Appeal No. 2006-1824
Application No. 10/131,068
toys (abstract; col. 1, lines 51-53 and 60-63). When the
inflator device is inserted into a tubular inflation valve (38)
on the inflatable object, the inflator device’s angled tip (44)
gently pushes open a flapper valve (40) inside the inflation
device (col. 3, lines 5-7; fig. 1). Pressure is applied to the
plastic bag to force air from the bag through the inflation
device’s one-way air valve (20) and the tubular inflation valve
into the inflatable object (col. 2, lines 47-49; col. 5, lines
14-30). When the object has been inflated, removal of the
inflator device from the inflation valve closes the flapper
valve, thereby holding the air inside the inflatable object (col.
5, lines 30-32). The one-way air valve preferably is a flapper
valve, but can be another type of valve such as a duckbill valve,
ball valve or poppet valve (col. 2, lines 53-66).
One of the functions required of the convective device as
set forth in the specification and cited above is that the
convective device imposes a heat gain or loss that changes the
temperature of the thermally conditioned air. The examiner
argues that Shelton’s device “inherently and necessarily
transfers heat (kinetic energy from moving atoms or molecules) by
circulation of air” (answer, page 4). The examiner is of the
view that because there is motion of air molecules in Shelton’s
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