Appeal No. 1998-3278 Page 5
Application No. 08/647,881
Haines teaches a process of injection molding thermoplastic against one side of a preform within a mold
cavity (Answer, pages 3-4). We note that Haines describes evacuating the mold cavity (col. 2, lines 7-
12) and that air is not compressed within the mold cavity (col. 2, lines 15-16). The Examiner does not
point to any description of the thermoplastic molding pressure. The Examiner advances no evidence or
reasoning tending to show that the pressure one of ordinary skill in the injection molding art would have
used would be the same or substantially the same as the pressure required to dissolve air in a liquid
cross-linkable composition. Therefore, we agree with the Appellant (Brief, page 10) that Haines does
not describe or suggest a molding process including a step of subjecting a liquid cross-linkable
composition to an elevated uniform pressure during curing, the pressure being such that air is dissolved
within the liquid composition and visible bubbles prevented.
Howell does not fill the void left by Haines. Howell is directed to a process of laminating
preformed layers of metal, adhesive and thermoplastic by bonding them together using heat and
pressure (col. 1, lines 7-12). Howell does not supply a volume of initially liquid cross-linkable
composition to the mold, and all the layers are solid preformed sheets. Furthermore, Howell describes
drawing out any air bubbles from the resin in the laminate by evacuating the air from the mold cavity
(col. 3, lines 34-37). There is no description in Howell of dissolving air within a liquid cross-linkable
composition by uniform pressure application during curing in the mold.
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