Appeal 2006-2637
Application 10/178,878
b) a reformer for reforming hydrocarbons to provide said fuel; and
c) an integrated fuel/air manifold including a bottom plate, a top
plate, a middle plate disposed between said top plate and said bottom plate, a
lower partitioned element disposed between said bottom plate and said
middle plate defining a pattern of lower chambers, and an upper partitioned
element disposed between said middle plate and said top plate defining a
pattern of upper chambers, said middle plate having a plurality of openings
for communication between said lower and upper chambers, and said top
plate mounted to said stack and said reformer to provide flow
communication of said reformer with said stack assembly.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art references as evidence
in rejecting the appealed claims:
Elangovan 5,480,738 Jan. 2, 1996
Mukerjee 6,692,859 B2 Feb. 17, 2004
Claims 1-3, 6-9, and 12-31 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as
being anticipated by Mukerjee. Claims 4 and 5 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Mukerjee in view of
Elangovan. We reverse both rejections advanced by the Examiner.
§ 102(e) Rejection
All of the appealed claims subject to the Examiner’s anticipation
rejection require, as part of the claimed apparatus, an integrated fuel/air
manifold, as described below. The claimed manifold includes, inter alia, a
bottom plate, a top plate, and a middle plate. A lower partitioned element is
disposed between the bottom plate and the middle plate and defines a pattern
of lower chambers. Also, an upper partitioned element, which defines a
pattern of upper chambers, is disposed between the upper plate and the
middle plate. The middle plate includes a plurality of openings for
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