Appeal No. 2004-2015 Page 3
Application No. 09/800,547
with the corresponding concentric wells of the stator with the corresponding generally slanted
walls of the stator and rotor aligned and when engaged a gap having an axial opening dimension
and slanted opening dimension is defined by each concentric vane and each concentric well and
the aligned slanted walls and the gap is adjustable in increments of about 0.015 inches in axial
opening dimension wherein the dressing is mayonnaise or a salad dressing and an oil phase and
an emulsifier phase are raw ingredients combined in the pre-mix tank.
We affirm substantially for the reasons advanced by the Examiner (Answer, pp. 4-6). We
add the following primarily for emphasis.
OPINION
Appellants convince us of no reversible error in the rejection of the Examiner. Trainor,
as set forth by the Examiner, describes mixing an oil phase and an emulsifier phase in a premix
tank (Trainor, Fig. 1, step 2; col. 5, l. 54 to col. 6, l. 18). Trainor, further in accordance with the
findings of the Examiner, processes the coarse emulsion (dressing base) in a colloid mill
(Trainor, Fig. 1, step 3; col. 6, ll. 19-20). The mill has a rotor and stator which is adjustable
(Trainor, col. 6, ll. 27-30). The dressing base is described as being pumped directly to a clean
mixer from the mill (Trainor, col. 6, ll. 30-32). The Examiner acknowledges that Trainor does
not describe the specific apparatus features of the colloid mill. In such a situation, one of
ordinary skill in the art would have looked to conventional rotor and stator mills and the
Examiner provides evidence, i.e., Ross, that the rotor and stator apparatus of the claim was
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Last modified: November 3, 2007