Appeal 2007-2060
Application 09/945,318
eat breakfast cereal. Beer clearly teaches that it is desirable to vacuum seal
air-perishable foodstuff, including breakfast cereal. Also, the Appellants
have not disputed the Examiner’s finding at page 5 of the Answer that:
Thompson et al. '990 teach a crisp and friable (i.e. frangible),
free-flowing, puffed ready to eat cereal that may be formed into
any desired shape, such as a ring, and stays crisp in milk for a
prolonged period of time. The product can have anywhere from
5-25% sugar, 1.5-5% fat, 3-5% moisture and can be made from
a variety of flours (Column 1, lines 25-42, 60-70; Column 2,
lines 35-40, Examples). Francis teaches crush resistance [of
cereal-based foods] depends on flour quality (Figure 5), water
activity (Figure 13 and Table 11), density (Figure 14) and water
content (Figure 14).
….
Maglecic et al. teach settling product in a bag prior to vacuum
sealing will provide sufficient rigidity to reduce breakage as
compared to conventional sealing and allow, in the case of
French fries, 30% more product (i.e. reduce the packaging
volume required by 30%). Maglecic et al. teach a vacuum will
retain the product in a tight alignment with maximum bulk
density (Column 1, lines 10-40; Column 5, lines 20-48; Column
6, lines 52-65). Mc[C]rosson is relied on further evidence that
drawing sufficient air from a bag during vacuum sealing
so that the bag walls will be drawn in tightly toward the
material and conform around the material held within the bag.
Mc[C]rosson teaches that even with a bag made of thin
material will provide a sufficiently rigid bag structure about a
crushable item (e.g. cigar) to reduce breakage during shipping
(Page 1, lines 32-51; Page 2, lines 31-65; Figure 1).
Ylvisaker et al. teach the degree to which a product settles in
bag by conventional filling (or the bulk density) is a function of
the geometry of the particular product (Column 1, lines 15-42).
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