Appeal 2007-0821
Application 10/001,730
Appellants claim a composition for use in structural members
comprising a polymer material having internal closed cells and glass fibers
that are embedded in the closed cell polymer material which have a fiber
length in the range of 50 to 100 microns. Claim 1 is adequately
representative of the appealed claims and reads as follows:
1. A composition for use in structural members, said composition
comprising:
a polymer material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl
chloride, polyethylene and polypropylene in a concentration of 82% to 99%
by weight of the mixture, said polymer material being extruded to have
internal closed cells; and
glass fibers that are imbedded in the closed cell polymer material, said
glass fibers having a fiber length in the range of 50 to 900 microns and being
in the amount of 1% to 18% by weight of the composition.
The references set forth below are relied upon by the Examiner as
evidence of obviousness:
Crabtree US 6,062,624 May 16, 2000
Nomura WO 00/038591 May 2000
The Examiner concludes that "it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art to form the structure of Nomura … with either open
or closed cells since Crabtree … teach[es] that either open or closed cellular
material is appropriate for use to fill cavities in a body member of an
automobile" (Answer 3-4).
1 In discussing Nomura, both the Appellants and the Examiner refer to and
rely upon US Patent No. 6,623,838 B1 as the English language equivalent of
the WO '859 reference. We will do likewise.
2
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