Appeal No. 1998-1364
Application 08/722,384
Sensors are commonly used for converting physical
conditions such as temperature, pressure, and
acceleration to an electrical sensor signal for further
processing. A typical sensor, such as a pressure sensor,
includes a diaphragm for converting a pressure into a
stress. A transducer converts the stress into the sensor
signal which is typically amplified and filtered to
provide a sensor output signal. [Emphasis added.]
It is consistent with Appellants' specification to read
the "physical condition" in claim 1 on temperature and the
"sensing structure" on the surface of the diaphragm 16 in
Huck. The resistors 26-32 are deposited in the non-active (or
inactive) part 34 of the diaphragm 16 "to prevent their
resistance values from being changed by the mechanical
deformation of the diaphragm" (col. 3, lines 4-6). Since the
resistance values are not changed by mechanical deformation,
the inactive area 34 must be a "location of substantially zero
bending," as claimed. That is, claim 1 reads on a part of the
overall Huck sensor. Since Appellants themselves are claiming
only a part of an overall sensor, this interpretation is
reasonable.
Claim 1 further recites "a first transducer disposed at
the first location for converting a membrane stress in the
sensing structure to a first sense signal." The temperature
sensors R and R in Huck correspond to transducers in theT1 T2
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