Appeal No. 2005-1635
Application No. 09/782,036
heating and pressing the preheated raw material
layer of thermoplastic particles between the upper
belt and the lower belt of the twin belt press to form
a thermoplastic sheet of welded (fused) particles; and
cooling and pressing the sheet.
See figure 1. Brinkmann et al[.] also teaches making
a composite sheet by applying the thermoplastic
particles on a textile sheet and pressing the
thermoplastic into a composite sheet in the treatment
zone. See column 3[,] lines 60-68 and col. 7[,] lines
52-58.
Nor have the appellants challenged the examiner’s determination
at pages 9 and 10 of the Answer that:
[I]t would have been obvious to use a smoothing roller
in addition to the nip rollers for applying pressure
in the belt press in view of (a) Brinkmann et al[.]'s
teaching to apply heat and pressure in a belt press,
(b) Bradshaw et al[.]'s teaching to apply heat and
pressure in a belt press wherein nip rolls are used to
apply pressure in the press and (c) Weaver's
suggestion that a pair of rollers (heated roll 19,
back roll 20 at low temperature) for forming a floor
covering having a glossier surface may be used after
applying heat and pressure.
With respect to claim 1, the appellants appear to focus only on
forming a laminated floor covering by using a conveyor belt to
coat both sides of a substrate with thermoplastic powder. See,
e.g., the Brief, pages 5-8 and the Reply Brief, pages 4-5.
The dispositive question is, therefore, whether one of
ordinary skill in the art would have been led to employ the
method suggested by Brinkmann alone, or together with Weaver
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