Appeal No. 1998-1133
Application 08/382,296
The appellants state that the claims stand or fall in two
groups: 1) claims 4, 7-11 and 21, and 2) claims 14-20 and 22
(brief, page 5). We therefore limit our discussion to one
claim in each group, i.e., claims 21 and 22, which are the
only independent claims. See In re Ochiai, 71 F.3d 1565, 1566
n.2, 37 USPQ2d 1127, 1129 n.2 (Fed. Cir. 1995); 37 CFR
§ 1.192(c)(7)(1995).1
Rejection of claim 21
The appellants’ claim 21 requires a controller which is
capable of switching a control valve to a first position in
which a first portion of exhaust gases is directed through a
bypass around an igniter, and a smaller second portion of
exhaust gases is directed through the igniter, after engine
start-up but before ignition of a downstream catalytic
converter.
Rudy discloses upstream and downstream catalysts with no
bypass (abstract).
Dunne discloses a system wherein, during desorption of
1 Our discussion does not address Abe, which was applied
to dependent claims to show an electrically actuated heater
upstream of a catalyst (answer, page 6).
4
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