Appeal No. 1997-1155 Page 4
Application No. 08/376,199
the filter element to provide a hermetic seal. We also note that the term "compressible" is
defined on page 6 of the appellants' specification as follows:2
the term "compressible" means the cross-sectional area of the filter element
(normal to the direction of fluid flow) is reduced more than the retainer's cross-
sectional area (defined by the interior side of the wall of the filter element
retainer) is expanded when the filter element is inserted therein. In other words,
the wall 26 is more rigid than the filter element.
Tayebi (Figure 3) discloses a face mask or respirator comprising a filter 17 of a fibrous
material impregnated with activated charcoal. The filter is sufficiently flexible that it conforms
to the inside of the central portion of a mask shell 11. A snap-in retainer 19, shown in Figures
3 and 4, molded of a flexible thermoplastic material that can bend as it is inserted into the
interior of the mask shell 11 snaps into a groove around the interior of the mask shell 11 to
retain the filter 17 inside the mask shell 11. On assembly, the retainer 19 also deforms to
match the contour of the inside of the mask shell 11 (column 10, lines 38-59). While it is clear
from Tayebi's disclosure that both the filter and the retainer 19 are flexible, there is no
indication as to whether the filter 17 is more or less rigid than the retainer 19 or whether the
filter 17 is compressed such that its cross-sectional area normal to the direction of fluid flow is
reduced at all or whether the retainer's cross-sectional area is expanded upon insertion of the
filter in the retainer.
An applicant can be his own lexicographer provided the applicant's definition, to the extent it differs from2
the conventional definition, is clearly set forth in the specification. Beachcombers Int’l, Inc. v. WildeWood Creative
Prods., Inc., 31 F.3d 1154, 1158, 31 USPQ2d 1653, 1656 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
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