Appeal No. 1999-0945
Application 08/786,665
envelopes therein having a thickness in the range of up to
about 15 centimeters, we must agree with appellant (brief,
pages 10-13) that the resulting structure would still not be
that which is set forth in claim 11 on appeal. Upon
evacuation, each of the particulate filled envelopes described
in Jarvis is said to be “converted from a loose, flexible
structure to a compact, rigid structure” (col. 2, lines 60-
61), wherein the particles within the envelope and the
envelope itself decrease in size and become disposed in
intimate contact with a portion of the article to be
protected, and the particles within the envelope “form a rigid
matrix structure” (col. 6, line 13) about a portion of the
article being protected. Jarvis goes on to indicate (col. 6,
lines 25-26) that the envelope maintains this shape so long as
it is evacuated. By contrast, the envelope defined in
appellant’s
claim 11 on appeal has a differential air pressure and
thickness that collectively provides “sufficient rigidity to
said envelope to maintain said envelope in said planar shape
when being held at one end thereof” (see application Figure 1)
and
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