Appeal No. 1998-0784 Page 2
Application No. 07/949,567
BACKGROUND
Appellant’s invention relates to a base plate for use in the production of concrete
products. According to Appellant, during concrete product production, the base plate supports a
mold which is filled from above with a mixture of cement and sand (specification, page 1). After
densification of the concrete mixture, the mold is lifted off the base plate leaving the molded
concrete on the base plate (Id.). The molded concrete, supported on the base plate, is conveyed
to a drying room (Id.). During drying and storage, the loaded based plate rests on only two
border areas on stacking rails or stacking feet (specification, page 2). Appellant indicates that if
the base plate is not entirely flat, hair cracks will develop during hardening of the concrete-sand
mixture rendering the finished concrete product useless (Id.). To prevent such cracking, the
bending rigidity of the base plate must be high (Id.). At the time of invention, those in the art
normally used solid wood plates as wood is inexpensive and possesses the necessary bending
rigidity (Id.).
Instead of wood, Appellant’s base plate is produced using recycled plastic waste.
Importantly, the base plate includes reinforcing rails at a particular location and of a particular
height. Claim 1 is illustrative:
1. A base plate configured for preparation of concrete products comprising:
a planar support body made of a plate material, wherein said plate material includes an
extruded or pressed thermoplastic component containing recycled plastic waste; and
reinforcing rails located at longitudinal edges of said planar support body;
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Last modified: November 3, 2007