Appeal No. 1997-0668
Application No. 08/232,854
step of kneading recycled plastic so that it is simultaneously
comminuted, mixed, heated, melted and homogenized.
It appears to be the examiner’s opinion that such a
multi-operational step would have been suggested by Nichols
notwithstanding the fact that patentee’s method includes
discrete and segregated operational steps such as the chopping
step (see element 31 of the patent drawing), the mixing step
(see element 18 of the patent drawing), and the melting step
(see element 15 of the patent drawing). According to the
examiner, “[t]he steps [of Nichols] are simultaneously and
continuously occurring since the material continuously flows
from the chopping 31 to the screw conveyor 18 and both operate
simultaneously” (Answer, page 9). However, we do not share
the examiner’s implicit belief that the here claimed kneading
step encompasses comminuting, mixing, heating, melting and
homogenizing operations which are performed simultaneously
albeit on disparate segments on the plastic material
flowstream. From our perspective, such an interpretation
would be unreasonable and inconsistent with the appellant’s
specification disclosure (In re Sneed, 710 F.2d 1544, 1548,
218 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1983)), and the examiner has not
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