Appeal No. 96-1225
Application 08/107,696
phase gas is exhausted in the continuous mode (page 15, line
23), would have fairly suggested, to one of ordinary skill in
the art, separating the contaminants from the exhausted dense
phase gas in the continuous mode and recycling the dense phase
gas for the same reason that recycling apparently is used in
the batch mode, i.e., to reduce the amount of fresh dense
phase gas required by the process. JP ‘189 does not disclose
that the recycle gas is conducted through a heat exchanger
before it is returned to the pressure vessel. However, the
teaching in JP ‘189 that the temperature in the pressure
vessel is controlled at the desired temperature above or below
the critical temperature of the cleaning fluid (page 16, lines
16-21) would have fairly suggested, to one of ordinary skill
in the art, adjusting the temperature of the recycled dense
phase gas prior to introducing it into the pressure vessel so
that it would be at the temperature desired in the pressure
vessel.
For the above reasons, the processes recited in
appellant’s claims 6 and 18 would have been prima facie
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art over JP ‘189.
We do not find in JP ‘189 a disclosure or suggestion of
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