Appeal No. 2007-0281
Application No. 10/444,073
(Specification 1.) The medium is “comprised of a non-woven web of
fibrillated and non-fibrillated synthetic staple fibers.” (Id. at 2.)
Fibrillated fibers are “unprocessed staple fibers that have been
externally acted upon to form numerous fibrils.” (Id. at 5.) Fibrils are “tiny,
minute threadlike elements associated with a processed staple fiber which
impart substantially greater surface area thereto as compared to an
unprocessed synthetic staple fiber.” (Id. at 4.1) A staple fiber is “a fiber
which has been cut to definite, relatively short, segments of predetermined
individual lengths.” (Id.)
The specification states that virtually any synthetic staple fibers can be
used as the fibrillated and nonfibrillated fibers in the disclosed medium. (Id.
at 6.) “One particularly preferred form of fibrillated staple acrylic fibers is
Grade CFF available commercially from Sterling Fibers, Inc.” (Id.)
DISCUSSION
1. CLAIMS
Claims 1, 3-5, 7-14, and 29 are pending and on appeal. Claim 1 is
representative and reads as follows:
1. A blood separation medium comprising a non-woven web
comprised of fibrillated and non-fibrillated synthetic polymeric staple fibers,
wherein the fibrillated staple fibers are present in the non-woven web in an
amount between about 20 to about 90 wt.% sufficient to separate
erythrocytes from whole blood in contact with the blood separation medium;
wherein the fibrillated synthetic staple fibers have a Canadian Standard
Freeness (CSF) of less than about 300 mL, and wherein the non-fibrillated
synthetic staple fibers have a CSF of greater than about 700 mL.
1 Since fibrils are defined as being found on processed staple fibers, the
specification’s definition of fibrillated fibers as “unprocessed” appears to be
a typographical error.
2
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