Appeal No. 95-3317
Application No. 07/937,522
materials with similar characteristics may be employed (column
2, lines 14-52), and the silicone rubbers may be prepared as
either "transparent tapes or sheets" (column 2, line 62).
Moreover, Nitzsche clearly discloses that the wrapping of the
glass tubing has the advantage that "glass splinters and other
glass pieces tend to be held in place even if the glass breaks
during operation" (column 3, lines 42-44).
However, all of the independent claims on appeal require,
inter alia, the steps of "taking a resilient sheet having an
inner layer of adhesive, heating the sheet until the adhesive
layer becomes tacky, rolling the tube over the adhesive layer
to wrap the sheet around the tube," none of which are
disclosed or suggested by Nitzsche. The examiner has applied
the teachings of the patent to Vohrer as evidence of the
obviousness of modifying the process of Nitzsche to include
the missing steps noted above, and admittedly, Vohrer
discloses utilizing a textile reinforced strip 10 with a hot
melt adhesive, the strip being wound around an inner tube.
However, the inner tube is not "glass" as asserted by the
examiner on page 3 of the answer, but is made of
"thermoplastic or elastomeric material" (column 2, lines 46-47
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