Appeal No. 2006-1576 2
Application No. 10/223,170
aspect of the invention that the high expansion packer or bridge
plug include an outer soft material that flows into leak paths or
voids formed when the sealing element is subjected to longitudinal
compression. Appellant notes that the sealing element is preferably
an elastomer such as cured rubber, while the outer material is a
soft uncured or somewhat cured rubber (specification, page 3).
Independent claim 1 is representative of the subject matter on
appeal and a copy of that claim may be found in the Appendix
attached to appellant’s brief.
The prior art references relied upon by the examiner in
rejecting the appealed claims are:
Urbanosky 3,288,222 Nov. 29, 1966
Wagner et al. (Wagner) 4,482,086 Nov. 13, 1984
Culpepper 5,579,839 Dec. 3, 1996
Claims 1 through 4, 7 and 16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) as being anticipated by Urbanosky.
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