Appeal No. 2002-0009
Application 09/032,554
As noted on page 1 of the specification, appellants'
invention relates to an improved scroll compressor wherein the
pressure of fluid vented to a back pressure chamber is controlled
and optimized. More specifically, in contrast to the prior art
(e.g., Figs. 1A, 1B of the application), in appellants’ improved
compressor the vent hole is effectively closed for a majority of
the operational cycle of the compressor and open for only limited
periods of time (see 77 and 78 of Fig. 5), thereby allowing a
designer to ensure that the vent hole is exposed to an optimum
selection of intermediate and discharge pressures, which is
communicated to, and maintained in, the back pressure chamber. A
copy of representative claims 21, 23 and 25 on appeal can be
found in the Appendix to appellants' brief.
The sole rejection before us for review is that of claims 21
through 25 under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, as being based
on a specification which fails to provide an adequate written
description of the invention as now claimed.1 In particular, the
1 As noted on page 2 of the examiner’s answer, all other
rejections made by the examiner in the final rejection (Paper No.
10, mailed March 24, 2000) have been withdrawn.
2
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