Appeal No. 2001-2187
Application No. 09/333,356
its own flow passage through the bushing assembly, and as such
appears consistent with the prior art. See Demasquie, column 3,
lines 49-57, and figure 1, reference numeral 21, which clearly
depicts a bushing as being affixed to the floor of the forehearth
and having its own flow passage. Coggin, column 1, lines 55-62,
also discloses that the bushing (which is readily broken away from
the flow block) has its own flow passage.
It also appears that the appellants’ specification defines
the “chute” as a narrowing area between the bushing and the
furnace melting region. (Specification, page 10, lines 17-20). We
interpret the chute to necessarily be associated with the flow
block, as the claims require the chute to be part of the walled
melting receptacle. We therefore deem the claims to be limited to
a chute associated with the flow block and not the bushing.
Turning to the art, we do not see a baffle unit within the
chute region of Demaschquie, but we, like the examiner, find that
Coggin teaches a perforated deflector plate 56 (see figures 1, 2,
3, and 10 specifically) located in the flow passage of the
bushing. It is said to have two functions: “...the plate
functions to reduce the degree to which molten glass entering the
chamber impinges directly on the reinforcing plate 46 and to
direct particles, such as refractory stones or crystals, to the
collection areas.” (Coggin, column 6, lines 25-30). Coggin was
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