Appeal No. 1997-2036
Application No. 08/335,991
communication with the surrounding environment. Claim 1 is
illustrative of the claimed invention, and it reads as
follows:
1. A diffusion structure for allowing fluid flow
between an interior of a disk drive and a surrounding external
environment, comprising:
an entry channel having a first end connected to the
external environment, and a second end at an opposite end of
said entry channel;
a plurality of chambers, a first chamber of said
plurality of chambers connected to said second end of said
entry channel, and a second chamber connected to the interior
of the disk drive;
a plurality of channels interconnected between said
plurality of chambers, said plurality of channels inhibiting
flow between said plurality of chambers at least at certain
fluid flow rates;
a housing for the disk drive in which said entry channel,
said plurality of chambers and plurality of channels are
formed; and
a cover affixed to said housing over said plurality of
chambers and plurality of channels so as to define a diffusion
path through said plurality of chambers and plurality of
channels.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:2
Gitzendanner, PN 4,620,248, Morehouse et al., PN 5,025,336, Stefansky2
et al., PN 5,029,026, and Inoue, JP 62-279588 are all cited in the prior art
section of the Examiner's Answer but were not applied in any rejections.
2
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