Appeal No. 1999-2242
Application No. 08/137,056
processes put before it and then obtain prior art
products and make physical comparisons therewith.
Yasukawa discloses a method of making a windshield wiper
comprising (1) forming a starting article from a mixture of an
elastomer, e.g., a natural or synthetic rubber (see col. 3,
ll. 58-68), and a vulcanization agent, e.g., sulfur, (2)
coating the starting article with a dispersion liquid
comprising a mixture of elastomer, solvent,
polytetrafluoroethylene (hereinafter “PTFE”) (see col. 4, ll.
10 and 11 and col. 9, TABLE, Sample No. 6) and a vulcanization
agent, (3) placing the coated starting article into a
windshield wiper mold, and (4) vulcanizing the coated starting
article by applying heat and pressure to the mold. See, e.g.,
col. 7, ll. 32 through col. 8, l. 17. Yasukawa teaches that
the starting article may be coated with the dispersion liquid
by dipping, brushing or spraying (see col. 7, ll. 3-10).
Yasukawa also teaches that the elastomer used in the
dispersion liquid may be any elastomer which is able to be
bonded to the starting article (see col. 6, ll. 31-35).
The windshield wiper product produced by the method
taught by Yasukawa comprises a base or body portion 82 and a
lip or sliding portion 81 having a surface layer 51 made up of
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