Appeal No. 2005-0090
Application No. 10/057,025
The examiner maintains in the answer at pages 6-7 that:
The Appellant's argument that Ramaswami does not teach the funnel
shaped manifold is correct. However, Ramaswami is not cited to teach this
feature. Simply put, claim 11 is a combination of two basic ink jet print
head structures: a substrate having an ink manifold for supplying ink to
heater elements and a layered structure that is formed on the substrate
and contains the ink ejection chamber and heater elements. Ramaswami
is cited to teach the majority of the elements comprising the layered
structure, not the specifics of the ink manifold. The specifics of the ink
manifold are taught by Figueredo and Taub. With regard to the ink
manifold, Ramaswami teaches an "edge feed" type print head (col. 23:16-
22). That is, the ink is fed from the sides of the substrate, rather than
through an opening formed directly through the substrate (center feed
type). Figueredo teaches a print head having a substrate (112) and a
layered structure(e.g. Figs. 4 and [sic, no text cited]) similar to the claimed
invention and to Ramaswami. Figueredo teaches that this type of print
head may use either an "edge feed" type manifold (Fig. 1) or a "center
feed" type manifold (Fig. 1A), in order to supply in the [sic, ink] to the
heating resistors. Thus, these two ink manifold structures are known
equivalents in the ink jet art. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the ink jet
art would have found it obvious to substitute a "center feed" type manifold
for the "edge feed" manifold of Ramaswami, for the purpose of supplying
ink in a known alternative manner.
In the Appeal Brief (p. 6), the Appellant argues that Figueredo et al.
teaches funnel-shaped ink channels in the barrier layer and thus, the
funnel shaped manifold is not formed in the silicon substrate. It is apparent
that the Appellant is confused as to which element is the ink manifold. The
ink manifold is identified by Ref. No. 116 (see Fig. 1A). The Examiner
acknowledges that this ink manifold is not funnel shaped. However, Taub
is cited to teach why one of ordinary skill in the ink jet art would provide a
funnel-shaped manifold in a print head structure that is similar to the
claimed invention, Ramaswami and Figueredo. The Appellant does not
provide any arguments as to why Taub does not teach a funnel-shaped
ink manifold or as to why Taub can not be combined with the other prior
art references.
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007