Appeal No. 97-1595
Application No. 08/209,786
tube (column 2, line 42). An evaporating needle (37) extends
from a manifold into each tube. According to the patentee,
[w]hen an ordinary vacuum line is connected to the
connector 34 of the intake block 31, a vacuum will
be created through the manifold 23 and effect
evaporation of the contents of each of the test
tubes 20 so as to effect evacuation therefrom.
Through the use of the device, either positive or
negative air pressures may be supplied through the
manifold to effect the evaporation process. Column
2, lines 43-50.
From this, the examiner concludes that it would have been
obvious to have “provided or connected Friswell’s outlet to
conduit with a well known vacuum source” because
it is well known in the art that vacuum evaporation
is advantageous over positive gas flow in some
instances. It is known that positive gas flow
evaporation may blow contaminants into the sample.
Vacuum evaporation is advantageous because it would
minimize the opportunity of foreign material blowing
into the sample during evaporation. Answer, page 5.
Initially, we must point out that there is no evidence of
record in support of these conclusions of the examiner.
Therefore, rather than constituting suggestion to combine the
teachings of the references, they can be regarded only as
speculation and assumption.
From our perspective, neither of the references discloses
or teaches the required chamber having a plurality of
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