Appeal No. 2002-1443 Page 7
Application No. 09/251,833
The “slots” in the grid plate to which Person refers are not numbered and are located
between adjacent flat ribs of the grid plate (16), which also are not numbered. The
slots are shown in the cutaway portion of Figure 1, and it is clear that if the cover plate
(17) is removed or eliminated, heat from the heating coils would flow directly to the food
being heated thereon.
While Person provides a non-contact infrared heating assembly that is spaced
from the grid and cover, it is our view that the examiner’s conclusion that the heat
applied to the platen is uniform “because of the heated air between the heating element
and the platen,” and because “the structure recited in the reference is substantially
identical to that of the claim” (Answer, pages 3 and 4) is merely conjecture. From our
perspective, because each heating coil is placed in a trough in the insulating material,
and owing to the presence of the ribs and slots in the grid, on its face the Person heater
would appear not to be uniformly heating the heating grid cover (17) but would, as the
appellant has urged on page 6 of the Brief, provide a plurality of stripes of hot spots
thereon, the result of which would be uneven heating. In fact, the appellant provided
evidence in support of this contention by virtue of the Second Declaration Under Rule
132 of Malcolm Reay, which was provided along with an amendment (Paper No. 15)
that was entered by the examiner when the appeal was filed (Paper No. 16). In this
declaration Mr. Reay, after establishing his expertise in the field of electric and gas
heating systems for food service appliances, states his opinion that in the Person
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007