Appeal No. 98-0393
Application No. 08/450,271
substantially along its entire length" (claim 1 of reference).
Again, it is of no moment that the refractory body of Koffron
must be appropriately weighted and shaped in a non-tetrahedral
configuration in order to attain the disclosed operation,
since such weighted non-tetrahedral bodies are within the
scope of the appealed claims. Moreover, to the extent it can
be argued that there is some unspecified distinction between
the claimed geometrically proportioning and shaping and the
proportioning and shaping employed by Koffron, we agree with
the examiner that it would have been obvious for one of
ordinary skill in the art to determine the shape of the
refractory body that results in its center of gravity being
below its center of buoyant support such that the shape of the
body generally conforms with the shape of the vortex.
Furthermore, assuming that one of ordinary skill in the art
would not have appreciated that the non-tetrahedral bodies of
Koffron have their center of gravity below their center of
buoyant support, this relationship would have naturally ensued
from shaping a refractory body in accordance with the
teachings of Koffron.
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