Appeal No. 98-1184
Application 08/593,670
outlet end. Gas stream deflectors such as an array
of spaced baffles, contoured surfaces, or the like,
are positioned in the tunnel along opposing walls
thereof. Two substantially parallel gas streams are
passed through the tunnel in the direction of web
travel. The gas streams flow on opposite sides of
the web, impinge on the deflector means and
oscillate and support the web. As each gas stream
is deflected, it is directed against the web so that
the web undergoes mechanical bending and oscillation
which results in an alteration of bending stiffness,
drape, feel and hand of the web.
A method for modifying the properties of the web
contemplates providing a confined flow passageway
having an inlet and an outlet, introducing the web
into the passageway, introducing a pair of gas
streams into the passageway only at the inlet end of
the passageway, passing the gas streams through the
passageway on each side of the web so that the web
is supported by the gas streams and transported
through the passageway, and periodically altering
the direction of flow for each gas stream in the
passageway so that each gas stream alternately
impinges onto and deflects a portion of the web as
the web is transported through the passageway
[Abstract].
The test for obviousness is not whether the features of a
secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the
primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must
be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references.
Rather, the test
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