Appeal No. 2001-0168
Application No. 09/170,790
Claims 1, 2 and 10 are representative of the subject matter
on appeal and are reproduced below:
1. A barrier membrane having improved resistance to undesired
gas permeation, comprising:
a first layer including a combination of at least one
aliphatic thermoplastic urethane and a copolymer of ethylene and
vinyl alcohol; and
a second layer including a thermoplastic urethane;
wherein hydrogen bonding occurs along a segment of the
membrane between the first and second layers, and further wherein
said barrier membrane is sealed and is inflated with a gas toward
which said membrane has a gas transmission rate value of about
10.0 cc/m2 x atm x day or less.
2. The barrier membrane according to Claim 1, wherein said
first layer includes up to about 50 wt.% of aliphatic
thermoplastic urethane.
10. The barrier membrane according to Claim 1, wherein said
first layer includes:
(a) 50 wt.% to about 97 wt% of at least one ethylene and
vinyl alcohol copolymer;
(b) 3 wt.% to about 50 wt.% of at least one aliphatic
thermoplastic urethane; and
(c) up to about 3.0 wt.% of one or more aromatic urethanes;
wherein the total constituency of said first layer is equal
to 100.0 wt.%.
The reference relied upon by the examiner is:
Moureaux 5,036,110 Jul. 30, 1991
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