Appeal No. 1998-1417
Application No. 08/526,891
to mixing in the continuous mixer;
c) adding at least one sweetener and at least
one flavoring agent into the elastomer and filler in
the continuous mixer;
d) subjecting at least the sweetener, flavoring
agent, elastomer and filler to distributive mixing in
the continuous mixer, to form a chewing gum product;
e) continuously discharging the chewing gum
product from the mixer; and
f) wherein at least one ingredient is added to
the continuous mixer through a hollow pin located at a
distance from a shaft of the extruder that is at least
2.7% of the diameter of a barrel of the extruder.
19. A method of continuously manufacturing
chewing gum without requiring separate manufacture of
a chewing gum base, comprising the steps of:
a) adding at least an elastomer and filler into
a blade-and-pin mixer that includes pins that are
located at different distances from a shaft of the
extruder including at least one hollow pin that is
located at a greater distance from the shaft then
[sic] at least one other pin, and mixing the elastomer
and filler together using blades and pins;
b) adding at least one ingredient selected from
the group consisting of fats, oils, waxes and
elastomer plasticizers into the blade-and-pin mixer,
and mixing said at least one ingredient with the
elastomer and filler using blades and pins; and
c) adding at least one sweetener and at least
one flavor into the blade-and-pin mixer, and mixing
said sweetener and flavor with the remaining
ingredients to form a chewing gum product.
The examiner relies on the following prior art reference as
evidence of unpatentability:
Andreas Treiber, Extrusion Processing of Shear-Sensitive Food
Products, in International ZDS Conference SIA-27 “Extrusion
Cooking ’87” (1987).
Claims 14, 15 and 19 on appeal stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Treiber. (Examiner’s answer
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