Appeal No. 96-3395 Page 17
Application No. 08/347,900
discloses that the appellant’s valve element “is provided with
three ports.” (Spec. at 6.) It adds that the three-port
construction is used in a specific fashion. (Id.) The
figures depict valve element 16 as having only three ports, a
port being a hole in the valve element. Accordingly, we
interpret the valve element as having three ports. We further
interpret the four “ports” argued by the appellant as four
connections. Giving claim 7 this interpretation, we find that
claimed invention does not define over the references.
As aforementioned regarding claim 1, Sanford and Seiden
disclose a connection to a purge gas flow line. As also
aforementioned, Spencer discloses a valve 57 having three
ports. The three ports correspond to three connections. One
port connects to the discharge line 47, which is a connection
to a sample source. Another port connects to the sample
bottle 9. As aformentioned regarding claim 2, the reference
also teaches a connection to the vent line 11, which leads to
a filter for excess sample. Therefore, we find that the
references would have suggested the elements of claim 7.
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