Appeal No. 96-1633
Application 08/119,245
composite seal capable of providing two types of sealing,
i.e., “wet” sealing and “dry” sealing. This is because Zahn’s
strip 24 is not intended to provide any meaningful sealing
function, but is rather for the purpose acting as a dam to
prevent the mastic 30 from being extruded out of the space
between the panel and the supporting frame when the frame
members are brought into their final assembled position
(column 1, lines 16-21; column 1, lines 63-68; column 3, lines
47-56).
Finally, there is the matter of the motivation for the
proposed combination of Wohl and Zahn. It appears to be the
examiner’s position that the rationale for the proposed
combination is (1) to provide an alternative method of making
the seal of Wohl, and (2) to provide a seal that is easy to
install. As to (1), the fundamental differences in structure,
function, and manner of application of the seals of Wohl and
Zahn suggest that an ordinarily skilled artisan would not
consider one to be an alternative to the other. Concerning
(2), there is no basis for concluding that the pre-applying
Wohl’s mastic to resilient sealing member A would necessarily
make the resulting gasket easier to install, and an argument
-9-
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