Appeal No. 1997-4385
Application No. 08/288,864
is in the form of a block” to direct flow into chamber 10 in a
tangential direction. The examiner also determined that
Suzuki discloses “a block shape to inlet duct” 23 in Figure 5.
The examiner describes Figures 1 and 2 of Kalen as disclosing
a tangential gas inlet and a wall 14 which forms a block
located adjacent the inlet.
The appellant’s specification (p. 7) describes a “solid
block 33 having ends 33a and 33b (FIG. 1); sides 33c and 33d;
a top 33e; and a bottom 33f" positioned just below inlet 32
and defining, with walls 12 and 20, a passage having a
rectangular cross-section registering with the inlet 32.
Thus, consistent with the appellant’s specification and the
ordinary meaning of
the word, we construe the word “block” to mean “a solid piece,
as
of wood, with one or more flat sides” (see Webster's II New
Riverside University Dictionary 182 (1984)). As so construed,
we agree with the appellant’s argument (brief, p. 5) that the
patents to Evans, Suzuki and Kalen do not teach a “block”
14
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