Appeal No. 95-2936
Application 07/887,040
the O'Dea patent (4,924,805) represents a prior art moistening
apparatus for moistening the glue line of an envelope flap and
discloses the structure and operation of portions of appellant's
system including the envelope transport and movable moistening
spray nozzle structures. What O'Dea lacks is any teaching or
suggestion regarding collection of excess sprayed moistening
fluid and of a pump means for pumping the collected moistening
fluid from the collection means back to a moistening fluid supply
tank, as is set forth in appellant's claim 23 on appeal.
However, looking at Figure 5 of O'Dea, it is apparent
to us that excess spray from nozzle (250) and runoff from
envelope flap (451) will travel along the inclined guide wall and
baffle (454) of the apparatus therein and ultimately be deposited
in the base portion of the housing of the moistening unit.
Marzullo, Figure 10, evidences knowledge in the art concerning
how to deal with such excess moistening fluid runoff. As clearly
seen in Marzullo, the excess moistening fluid reaching the base
portion of the housing therein is collected and directed into a
container or tank (40). As can be seen in Figure 9 of Marzullo,
the collected excess moistening fluid is then pumped by a pump
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