Appeal No. 1998-0863
Application 08/502,831
because radiant electric heaters generate such extreme
heat levels, one skilled in the art would recognize that
the plastic housing parts of convection heaters are not
readily adaptable for use with radiant heaters unless
some mechanism is provided to maintain the plastic
housing parts relatively cool.
Nothing in the Krichton patent or any other prior
art of record suggests any mechanism for keeping the
plastic housing parts of a radiant heater cool in
spite of the extreme heat developed by a radiant
heater. . . . Thus, one of ordinary skill in the
art would not be motivated to utilize the plastic
top cap of a convection heater such as the Patton
heater with a radiant heater as disclosed in the
Krichton patent.
We are not persuaded by this argument. The Krichton
heater, like that disclosed by appellants, is a radiant heater
which also includes a fan (convective)(col. 1, lines 24 to
27). In Krichton, the fan 82 circulates air upward between
the back of the reflector assembly 174 and the rear 24 of the
housing, and then outward through slots 184 between the
reflector elements. Krichton states at col. 1, lines 49 to
52, that “the moving air maintains the heater at a low
temperature, thereby promoting efficiency and eliminating the
dangers and discomforts to the user of high heater
temperatures,” and further discloses at col. 5, lines 59 to
62, that this moving air flow cools the reflector elements.
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