Appeal 2007-1898
Application 10/360,622
According to Appellants, the invention is directed to a sealing
member to be interposed between parts, where the sealing member is
composed of rubber foam with closed cells and needle holes completely
penetrating through the foam in only the compressing direction to yield
specified permeability values A, B, and a ratio of A/B (Br. 2-3). Claim 1 is
illustrative of the invention and is reproduced below:
1. A sealing member to be interposed between parts, said
sealing member being composed of rubber foam and having
permeability A between 0.01 and 30 L/min in a compressing direction
at a non-compressed state, permeability B between 0.01 and 10 L/min
in a direction perpendicular to the compressing direction at a 50%
compressed state in the compressing direction, and a ratio of the
permeability A to the permeability B of 2-20,
wherein said rubber foam forming the sealing member has
closed cells therein, and needle holes completely penetrating
therethrough in only the compressing direction.
The Examiner has relied on the following prior art references as
evidence of unpatentability:
Tye US 4,554,424 Nov. 19, 1985
Farison US 6,398,029 B1 Jun. 04, 2002
Brandolini US 6,432,512 B1 Aug. 13, 2002
Tadakatsu JP 08-281558 Oct. 29, 1996
(as machine-translated, hereafter JP ‘558)
Shiro EP 1 108 500 A1 Jun. 20, 2001
(hereafter EP ‘500)
2
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