Appeal No. 2001-1527
Application No. 08/753,265
at col. 4, l. 64, to col. 5, l. 2). (Answer at 4.) The examiner
states that Donohoe does not teach: (a) the use of a mold; (b) a
mold having peripheral and center sections; (c) cooling (only)
the center section of the mold; and (d) the temperature of the
peripheral section being higher than the temperature of the
central section. (Id.)
To remedy these deficiencies, the examiner relies on the
teachings of either Bullock or Medwed. According to the
examiner, both references teach a thermoforming process in which
a mold is cooled in the central section. (Answer at 5.) The
examiner reasons that it would have been obvious to use the
methods taught by Bullock or Medwed in the process taught by
Donohoe to produce a drumhead in a cost-effective, efficient
manner that would enhance the accuracy of the forming process.
(Answer at 6.) The examiner argues that the peripheral
temperature would be inherently higher in such processes than the
cooled center section. (Id.)
With regard to claims 17–19, the examiner maintains that
Donohoe teaches all the limitations but the recited temperatures
of the peripheral and center sections. (Answer at 11.) Such
temperatures, according to the examiner, would have been a matter
of choice, obtainable by routine experimentation. (Id.) In
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