Appeal No. 2002-0931
Application No. 09/037,625
is directed to maintaining a gap that is initially set between a
vacuum housing and the roll upon which the web moves. While DE
‘345 also discloses that “[t]he support 32 can be adjusted by
means of adjustment supports 35 and 36 in the direction of arrow
37 radially to the casting roll 1 so that the width of the gap 30
can be adjusted” (page 6 of translation, penultimate paragraph),
we agree with appellants that the reference provides no teaching
of detecting an increase in the web thickness, and adjusting the
vacuum gap in response to the detection during the continuous
operation.
We recognized and appreciate the logic the rationale set
forth at pages 12-14 of the examiner’s answer. We concur with
appellants however, that the examiner’s reasoning is essentially
an explanation of how JP ‘074 could, and perhaps, should be
modified in order to accommodate splices in the web that is being
coated. It is well settled, however, that this is not the proper
standard for evaluating the obviousness of a claimed invention
under 35 U.S.C. § 103. While we find a certain appeal in the
examiner’s analysis, we simply find no teaching or suggestion in
the applied references for automatically controlling and
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