Appeal 2006-2438
Application 09/259,306
We note that independent claim 4 requires a liquid feed apparatus
including, inter alia, a variable volume feed chamber having an inlet port
and an outlet port, the latter port located at a peripheral part of the feed
chamber so as to decrease resistance to fluid flowing out of the feed chamber
but to increase resistance to fluid flowing into the chamber from the outside,
wherein valves provided in those ports are molded integrally through silicon
processing. In this regard, each such valve is “composed of a valve seat part
and resiliently deformable beams integrally incorporated with the valve seat
part so that the valve seat part is pressed against the associated inlet or outlet
port by a force exerted by the beams resiliently deformed….” See, e.g.,
appealed claim 4.
The Examiner notes that the micro pump of Van Lintel includes a
liquid feed chamber (14) defined in part by a moveable diaphragm (436).
The pump includes two silicon inlet valves (412) and an outlet valve (16).
See the fifth embodiment described in Van Lintel, as illustrated in drawing
Figures 8 -10 thereof. The silicon valves (412) of Van Lintel are made via
micromachining techniques and are glued onto plate (6) with a central
obstruction piece (420) linked via arms (419) and the valves are arranged to
cooperate with a hole (421) located in plate (6). See the paragraph bridging
pages 29 and 30 and drawing Figure 10 of Van Lintel. Outlet valve (16), as
used in the fifth embodiment of Van Lintel, is described as being the same
type of valve (16) as used in the first embodiment. Valve (16) cooperates
with lower plate (2) of Van Lintel. At page 31, Van Lintel teaches that
silicon valve (412) can be used as an outlet valve, presumably as a substitute
for other outlet valves, such as outlet valve (16) of the fifth embodiment.
However, the Examiner has not detailed how or where Van Lintel
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