appellants argue that neither of the applied
references discloses a device having a plurality of coupling
chips, with each coupling chip mechanically coupling a
respective pair of adjacent sensor chips together and having
means for electrically connecting the adjacent sensor chips to
one another as recited in independent claim 1. Appellants
argue that each of Hatada and LeBlanc uses a single substrate
to mechanically interconnect the circuit chips to one another.
Thus, appellants argue that the plurality of coupling chips
recited in claim 1 are not taught or suggested by Hatada and
LeBlanc, either singly or in combination [brief, pages 4-8].
The examiner responds that the plurality of semiconductor
integrated circuit chips on the support board act as “a
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007