Appeal No. 95-4865
Application No. 08/240,505
membrane filter medium. Claim 1 is further illustrative of the
appealed subject matter and reads as follows:
1. In a pleated filter cartridge having a poly(tetra-fluoro
ethylene) membrane filter medium, the improvement comprising:
providing a continuous support web on both faces of said
membrane and pleated with said membrane, wherein said web is a
nonwoven paper of thermally bonded poly(tetra-fluoro ethylene)
fibers, said web has a thickness of less than about 0.2 mm, and
said web is substantially free of materials other than
poly(tetra-fluoro ethylene).
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Ashelin et al. (Ashelin) 5,154,827 Oct. 13, 1992
(filed Jan. 22, 1990)
Kawai et al. (Kawai) 5,158,680 Oct. 27, 1992
(filed May 30, 1989)
Claims 1-5 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Ashelin in view of Kawai. On page 3 of the
answer the examiner makes the following findings with respect to
Ashelin and Kawai:
Ashelin discloses a PTFE plural membrane filter
cartridge and Kawai et al. teach a non-woven PTFE
fibrous membrane media for filter cartridges.
It is apparently the examiner’s position that (1) it would have
been obvious to form the individual membranes in the “plural
membrane” filter element of Ashelin from “non-woven PTFE fibrous”
membranes in view of the teachings of Kawai and (2) the outermost
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007