Appeal No. 2004-0567
Serial No. 09/628,704
Pässler discloses a cleaning cloth which has a resilient
latex foam layer (2) extending below and penetrating into the
interior of an about 0.5-5 mm thick needled nonwoven fabric
layer (3) (col. 1, lines 31-32; col. 2, lines 24-33; col. 3,
lines 4-8). “The needled nonwoven is formed of crosslaid
superposed fiber layers which are linked together through
intensive needling at the rate of, say, 45 needles per square
centimeter. This intensive needling not only interlaces the
individual fiber layers but also results in precise adjustment of
the resilience and in a reorientation of large portions of fibers
in a direction perpendicular to the surface” (col. 3, lines 20-
27). The nonwoven fabric layer has, on its surface opposite to
the foam layer, rubber strips which advantageously are about 0.2-
1.5 mm high and which serve to remove coarser dirt by scraperlike
action (col. 1, lines 30-31 and 36-37). The rubber strips may be
pressed “without much effort into the structure of the punched
nonwoven so as to be flush with its top surface, with the fibers
of the nonwoven then bearing directly on the surface of the
object being cleaned” (col. 1, lines 43-47). “The nonwoven
itself serves in the cleaning cloth as a water reservoir whose
water-absorptive capacity is affected but slightly by light
Pässler and Schoonen as to the independent claims.
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007