Appeal No. 2000-2288
Application No. 08/960,576
areas of a mine; a kit of components for installing a mine
stopping (claim 11) and a method for installing a stopping in
a mine opening (claims 1 and 19). Of concern to appellants is
the need for a mine stopping that can be installed in a quick
manner. More particular, appellants note (e.g.,
specification, page 2) that they have discovered that by use
of a critical size of mesh an effective stopping can be
prepared by applying the mortar material to the screen from
one side only, because at such critical mesh sizes the mortar
is able, when applied by spraying, to penetrate the mesh to a
small degree thereby causing the mesh to become well embedded
in the mortar and result in an effective stopping. The
critical mesh size is said to be about 2 to 24 mesh,
preferably about 10 to 20 mesh, most preferably about 12 to 16
mesh. On page 7, it is indicated that mesh measurements are
defined as the number of openings/inch from the center of the
wires making up the mesh. In addition to faster installation
time, the use of the critical size mesh described above is
also said (specification, page 8) to avoid the problem of
shrinkage cracking. Independent claims 1, 11, 15 and 19 are
representative of the subject matter on appeal and a copy of
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007