Appeal No. 2000-1517
Application 08/850,470
as being made of silicone. By this, the examiner presumably
means that the spacer 15 does not have the mechanical,
physical and thermal characteristics specified in the claim. 4
Yamaguchi discloses a pressure sensor apparatus
comprising a semiconductor pressure sensing element 1, a stem
8, bonding wires 3, signal lines 10 and a resin encapsulation
portion 2, these elements being arranged as shown in Figures 1
and 2. The apparatus also includes a stopper ring 7 of
elastic silicone resin formed on the stem 8 for sealing
against an opposing mold
surface to prevent leakage of the encapsulating resin onto a
portion of the stem intended to be welded to a metal package
20 (see Figure 7).
In proposing to combine Whalley and Yamaguchi, the
examiner concludes that
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in [the] art of semiconductors at the time the
invention was made to have used the encapsulant
leakage stopper (integral sealing member) as taught
4In the paragraph bridging pages 5 and 6 of their
specification, the appellants describe two commercially
available products, GELTEK® and KERATHERM®, which are prepared
from silicones and/or fluorosilicones and embody the
mechanical, physical and thermal characteristics set forth in
claim 1.
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007