Appeal No. 96-0515
Application 08/169,081
Of the two independent claims before us (i.e., claims 1
and 14), Appellants' brief specifically addresses only
claim 1, which is the narrower of the two claims. We will
begin our analysis with claim 14, the broader claim, which
reads as follows:
14. In an improved thermal ink jet printer which
includes a cartridge having a supply of ink therein, said
cartridge being in ink flow communication with nozzles of
a printhead, the improvement comprises an interface
between the printhead and the cartridge which is sealed
by a flexible porous member having a slot therethrough
and having first and second surfaces coated with a
thermal setting adhesive which fills all pores of said
member, the porous member being impervious to air and
ink[,] the porous member further providing a direct
bonding between the cartridge and printhead.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Baker et al. (Baker) 4,771,295 Sep. 13, 1988
Kneezel et al. (Kneezel) 4,864,329 Sep. 5,
1989
Claims 1-6 and 14 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
unpatentable over Baker in view of Kneezel.
Figure 2 of Baker shows a substrate member or interface
seal 102 whose top surface is bonded to the surface 100 of pen
body 10 by an adhesive 114, 116, and 118, which is simply
described as a "suitable adhesive" (col. 4, lines 3-8). The
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