Appeal No. 1998-0888
Application 08/314,036
drivers permit, but do not positively require, the emitter
plates (or at least a row and column on each emitter plate) to
be independently controlled; compare claims 2 and 4 wherein
the controller operates a first emitter plate or a first
section of the single anode independently. The Examiner finds
that Spindt teaches "at least two row drivers and at least two
column drivers coupled to said controller (figure 4, item 28
and 29)" (EA4).
Figure 4 shows a single block 28 of base (row) drivers
and a single block 29 containing gate (column) drivers, where
there are three gates to be energized for each base (col. 5,
lines 2-7). Compare this to Appellants' figure 2 where there
are four emitter plates 50, 60, 70, and 80, each having its
own row driver block and column driver block. However, there
must be a driver for each base and three drivers for each
column in Spindt; this is why, for example, block 29 refers to
"GATE DRIVERS" (plural). The claim limitations to "row
drivers" and "column drivers" are broad enough to refer to
these individual row and column drivers, rather than an
aggregation of individual row and column drivers.
Nevertheless, Spindt still lacks plural emitter plates.
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