Appeal No. 2002-0035
Application No. 08/861,918
Claims 44 and 45 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
being anticipated by Porter.
Claims 42 and 43 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Porter.
DISCUSSION
I. The 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) rejection of claims 44 and 45
Porter pertains to a cryogenic vessel for cooling electronic
components such as integrated circuits. As explained by Porter
at col. 2, lines 31-67, with reference to Figures 1 and 2,
the cryogenic vessel 10 is made up of two insulated
vessel portions 14 and 16 which may be symmetrical and
which are separated by a flexible membrane 18 located
between a pair of seals 19. The flexible membrane 18
has an integrated circuit (IC) socket 20 located near
one end such that an IC chip 22 connected to the IC
socket 20 is located within one of the immersion
chambers 12 . . . .
. . . Each symmetrical portion 14 and 16 includes
an outer wall 32 and an inner wall 34. Next to the
outer wall 32 is a layer of insulating material 36 such
as a closed cell plastic foam which provides mechanical
strength to the outer wall 32 and is sized to allow for
a tight vapor seal between the symmetrical vessel
portions 14 and 16 and the flexible membrane 18 trapped
therebetween when the vessel portions 14 and 16 are
clamped together by the bolts 24. A vacuum chamber 30
is defined by the inner wall 34 and a chamber wall 33
next to the insulating layer 36. Each vacuum chamber
30 is shaped to form an enclosure and is welded shut.
The vacuum chamber 30 forms a layer of super insulation
around the immersion chamber 12 of each vessel portion
14 and 16. The insulation layers 36 of the vessel
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007