Appeal No. 1999-2534
Application No. 08/577,915
The prior art
Usifer et al. (Usifer) U.S. Patent No. 5,484,864 January 16, 1996
(claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to January 26, 1994)
Doerer et al. (Doerer) U.S. Patent No. 5,089,328 February 18, 1992
Berger et al. (Berger) U.S. Patent No. 4,374,237 February 15, 1983
The examiner’s rejections
The examiner has rejected claims 1–3, 5, 7–9, and 12 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
over the combined teachings of Doerer, Usifer, and Berger.
Doerer
Doerer teaches a method of making foam panels comprising impregnating a
foam layer with a heat-activatable hardener comprising isocyanates. (Doerer at col. 3,
ll.30–47.) The panel further comprises layers of other materials, such as thermoplastic
films and various fibers. (See, e.g., id. at figures 1–3 and corresponding text at col. 2,
l.65, through col. 3, l.19.) The impregnated panel is placed in a press and heated, the
thermoplastic films melt and adhere to adjacent elements, and the impregnating
urethane solution hardens. (Id. at col. 5, ll.55–67.) As the examiner notes, Doerer
does not teach organofunctional silaceous materials or silanes. (Answer at 5.) Nor
does Doerer teach reacting such silicon-containing materials with urethane polymers to
eliminate free isocyanate groups. (Answer at 7.)
Usifer
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