Appeal No. 2004-1495 Page 7
Application No. 09/526,631
explained above, Arai’s temperature controller 14 maintains the cooling medium in the
reservoir at a predetermined constant temperature (column 7, lines 67-68) and simply
actuates a pump to circulate the cooling medium through the cooling passages in the
mold. While Arai’s molding device could be modified to provide an electronic flow meter
which adjusts inlet coolant flow based on signals from a feedback controller, the
controller operating to adjust the temperature of the coolant by sending signal input to
the flow meter, we find no suggestion in either Arai or Moore to do so. The mere fact
that the prior art could be so modified would not have made the modification obvious
unless the prior art suggested the desirability of the modification. See In re Fritch, 972
F.2d 1260, 1266, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84 (Fed. Cir. 1992); In re Mills, 916 F.2d 680,
682, 16 USPQ2d 1430, 1432 (Fed. Cir. 1990); In re Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902, 221
USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
Rejection (3)
Claims 7-9 depend from claim 1 and further require a plurality of integrated
sensors, each outputting an electrical signal which is a function of strain. Arai does not
disclose strain sensors in the molding device. In fact, one of ordinary skill in the art
would have inferred from the disclosure in the second full paragraph of column 2 that
the use of strain sensors was not necessary, inasmuch as the use of high frequency
induction heating in combination with mold temperature control is expected to prevent
sinking or strain on the optical part.
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