Appeal No. 1998-1805
Application No. 08/596,734
of ordinary skill in the art in view of the showing of
Fornelli.
Fornelli discloses an apparatus for dying a continuous
web of fabric. It comprises a vertically oriented chamber
filled with dye or the like through which the web is passed.
Both the inner and the outer walls of the chamber are provided
with saw-tooth configurations so, as shown in detail in Figure
2, there is a succession of narrowings and widenings in the
width of the chamber. The impregnating fluid is not under
static pressure in the chamber, which is not sealed at the
ends. Significantly, Fornelli’s objective is to produce
“turbulence in the treating liquid” (column 1, lines 16-17;
column 2, line 34) in order to better penetrate the web with
the dye (column 2, lines 36-37). Notwithstanding the fact
that Fornelli does not use the term “pressure” anywhere in the
reference, the examiner insists that “Fornelli teaches using a
surface with multiple serrations to produce a dynamic pressure
drop to provide better penetration of the coating fluid into
the web” (Answer, page 4).
The appellants have challenged this conclusion, and have
engaged in a discussion with the examiner regarding such
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