Appeal No. 2000-1335
Application 09/131,930
its intermediate portion with the lowermost annular
tube 18 by means of communicating tubes 22 arranged
radially, and the tank 21 on the discharge port side
is communicated in its upper end portion with the
uppermost annular tube 18 by means of communicating
tubes 23 arranged radially. The supply tube 11 is
communicated with the bottom of the tank 20 on the
supply port side, and the discharge tube 12 is
communicated with the bottom of the tank 21 on the
discharge port side [column 3, line 41, through
column 4, line 4].
Claim 1, the sole independent claim on appeal, recites a
radial flow heat exchanger comprising, inter alia, a sealed
fluid manifold, a sealed fluid receiving hub spaced interiorly
and radially with respect to the manifold, a plurality of
separate and spaced fluid flow tubes having respective ends in
sealed fluid communication with the manifold and the hub, and
a fin assembly positioned between the manifold and hub. In
the examiner’s view (see pages 3 and 8 through 10 in the
answer), Nomura’s flowpassage 10 meets all of the limitations
in claim 1 except for those pertaining to the fin assembly.
Among other things, claim 1 requires the fin assembly (1) to
include a heat conducting material which is arranged or
disposed at spaced intervals and in a generally annular
orientation between the hub and manifold, (2) to have a
progressively increasing surface area whereby the maximum
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Last modified: November 3, 2007