Appeal No. 1999-2163
Application 08/950,524
from a secondary sheet source to form a continuous pseudo-web of
overlapped sheets having a consistent relative overlapped
orientation, and then individually applying a coating material to
at least one major surface of each sheet in the overlapped
sequence of sheets (Brief, page 3). A copy of illustrative
independent claim 1 is attached as an Appendix to this decision.
The examiner has relied upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Pulskamp 5,009,408 Apr. 23, 1991
Ritter 5,487,780 Jan. 30, 1996
The claims on appeal stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as unpatentable over Ritter in view of Pulskamp (Answer, page 3).
We reverse the examiner’s rejection for the reasons stated in the
Brief and the reasons set forth below.
OPINION
The examiner finds that Ritter teaches a method and
apparatus for applying a coating to overlapped sheets, where the
overlapped sheets are conveyed through two coating rollers that
simultaneously apply a water-based coating to both surfaces of
the sheets at the same point on the surface (Answer, page 3).
The examiner further finds that Ritter teaches that both surfaces
of the sheets are then dried simultaneously, with subsequent
2
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