Appeal No. 1999-0400
Application No. 08/316,938
The soft pellets thus produce were free flowing
and relatively dust free. However the pellets when
sheared, for example in a twin impinger, broke back
down to the powder’s original particle size
distribution. This indicates that the pellets are
suitable for use in a multidose dry powder inhaler
that utilises volumetric metering to measure out the
doses [page 11, lines 38 through 49].
The appellants do not dispute the examiner’s finding (see
page 4 in the answer) that Edwards meets all of the limitations
in claim 1 except for the one requiring the agglomerate-forming
sieve to be “conical.” Although the Edwards reference2
discloses an agglomerate-forming sieve, it does not specify its
shape.
Szczesny, Edmonds and Bremer disclose sieve-like elements
which are “conical” (i.e., frusto-conical) in shape.
Szczesny’s sieve elements 2, 12 and 13 function to dehydrate
mineral grains, Edmonds’ sieve element (enclosure 16 having
fenestrated side walls 18) functions in conjunction with an
impeller 28 to reduce the particle size of materials such as
pharmaceuticals, and the sieve element described by Bremer (see
2The underlying disclosure (see specification page 12 and
drawing Figures 8 and 8A) indicates that the appellants’
agglomerating sieve is “conical” in the sense that it frusto-
conical.
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