Appeal No. 2001-0246
Application No. 08/921,103
reference fluid enters the bridge through inlet tube 15 directly
or indirectly from a container and exits through outlet tube 16
directly or indirectly to a suitable reservoir (col. 2, lines
49-55). In fact, Europe teaches that the reference fluid flows
to and from a container into chamber 21 on one side of the
porous bridge element while the sample fluid flows on the other
side of the bridge for chemistry analyzing.
Hofmeier, on the other hand, relates to a free-diffusion
liquid junction in which the reference fluid is pumped from
reservoir 17 and returned to the reservoir after the reading of
the sample fluid. As shown in Figure 1, Hofmeier discloses that
sample fluid 2 is purged from measuring channel 3 by cleansing
fluid 9 after each reading is completed (col. 4, lines 16-22).
However, Hofmeier returns reference fluid 18 to the same
container after the reading (col. 4, lines 26-32) and reuses the
reference fluid for future readings. Similarly, Covington
discloses that the flow rate of the reference fluid in a fresh
liquid junction (free junction) is set such that a fresh liquid
junction may be established each time the sample fluid is
removed. Covington further suggests that the pumps need only be
running long enough to reform or refresh the junction by flowing
a small amount of the reference fluid (page 224).
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