Appeal No. 96-3293
Application No. 08/261,645
solder takes place but that it is related to “capillary
attraction or surface energy phenomena, physical attraction,
chemical attraction or a combination of such” [column 5, lines
32-34].
Blette’s invention does not use the dipping principle
at all. Blette uses a source of molten solder which is forced
into a tool using pressure. A single drop of solder is forced
into the tool with each cycle of a piston. The drop of solder
in the tool is then forced from the tool onto the workpiece
also by the application of pressure. Blette specifically
teaches that gravity alone will not deposit the molten
material onto the workpiece [column 4, lines 15-21]. Thus,
Blette teaches the application of a drop of solder onto a
workpiece by forcing the solder from the end of the tool.
The flow of molten material in Blette clearly does not
wet the outside surface of the tool, does not nucleate, does
not write a pattern within each cycle of operation, and does
not form a continuous flow of the molten material to the apex
of the tool for depositing of the molten material by gravity.
The examiner’s argument that the physical principles and
forces in Blette include gravity [answer, page 6] is not
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