Appeal 2006-1786
Application 10/322,859
insulating layer inclusive of any part of the diffused layers thereupon. This
appealed subject matter is adequately represented by independent claim 1 which
reads as follows:
1. A thermistor chip comprising:
an NTC thermistor element having end surfaces opposite each other
and mutually oppositely facing main surfaces extending between said end
surfaces;
outer electrodes on said end surfaces and end portions of said main
surfaces; and
diffused layers formed entirely over said main surfaces including said
end portions by subjecting an inorganic material and said thermistor element
together to a firing process at 1000-1300oC, said end surfaces being not
covered by said diffused layers, said inorganic material having a higher
specific resistance than material of said thermistor element, said diffused
layers being formed proximally to all externally exposed surfaces of said
thermistor element and being free of any insulating layer inclusive of any
part of said diffused layers thereupon.
The references set forth below are relied upon by the Examiner as evidence
of obviousness:
Oguro1 JP 63-316403 Dec. 23, 1988
Furukawa1 JP 03-250603 Dec. 28, 1989
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over
Furukawa in view of Oguro, and claims 1-5, 7 and 8 are correspondingly rejected
as being unpatentable over Oguro in view of Furukawa.
1Our understanding of these references is based on the English translations thereof
which are in the record of this application.
2
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