Appeal No. 2006-2699
Application No. 09/915,494
includes a reservoir . . . capable of receiving a portion of the specimen from
the chamber and optionally . . . capable of receiving a test device. The
device optionally includes a valve functionally interposed between the
chamber and the reservoir that is capable of transferring at least a portion of
the specimen from the chamber to the reservoir.” (Specification 1.)
The valve “functions so as [to] acquire a measured portion of a
specimen . . . collected in the chamber”; to “physically separate[] the
measured portion of the specimen from the specimen remaining in the
chamber”; and “to deliver and dispense the measured portion of the
specimen into the reservoir.” (Id. at 17-18.) The specification describes
embodiments in which “the means . . . for transferring a portion of the
specimen in the valve . . . cannot be . . . actuated more than once.” (Id. at
20.)
DISCUSSION
1. CLAIMS
Claims 74-102 are on appeal. We will focus on claim 74, which is
representative and reads as follows:
74. A specimen collection device, comprising:
(a) a chamber for collecting a specimen;
(b) a reservoir for receiving an aliquot of specimen from the
chamber and for receiving a test device;
(c) a valve functionally interposed between the chamber and
the reservoir and having a compartment for holding an aliquot
of specimen and transporting the aliquot from the chamber to
the reservoir, the valve having first, second and third positions,
2
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