Appeal No. 2003-0391
Application 09/228,433
and the cross-sectional area and spacing of the microgrooves are
optimized to provide a suitable time to allow the resin to
impregnate all of the fiber material before curing without
leaving unimpregnated areas” (column 4, lines 17 through 21).
Equating this statement to a teaching of substantially equal ply
resin wetting rates in the longitudinal and transverse directions
(see page 5 in the answer), the examiner submits that
it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in
the art at the time of the invention to have optimized
the spacing of the longitudinal and lateral resin
distribution grooves as taught by Seemann, III et al.
(‘034) in the process of Louderback et al. (‘513) in
view of Palmer et al. (‘013) in order to obtain equal
wetting rates due to a variety of reasons such as to
improve wetting of the reinforcement layers, avoid
resin-rich or resin-free areas, improve resin to fiber
ratio, etc. and also because Seemann, III et al. (‘034)
teach that optimization allows the resin to impregnate
all of the fiber material before curing without leaving
unimpregnated areas [answer, pages 5 and 6].
The Seemann reference, however, does not provide any factual
basis for the examiner’s determination that it teaches or would
have suggested substantially equal ply resin wetting rates in the
longitudinal and transverse directions. Seemann’s broadly stated
objective of optimizing the cross-sectional area of the main
feeder grooves and the cross-sectional area and spacing of the
microgrooves to allow complete resin impregnation before curing
does not ostensibly require substantially equal ply resin wetting
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