Appeal No. 2002-1878
Application No. 09/246,257
We further agree with the examiner as to the scope and
content of the Long and Wiseman references. Long discloses a
non-contact air film conveyor intended for conveying a web of
film at high speed. The conveyor is formed of a duct with an air
plenum or pressure chamber 18 in the base of the duct with air
holes from the pressure chamber where injected air lifts and
transports a strip of film 46. Long discloses that his conveyor
is designed to transport "strips of web material having surface
coatings or finishes sensitive to contact by adjacent surfaces
during conveying." Col. 2, lines 7-10. Wiseman is directed to a
conveyor of modular construction that eliminates the need to
custom manufacture each conveyor. Wiseman states that air
conveyors can convey relatively light objects without the use of
moving parts.
We are in agreement with appellant that there is no
motivation or suggestion in this prior art, taken as a whole, for
the substitution of an air conveyor such as is disclosed by
Wiseman or Long for the unknown but clearly suitable conveyor
shown in the AirFil brochure. There is no disclosure of the
suitability of an air conveyor as disclosed by Long or Wiseman
for conveying a web of balloon-like material. In our view, the
combination of references is based on an impermissible hindsight
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