Appeal No. 1999-0060
Application No. 08/567,771
fluid is inside the column (brief, pages 5-6), the examiner makes
the following unsupported statement: “The examiner holds that the
art does not appreciate the sole definition of a reflux column
and that the appellant has not structurally distinguished the
reflux column in the claim to reflect such a definition” (answer,
pages 4-5).
The relevant dictionary definitions are the following:2
reflux [CHEM ENG] In a chemical process, that part of
the product stream that may be returned to the process
to assist in giving increased conversion or recovery,
as in distillation or liquid-liquid extraction.
column [CHEM ENG] See tower.
tower [CHEM ENG] A vertical, cylindrical vessel used in
chemical and petroleum processing to increase the
degree of separation of liquid mixtures by distillation
or extraction. Also known as a column.
As indicated by these definitions, a reflux column is a vertical,
cylindrical vessel into which part of a product stream is
returned to increase the degree of separation of liquid mixtures
by distillation or extraction.
The appellants’ use of the term “reflux column” is
consistent with these definitions. For example, the
2 McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, (Sybil P.
Parker, ed., McGraw-Hill 5th ed. 1994).
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007