Appeal 2007-2774
Application 10/285,632
II. Findings of Fact (FF)
The following findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of
the evidence of record.
1. Appellant's Specification
[1] According to Appellant's Specification, automotive assembly paint
shops use flush solutions to remove residual paint from paint
application equipment in various cleaning cycles, e.g., paint line purge
and nozzle or cap wash cycles (Specification at 1).
[2] Appellant's Specification describes a process for removing paint
particles from a "dirty" flush solution comprising "providing dirty
flush solution; directing the dirty flush solution to a treatment vessel;
adding one or more chemicals to the treatment vessel to form a treated
flush solution; separating aggregated paint compounds from the
treated flush solution to form a filtered flush solution; and directing
the filtered flush solution to spray application equipment"
(Specification at 2).
[3] The chemicals used to treat the dirty flush solution are coagulants
and/or flocculants that cause the paint particles to aggregate and are
commonly used in the automotive industry for treating wastewater
(Specification at 4-5).
[4] Exemplary coagulants include di- or tri-valent metal salts and water-
soluble electrolytes; exemplary flocculants include cationic and
anionic polymers (Specification at 5).
[5] The amount of coagulant/flocculant added to the treatment vessel
depends upon the concentration of paint in the dirty flush solution,
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