Appeal No. 96-1808
Application 08/204,119
established that the Schneider ‘716 rinsing nozzles are
capable of performing the function of appellants’ fill means,
or that the applied references would have led one of ordinary
skill in the art to modify the Schneider ‘716 apparatus such
that the rinsing nozzles would have that capability.
Moreover, the claims require that the sampling means is
capable of withdrawing a sample from the vessel in situ, and
that the wash means is capable of introducing a cleaning
liquid into the vessel in situ. We give the term “in situ”
its broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with
appellants’ specification. See In re Zletz, 893 F.d. 319,
321, 13 USPQ2d 1320, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 1989); In re Sneed, 710
F.d. 1544, 1548, 218 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re
Herz, 537 F.d. 549, 551, 190 USPQ 461, 463 (CCPA 1976); In re
Okuzawa, 537 F.d. 545, 548, 190 USPQ 464, 466 (CCPA 1976). In
doing so, we find that the term means that both the sampling
and washing take place when the vessel is fixed in place on a
rack base and the control head is mounted in place above it
(specification, page 7, lines 15-25). Thus, the term excludes
sampling while the vessel is in one position below the
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