Appeal 2006-2948
Application 10/194,872
deterioration of the screen and return it to an acceptable bulk condition.
Bloice falls short of anticipating the claimed method only in not expressly
describing a graphic recording of the permeability and thickness of the
screen. However, we agree with the Examiner that such graphic recording
of the measured values of permeability and thickness would have been
implicit in the Bloice disclosure at the time of filing the present application.
Manifestly, it can hardly be gainsaid that, at the time of filing the present
application, the art of computer graphics was sufficiently advanced to
graphically record, and display, measured parameters of a process in
operation. We have no doubt that one of ordinary skill in the art would have
found it obvious to graphically record and display the values being measured
during a process operation for effective monitoring.
We fail to appreciate Appellants' argument that, in contrast to the
teachings of Bloice, the present invention anticipates a worsening condition
of the dewatering of the web and prevents the worsening condition with at
least one countermeasure. Clearly, the whole objective of Bloice focuses
upon the anticipated worsening condition of the felt during the dewatering
process, such as a worsening in permeability and thickness. To prevent the
condition of the felt from reaching an undesirable level of permeability and
thickness, Bloice employs a stream of reconditioning liquid as a
countermeasure against the anticipated worsening condition. While
Appellants contend that Bloice allows for the worsening condition to occur,
it is inevitable that the condition of the felt begins to worsen at the inception
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