Appeal No. 2004-2159
Application No. 09/819,943
In the rejection of the appealed claims, the examiner relies
upon the following references:
Sergeant 3,461,446 Aug. 12, 1969
Petersen 3,485,100 Dec. 23, 1969
Wallrafen 5,719,332 Feb. 17, 1998
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a system for
detecting the level of liquid in a vessel. The system comprises
a detector which includes a thermally conductive substrate, a
heater mounted on the substrate, and a sensor mounted on the
substrate in proximity to the heater. As recited in claim 1,
"discrete elevations of the interior of the vessel are thermally
coupled to corresponding longitudinal portions of said sensor to
generate an electrical signal defining a temperature signal."
Also, claim 1 recites that "said sensor having a vertical
dimension sufficiently large such that said temperature signal
will vary in proportion to said longitudinal portion of said
sensor thermally coupled to the liquid." In addition, a
processor is electrically connected to the sensor and is
programmed to use the temperature signal to calculate the
elevation of the upper surface of the liquid in the vessel.
Also, the system recited in independent claim 11 comprises upper,
intermediate and lower sensors.
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