Appeal No. 2004-1043
Application No. 09/960,907
ii. The Beck paper is silent to a plurality of anodes
(XII.A, page 19)
Regarding claims 1-43, although Beck does not
expressly disclose providing a plurality of anodes, in the
Abstract on page 355, Beck discloses:
Operation with multiple, vertical,
monopolar, metal anodes and TiB2 plate
cathodes at 0.5 A/cm2 each side promises
a 20-fold decrease in cell volume
compared to conventional [Hall-Heroult]
cells. (Abstract, p. 355)
Thus, the Beck paper provides a strong suggestion for the
use of a plurality of anodes and a plurality of cathodes.
Additionally, the use of a plurality of anodes and a
plurality of cathodes would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was
made because the use of a plurality of anodes and cathodes
increases the total surface area exposed to the
electrolyte, thus increasing the amount of aluminum that
could be produced.
iii. The Beck paper is silent to the removal of heat
from the cell using an airsweep (XII.A, page 19) and to
using a controller to control an airsweep to control the
temperature of the cell (XII.A, page 19)
The Examiner acknowledges that the Beck paper does not
expressly teach the removal of heat from the cell using an
airsweep, as recited in claims 18-34, or the use of a
controller to control the airsweep, as recited in claims
27-34. However, the Examiner deems that it would have been
obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time
the invention was made to have removed heat from the cell
19
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