Appeal No. 2006-0587
Application No. 10/017,483
considers the “first dump load” requirement of appealed claim 1
as satisfied by patentee’s electric motor 7 which powers pump 8
to thereby transfer fuel from tank 9 to fuel cell battery 2 (see
Keller’s drawing). The record also reflects that the claim 1
requirement “wherein the first transistor is responsive to the
stack terminal voltage across the first set of fuel cells to
selectively couple the first dump load in parallel with the first
set of fuel cells when the stack terminal voltage . . . exceeds a
threshold voltage . . . ” is regarded by the examiner as
distinguishing from and in fact opposite to Keller’s system
wherein the electric motor (cf., the hereclaimed first dump load)
is “coupled” when the stack terminal voltage is below, rather
than exceeds as here claimed, a threshold voltage.
With further regard to this matter, patentee’s electric
motor is activated when the voltage under regulation falls below
a fixed value to thereby initiate pump 8 thus transferring fuel
to fuel cell battery 2 whereby additional voltage is supplied to
load circuit 1. See Keller, for example, at lines 4-13 in column
1, from line 55 in column 1 through line 5 in column 3, and
especially the sentence bridging columns 2 and 3. As previously
indicated, this aspect of Keller’s system is referred to by the
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Last modified: November 3, 2007