Opinion ID: 373806
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Differences Between '399 and Prior Art

Text: 33 The Zink '399 burner makes several advances over the prior art. First, despite the accepted practice of using shrouds in the industry, no shroud is needed to protect either the pilot flame from wind and rain or the top of the stack from heat. Rodman and the unsuccessful Schellentrager design both have plates at the top of the burner to prevent flames from travelling down the stack as the wind blows. The Clevenger inventor admits that his invention might extinguish. Those skilled in the art appear to have assumed that unshrouded exterior steam spray would extinguish, not encourage, the flare's flame; this is evidenced by the unsuccessful Campbell flare, and by the placement of the steam injection in Verner and Schellentrager. Long-accepted factors which discourage investigation into a combination of designs may be taken into account when determining obviousness. United States v. Adams, 383 U.S. at 52, 86 S.Ct. at 714. 34 The second major advance of the '399 is the concept and means for injecting steam into Burning gas to cause a chemical reaction leading to smokeless burning. In all the inventions put forth by NAO, steam is used for one or more of these seven purposes: (1) to cause aspiration or drafts of air, (2) to precipitate soot and dust, (3) to move smoke up a stack, (4) to lighten the color of smoke emitting from a stack, (5) to cool the burning operation, (6) to separate the gas molecules to reduce cracking, and (7) to change the gases to ones not emitting smoke, such as carbon monoxide and methane. Aside from the '399, only the unsuccessful Verner patent claims to perform the seventh function, and only incidently to the main functions of inspirating air, reducing the combustion temperature, and separating molecules. The key to the '399 patent's success is that the steam is injected into burning gas, something that even the Verner patent does not do. Heat must be supplied, or the chemical change does not occur. In contrast, the Verner patent calls for a lowered combustion temperature. Ancillary results to the '399 steam design were that more turbulence was created, more air was aspirated, no shroud was needed, more gas could be burned at once, and costs were decreased. The higher velocity of discharge of the waste gas also increased the draw of air, increased turbulence, and improved the smokeless burning operation. The steam also directed the flame upward, preventing deterioration of the stack, which added an eighth purpose to the use of steam in burning. 35 Another advance of Zink's patent over the prior art is the introduction of a cooling system. Steam from the encircling manifold (item 46) enters an outer air passageway (item 62) near the top of the burner (at item 64) causing an upward draft of air that cools the whole system and slows deterioration. Baffles (item 71) protect the pilot ignitors from the cooling air. Despite appellant's claims to the contrary, the prior art does not reflect this feature. 8 36 None of these patents teaches the use of nozzles in the manifold which both inject steam and direct the flame in the open atmosphere. Even if, as NAO claims, all the elements of the '399 were present in the prior art (which they are not), the '399 combination for these new purposes removes it from the realm of obviousness. 37 Secondary considerations support the conclusion that the '399 is not obvious. Zink's own experts were unsure whether the invention would work. The '399 has been very successful, and Zink has started a new division for the sale of flare tips. Sales of flare tips represent about twenty million dollars in business. The '399 has replaced the work of others, including some of the flares argued to be prior art. 38 We conclude that the district court properly applied the law and was not clearly erroneous in finding the facts. The '399 patent would not have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the invention.