Appeal No. 1998-3336 Page 6
Application No. 08/527,788
57)." (Examiner's Answer at 7.) The appellant argues, "[t]he
impellers utilized on the centrifugal pump of the Bartley
reference are used to pump fluid through a piping system. The
impellers are not rotating because of fluid flowing within a
piping system, and do not directly measure fluid flow."
(Reply Br. at 2.)
Claims 1, 3-5, and 7-9 specify in pertinent part the
following limitations: "a measuring means for providing
measurements of the inlet pipe volume of water per unit time,
said measuring means comprising a rotatable impeller ...."
Similarly, claim 10 specifies in pertinent part the following
limitations: "a measuring means for providing measurements of
volume of inlet water per unit time connected to said inlet
water supply, said measuring means including a rotatable
impeller ...." Accordingly, claims 1, 3-5, and 7-10 require a
rotatable impeller for measuring a volume of inlet water per
unit time.
The examiner fails to show a suggestion of the
limitations in the prior art. “Obviousness may not be
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007