Appeal No. 97-4249
Application No. 08/249,400
term "interweaving." We begin by noting that, as explained in
the appellant's specification, each of the heat exchange
systems comprises a plurality of spaced, generally parallel
conduit legs which, together, form a continuous conduit that
actually
traverses a sinuous path. The parallel legs of one of the heat
exchangers are horizontally oriented, while those of the other
are vertically oriented. The relationship between the legs of
the two heat exchangers is best illustrated in Figure 4, where
parallel legs 106 of first heat exchanger 24 are horizontally
oriented, and legs 114 of second heat exchanger 26 are
vertically oriented. As explained on pages 37 and 38 of the
appellant's specification, and as viewed in Figure 4, the
adjacent and connected (at the bottom, as shown) legs 114 of
the first heat exchanger are slightly offset from one another,
sufficiently to allow the horizontal legs 106 of the other heat
exchanger to pass between them, much as in a woven fabric.
This is what the appellant has called "interweaving" of the
conduits of the first heat exchanger with regard to those of
the second.
The requirement for such "interweaving", appears in all
three of the independent claims. Claim 1 recites a first heat
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