Appeal No. 2006-3218
Application No. 10/233,845
BACKGROUND
The Appellants’ invention relates to a capactive sensor for sensing the amount of
material in a container. An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading
of exemplary claim 16, which is reproduced below.
16. A sensor for capacitively sensing an amount of toner material in a
toner cartridge of a reprographic device, said sensor comprising:
an oscillator for generating an oscillating signal, said oscillator
comprising a toner capacitor; and
said toner capacitor comprising two electrodes, wherein one of
the electrodes is a conductive component part mounted to the toner
cartridge, and the other electrode is positioned outside of the toner
cartridge, wherein a capacitance of said toner capacitor depends on said
amount of toner material such that a frequency of said oscillating signal
depends on said capacitance.
PRIOR ART
The prior art references of record relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the
appealed claims are:
Applicants admitted prior art figs. 1-2 and between page 2, line 16 to page 3, line 17 of
the specification. (AAPA)
Miyashiro 6,275,665 Aug. 14, 2001
Saito et al. (Saito) 6,282,384 Aug. 28, 2001
Yasumasa JP 11184235 A July 9, 1999
REJECTIONS
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the Examiner and the
Appellants regarding the above-noted rejections, we make reference to the Examiner's
answer (mailed Mar. 23, 2006) for the reasoning in support of the rejection, and to
Appellants’ brief (filed Dec. 27, 2005) and reply brief (filed May 24, 2006) for the
arguments thereagainst.
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