Appeal No. 96-0640
Application 08/127,178
dispersed in a curable adhesive matrix at a weight ratio of a
3:1, are feasible, practical, or desirable. There appears to
be little basis in the applied prior art for the examiner’s
view that Metzger reasonably would led persons having ordinary
skill in the art to make and effectively use soundproof
coatings comprising approximately three parts by weight of
lead powder interspersed into each part by weight of an
adhesive binder which already has interspersed therein at
least two parts by volume of hollow microspheres per volume of
adhesive binder, the hollow microspheres being a most
significant feature of Metzger’s soundproof structures
(Metzger, col. 2, l. 1-32, and col. 2, l. 49, to col. 3, l.
28). Metzger states (Metzger, col. 3, l. 29-36):
[T]he spheres are disposed quite close to each other
but preferably not touching each other. This arrangement
is believed to be provided by thoroughly mixing or
blending
the microspheres and the not yet cured epoxy resin. This
blending must be for sufficiently long time period so
that the consistency is fairly uniform with the binder
encapsulating by far the majority of the microspheres.
When dispersing the microspheres into the uncured resin,
Metzger teaches (Metzger, col. 4, l. 43-49):
Another significant factor is the viscosity of the
material in its uncured state. It is desirable to have
this viscosity as low as possible. It has been found
that the viscosity should preferably be less than 10,000
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