Appeal No. 96-2457
Application 08/171,149
exit port or outlet (15). This is particularly so given the
interconnection at (28) between the pivoted cutoff sheet (26) and
the moveable inlet conduit (22) of Murphy which is intended to
ensure desired coordinated movement of these two components in
that fan system. The shutter (15) of Kang which is used to close
the passage (7) therein when the refrigerating compartment to
which it is attached is not in use, and to thereby eliminate the
negative effects of induced vortex flow on the fan (5) of the
system, has little or nothing to do with the centrifugal fan of
Murphy. In our opinion, the present combination is based
entirely on impermissible hindsight derived from appellants' own
teachings and not from the prior art references themselves as the
teachings thereof would have been fairly understood by one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time of appellants' invention.
Regarding the examiner's logic in support of the
rejections on pages 3 and 4 of the answer, we observe that a
combination of elements is not obvious merely because each of the
elements is individually known in a related field of art and may
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007