Appeal No. 2005-1159 Page 3
Application No. 09/760,189
rejections and to the brief (filed November 12, 2004) and reply brief (filed February 9,
2005) for the appellants’ arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellants’ specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner. As a consequence
of our review, we make the determinations which follow.
Independent claim 1 recites a housing having an internal chamber and
comprising an inlet for receiving a fluid product into the housing and being in fluid
communication with the chamber, a discharge port through which fluid product may exit
the housing, the discharge port having an interior surface and being in fluid
communication with the chamber, and a valving rod comprising a central bore, at least
one inlet in fluid communication with the bore for receiving cleaning solvent and one or
more outlet ports in fluid communication with the bore and “being capable of directing
cleaning solvent radially outwards from the bore and against said interior surface of
said discharge port.”
In the dispensing system of Sperry ‘848, the cleaning solvent flows through
solvent port 166 into solvent initial supply area 312 and enters the bore (non-
interference fit area 318) within mixing chamber defining member 218, on which the
examiner reads the “valving rod” recited in appellants’ claim 1, via radially extending
passageway 256. The solvent then flows down along elongated main section 288 of
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