Appeal No. 1998-2217
Application No. 08/644,555
dewatered web in a high intensity extended nip press to
further dewater the web to a consistency of about 35 percent
or greater, and (4) finally drying the web. Prior to final
drying, the "bulk" of the dewatered web is greater than (-
0.02C + 3.11), wherein "C" is the consistency of the web
leaving the high intensity extended nip press, expressed as
percent dryness, and "bulk" is expressed as cubic centimeters
per gram.
The first rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is based solely
on Bluhm. The invention disclosed in Bluhm relates to a
process for drying paper webs using a nip press. The process
is said to achieve a high drying capacity while also achieving
a high volume or high density paper quality (col. 1, lines 61-
64). The examiner explains (Answer, p. 3):
The steam flashes off the web exiting the nip of the
extended nip press thereby increasing the volume and
softness of the paper web. The water is removed to
the extent of at least 60% dry weight, i.e., 60%
consistency. Specific embodiment mentioned in
column 2 dries the paper web to a dry weight or
consistency greater than 80%. The claimed bulk
would have been an obvious optimization of the
pressure and temperature conditions in the press
zone and hence the steam pressure which acts to
expand the web, see for example claim 1 of Bluhm et
al.
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