Appeal No. 2002-0876 Page 4
Application No. 09/267,140
connection point so as to reduce fluctuations in each said separate phase voltage [brief,
pages 17-18]. The examiner responds that the arms of prior art Figure 3 are connected
individually to the positive and negative bus as claimed [answer, page 7]. Appellants
respond that claim 1 cannot reasonably be read on Figure 3 of the admitted prior art
[reply brief, pages 2-7].
We will not sustain this rejection of claim 1. Although the admitted prior art of
Figure 3 might be construed as individually connected in part to the common
connection point represented by the point where the capacitor Cf connects to the
positive or negative bus, the connections shown in Figure 3 do not reduce fluctuations
in each said separate phase voltage as claimed. The description of prior art Figure 3
specifically notes that the connections shown therein create fluctuations in the separate
phase voltages. The disclosed invention as shown in Figures 1 or 2 and as claimed in
claim 1 requires that each of the arms be individually or separately connected to a
common connection point on each of the DC positive bus and the DC negative bus.
Prior art Figure 3 does not operate in the manner recited in claim 1, and therefore, does
not fully meet the invention of claim 1.
We now consider the rejection of claim 2 as being anticipated by the disclosure
of Nishizawa. We note at this point that claim 2 has recitations similar to claim 1, and
the disclosure of Nishizawa is essentially the same as the admitted prior art. Therefore,
the positions of the examiner and appellants are essentially the same as discussed
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