Appeal 2007-1944
Application 10/631,894
Ushiro's Disclosure
1. According to Ushiro, a number of problems confront the use of prior
art fuel cells with portable devices such as electronic cameras, including
inefficient use of the continuously generated power (Specification at 1 and
3), leakage of water and other waste products of the fuel cell (id. at 2), and
freezing of the water in cold climates (id. at 3).
2. Ushiro seeks exclusionary patent protection for a fuel cell system that
is said to overcome these and other problems. (Specification at 3.)
3. The fuel cell system is claimed separately and in combination with
various electronic devices.
4. To ameliorate the inefficient use of fuel cell generated energy, Ushiro
provides a first aspect of the invention wherein, among other features, "a
secondary cell which stores power generated by the fuel cell is installed."
(Specification at 3–4.)
5. According to Ushiro, the secondary cell makes it possible to allow the
fuel cell to generate power "only when the power of the secondary cell is
insufficient." (Specification at 5.)
6. To address the leakage problem, Ushiro provides a discharge-solution
recovery port that leads to a discharged-solution storing section that shares
space with the fuel storage section via a deformable flexible sheet member.
(Specification at 4.) As the fuel is used up, it takes up less space, which the
discharged water and other materials occupy, separated from the fuel by the
deformable sheet member. (Id. at 4–5.)
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