Appeal No. 1998-1296
Application 08/199,304
microwave sensitive material for absorbing microwave energy to
heat and ignite the propellant. The claim also requires that
at least a portion of the combustion chamber be “a
substantially resonant cavity having a fixed size for the
microwaves.” Similar presentations of the invention appear in
independent apparatus claim 13 and in independent method claim
22.
Christianson is directed to igniting propellant by the
use of electromagnetic radiation. In the structure disclosed,
the propellant chamber is provided with a parabolic surface to
reflect the microwave energy and focus it upon clusters of
microwave sensitive material imbedded in the propellant.
While there are some similarities between the Christianson
system and the appellants’ invention, as the examiner
acknowledges in the rejection, Christianson does not disclose
providing the propellant chamber with a resonant cavity having
a fixed size for the microwaves. For this feature, the
examiner looks to General Dynamics, concluding that the
teachings of General Dynamics would have motivated one of
ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a resonant cavity in
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