Appeal No. 2006-0400
Application No. 09/917,433
Reynolds 3,354,863 Nov. 28, 1967
Biehl et al. (Biehl) 4,217,851 Aug. 19, 1980
Glatt et al. (Glatt) 4,858,552 Aug. 22, 1989
Cody et al. (Cody) 4,993,264 Feb. 19, 1991
Luy et al. (Luy) 5,632,102 May 27, 1997
Claims 13-16, 18 and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Glatt in view of Reynolds in view of Luy and further in view of Cody, while claim 17 is
correspondingly rejected over these references in combination with the Biehl reference.1
We refer to the brief and to the answer for a complete discussion of the opposing
viewpoints expressed by the appellants and by the examiner concerning these rejections.
OPINION
For the reasons well stated in the answer, we will sustain each of the rejections advanced
on this appeal.
It is the appellants’ basic contention that “none of the cited prior art references disclose
[sic, discloses] monitoring an air inlet temperature, a product temperature, a spray liquid
temperature, a spray nozzle temperature, an atomizing air temperature, a spray liquid line
temperature, a coating zone temperature, a fluidizing gas flow, and an atomizing gas pressure [as
required by the appealed claims]” (brief, page 7). We cannot agree.
Like the examiner, we consider the applied prior art to evince that the afore-quoted
parameters are recognized in this art as being result-effective variables. In this regard, see
particularly the Glatt reference (e.g., see lines 4-9 in column 6, lines 24-35 in column 6, and lines
1 On page 6 of the brief, the appellants state that “[c]laims 13-18 and 26-30 stand and [sic] fall together.”
Consistent with this statement, the argument in the brief is advanced by the appellants against all appealed claims as
a group and against both of the above noted rejections together. Therefore, in considering the appellants’ argument,
we will focus on representative independent claim 13 with which all other claims on appeal will stand or fall.
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