Appeal No. 1997-4053
Application 08/548,714
Uddin 5,038,742 Aug. 13, 1991
Barret 2 456,533 Nov. 13, 1991
(European patent)
THE REJECTION
Claims 1 through 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10 stand rejected
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Barret in view of
Uddin. According to the examiner, Barret discloses an inter-
nal combus- tion engine having a fuel injector 4 which directs
fuel to a heating element 5. The heating element 5 is embed-
ded in an inner wall of the intake port of the cylinder head.
However, the heating element of Barret is a resistance heating
element and does not rely on the Peltier effect. Uddin
teaches an internal combustion engine wherein a Peltier
heating element is used to heat fuel/air mixture being
supplied to the engine. Therefore, the examiner concludes
that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to
have substituted for Barret's heating element a Peltier
2Our understanding of the European patent to Barret is
via an English language translation, a copy of which is ap-
pended to our decision.
3
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