Appeal 2006-1127
Application 10/712,970
Appellants, “[t]he Norman check valve 40 is not normally closed. The only
time the Norman check valve closes is when the valve 82 is intentionally
positioned to create a high pressure in the tube 34. This causes the ball 44 to
block the orifice 50” (Br. para. bridging 9-10).
In response, the Examiner contends that “[c]laim 12 does not recite
that the check valve has to be normally closed” (Answer 18).
In reply, Appellants argue:
The teaching of Norman is that a seal occurs only
when water is pushed down the tube 34 due to a
higher pressure at the top of the tube than at the
bottom of the tube. There is no proof that the ball
44 seals at any other time or under any other
conditions” [Reply Br. 6].
We disagree with the Appellants’ argument concerning the operation
of the check valve of Norman. Referring to Figure 1 of Norman, we note
that Norman’s check valve 40 is placed at the bottom of pickup tube 34. It
appears that check valve 40 will normally be closed because ball 44, through
gravity, will rest upon orifice 50 when the spray gun is not in operation. It is
not until the valve 82 is switched to the position illustrated in Figure 3A that
a “decrease in pressure creates a vacuum in inlet port 116, thereby drawing
cleaning fluid from cartridge 10 through valve 40, tube 34, and valve
cylinder pin 28” (col. 4, ll. 1-3). Looking at Norman’s Figure 1, the only
way for the cleaning fluid from cartridge 10 to flow through valve 40 is for
the vacuum to lift ball 44 sufficiently to allow the flow into the pickup tube
34. Viewed from this perspective, Norman’s check valve 40 performs the
claim 12 function of “keeping the cartridge sealed until the first liquid is
drawn out of the cartridge.”
12
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