Appeal No. 2002-0174 Page 3
Application No. 09/190,373
the heating element, and a restricted portion
therebetween which allows delivery of sufficient amount
of the heated air to soften the overlapping portions of
said thermoplastic sheets under and over said fastening
means, wherein said nozzle having said outlet with
three portions therein being permanently set without
allowing variations in the selective distribution of
heated air over the overlapping portions of said
thermoplastic sheets;
wherein as said welding apparatus is advanced
longitudinally along the overlapping portions of said
thermoplastic sheets while being heated by said heating
element softens to plasticity the upper surface of said
first thermoplastic sheet and the lower surface of said
second thermoplastic sheet and said pressure roller
produces a weld on both sides of said line of fastening
means.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Murphy 4,834,828 May 30, 1989
Chitjian 4,855,004 Aug. 08, 1989
Hubbard et al. (Hubbard) 5,935,357 Aug. 10, 1999
(filed Feb. 20, 1997)
Claims 1, 5-9 and 11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Murphy in view of Chitjian and Hubbard.
We refer to appellants’ brief and the answer for a complete
exposition of the opposing viewpoints of appellants and the
examiner concerning the rejection before us.
Upon careful review of the entire record including the
respective positions advanced by appellants and the examiner, we
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