Appeal No. 1998-0036 Page 2
Application No. 08/431,203
BACKGROUND
Appellants’ invention relates to a method and apparatus for applying a metal coating onto an
organic material. Claims 1 and 14 are illustrative:
1. A method of improving the adhesion of a metal to an organic material which has an affinity
for moisture, comprising the steps of:
positioning the organic material within a vacuum system;
outgassing the vacuum system in order to reduce the moisture content of the organic material to
about 1% to about 2% by weight;
bombarding the organic material with plasma; and
vacuum metallizing at least one layer of metal onto the organic material.
14. A roll sputter system comprising an oxygen DC glow chamber and a chill drum section,
wherein the oxygen DC glow chamber is positioned inline apart from the chill drum section.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the appealed claims
are:
Meckel et al. (Meckel) 4,322,276 Mar. 30, 1982
Lindsay et al. (Lindsay) 4,395,313 Jul. 26, 1983
Sartor et al. (Sartor) 4,455,207 Jun. 19, 1984
Ho et al. (Ho) 4,720,401 Jan. 19, 1988
Sallo 4,863,808 Sep. 5, 1989
Swisher 5,112,462 May 12, 1992
Claims 1-7, 9, 11, and 14 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
Swisher and Lindsey in view of Sartor and Ho. Claim 10 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Swisher and Lindsey in view of Sartor and Ho and further in view of Sallo.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007