Appeal No. 1997-3678
Application No. 08/485,161
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103
We reverse this rejection of appellant’s claims.
Our focus, in particular, will be upon the particular
features of independent claim 1, evaluated relative to the
evidence of obviousness.
Claim 1 is drawn to a method of cooling a surface by
nucleate boiling comprising, inter alia, providing a polished,
photo etched surface containing discrete nucleation sites
having a conical cross section, immersing the surface in a
refrigerant having a liquid contact angle of less than 5° and
a preselected boiling point so that the nucleation sites
become substantially flooded by the refrigerant, wherein the
conical cross-section has a cavity cone angle, 2, which is
greater than the liquid contact angle, K, of the refrigerant,
and permitting the surface to heat up to a temperature of at
least the preselected boiling point, with said heating
initiating nucleate boiling of the refrigerant with a reversal
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