Appeal No. 1999-1907
Application No. 08/690,409
transparent element and a layer of the recited solvent-free
polymer material disposed on the first face of the first
infrared-transparent element. According to the appellants,
"[t]he absence of a solvent is critical to the invention,"
because they have discovered that the presence of a solvent may
lead to the formation of bubbles, which distort transmitted
light. (Appeal brief, page 3.) Further details of this
appealed subject matter are recited in illustrative claims 1,
12, and 20, the only independent claims on appeal, reproduced
below:
1. An infrared-transparent structure,
comprising:
a first infrared-transparent element having a
first face; and
a layer of a solvent-free polymer material
disposed on the first face of the first infrared-
transparent element, wherein the solvent-free polymer
material is not a solvent-free epoxy and is not a
solvent-free cyanoacrylate.
12. An infrared-transparent structure,
comprising:
a first infrared-transparent element having a
first face, the first infrared-transparent element
being transparent to infrared energy in the 3.6-7
micrometer wavelength range;
a second infrared-transparent element having a
second face, the second infrared-transparent element
being transparent to infrared energy in the 3.6-7
micrometer wavelength range;
a layer of a solvent-free polymer material
disposed between and contacting the first face of the
first infrared-transparent element and the second face
2
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