Ex Parte Pearson - Page 11



          Appeal No. 2006-1667                                                            
          Application No. 10/775,634                                                      
               The appellant argues that Pepe does not disclose or suggest                
          a mattress support having a substantially convex cross-sectional                
          shape that is thicker in the center region and gradually thinner                
          towards the edges (brief, page 17).  Gordon discloses a mattress                
          support having a convex shape at least from the center region                   
          toward the front and back edges (figure 3B).  Pepe’s inflatable                 
          pad is convex in the length direction (figure 1).  Pepe,                        
          therefore, would have fairly suggested, to one of ordinary skill                
          in the art, using Pepe’s convex series of air cells in Gordon’s                 
          inflatable bladder to provide the benefit of the air cells                      
          disclosed by Pepe, i.e., achieving a reasonably constant pressure               
          distribution over its length (col. 2, lines 61-64).  Moreover, in               
          view of Gordon’s teaching that the center portion of a mattress                 
          tends to sag first because that is where the greatest portion of                
          the sleeper’s weight is located (col. 2, lines 40-42), Gordon and               
          Pepe would have fairly suggested, to one of ordinary skill in the               
          art, making Gordon’s inflatable bladder convex from the center                  
          portion, where the sleeper’s weight is the greatest and,                        
          therefore, the greatest thickness is needed, to the side edges                  
          where there is less sleeper’s weight and, therefore, less need                  
          for bladder thickness.                                                          


                                           11                                             



Page:  Previous  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Next

Last modified: September 9, 2013