Appeal No. 2005-1988
Application No. 09/822,651
extrusion dye in solid form or with a defined shape. The free
formed members 22A are deposited onto a substrate 24 in a molten
preferably liquid state and solidify, become fused with another
adjacent free formed member 22A, or back upon itself, and upon
cooling, becomes rigid. See column 5, lines 18-28 of Thomas.
Thomas further discloses that the free formed array of loops
22 is produced by a manufacturing process which is similar to a
process commonly known as rotary screen printing. This process
uses a depositing member in the form of a generally cylindrical
screen, referred to as a print cylinder 60. Using this process,
a substrate 24 having opposed surfaces is passed between the nip
58 of the print cylinder 60 and a backing roll 62, as illustrated
in Figure 5 of Thomas. Figure 5 also shows backing roll 62 which
positions substrate 24 against print cylinder 60. Liquid,
thermally sensitive material is supplied from a heated source,
such as a heated pressure bar 72. The thermally sensitive
material is forced into the apertures 56. Thermally sensitive
material is then extruded from the apertures 56 and to the
substrate 24 in the desired pattern. See column 5, lines 28-58
of Thomas.
In view of the above disclosure found in Thomas, it is self-
evident that fusing of the polymeric material to web 50,
involving the application of pressure, occurs in Thomas because
backing roll 62 reacts against the print cylinder 60. Hence, we
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