Appeal No. 2005-2140
Application No. 09/943,355
at the ends thereof. Claims 6 and 14 then recite that
transparent sheet also acts as the sheet-shaped transparent
substrate. It is unclear how the erasing light source can be on
one side of the transparent substrate if part of the erasing
light source is the transparent substrate and the other part of
the erasing light source is at one end of the transparent
substrate. Thus, claims 6 and 14 are vague and indefinite.
Claims 1, 9, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as being unpatentable over Saotome II.
Saotome II shows in Figure 19 phosphor sheet 422 inside
light shielding cover 426. As shown in Figure 16, radiation
strikes phosphor sheet 422 through the upper surface. Sheet 422
moves across into case 425 for read-out and then back into light
shielding cover 426. Figure 19 shows a surface type erasing
light source 471 above the phosphor sheet 422 inside case 425,
but Saotome II discloses (column 25, lines 33-35) that the
phosphor sheet may be provided inside the light shielding cover.
Saotome II further discloses (column 20, lines 228-30 and 37-38)
that 422A is a plate-like substrate over a phosphor layer 422B,
which together form the phosphor sheet. Also, Saotome II
discloses (column 25, lines 23-26) that when the substrate 422A
is transparent, erasing light source is on the side opposite to
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