Application of Moore, Patent Appeal No. 8061.
| Decision Date | 17 April 1969 |
| Docket Number | Patent Appeal No. 8061. |
| Parties | Application of John Hampton MOORE. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) |
Richard C. Witte, Robert B. Aylor, Stephen R. Smith, Thomas H. O'Flaherty, Cincinnati, Ohio, Francis Cole, Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson, Washington, D. C., attorneys of record, for appellant.
Joseph Schimmel, Washington, D. C., for the Commissioner of Patents. Jack E. Armore, Washington, D. C., of counsel.
Before WORLEY, Chief Judge, KIRKPATRICK, Judge, sitting by designation, RICH, ALMOND and BALDWIN, Judges.
The issue here is whether the Board of Appeals committed reversible error in affirming the examiner's rejection of claims 3-101 in view of certain prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
The invention relates to a pre-measured, dry bleach packet for use in home laundry. By way of background, the specification states:
It is well known that pre-weighed amounts of detergent products and bleach products can be packaged in water soluble films as, for example, polyvinyl alcohol to provide convenience in handling and measuring and freedom from dust. However, when chlorine bleach compounds are packaged in polyvinyl alcohol film, the reactivity of said chlorine compounds and other materials associated with said chlorine compounds is such that the polyvinyl alcohol film tends to be made insoluble in water. Since the utility of this form of packaging depends upon the water solubility or dispersibility of the polyvinyl alcohol film, such insolubilization makes it difficult to prepare acceptable chlorine bleach packets. Emphasis supplied.
To obviate those problems associated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) envelopes containing a chlorine bleach, appellant has devised a product consisting of (1) an outer envelope of water-soluble PVA containing a relatively small percentage of unhydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate and plasticized with various "external" plasticizers, and enclosed therein (2) a dry, water-soluble bleach product consisting essentially of a particular chlorine bleach — potassium dichlorocyanurate2 (hereafter KDCC) — and such optional ingredients as alkaline salts, inert bulking salts and synthetic detergents, as reflected in claim 3:
3. A bleaching packet consisting essentially of (a) an envelope of polyvinyl alcohol film containing from about 5% to about 40% unhydrolyzed vinyl acetate, said film being plasticized with a plasticizer selected from the group consisting of glycerine, ethylene glycol, polypropylene oxides having a molecular weight of from about 150 to about 400, polyethylene oxides having a molecular weight of from about 100 to about 300, copolymers of propylene oxide and ethylene oxide having a molecular weight of from about 100 to 400, alkyl phenol ethylene oxide condensates having a molecular weight of from about 200 to about 1000 wherein the alkyl group has from about 1 to about 18 carbon atoms, phenol ethylene oxide condensates having a molecular weight of from about 200 to about 400, and mixtures thereof, (b) and enclosed therein a dry water-soluble bleach product consisting essentially of from about 5% to about 30% potassium dichlorocyanurate material having a pH ranging from about 5.8 to 6.4, the balance being 0% to 98% alkaline material selected from the group consisting of trisodium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium silicate, potassium silicate, and tetrasodium pyrophosphate, 0% to 98% inert material selected from the group consisting of sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride, and 0% to 30% bleach compatible synthetic detergent surfactant selected from the group consisting of soap and anionic non-soap, and nonionic organic synthetic detergents, the pH of said composition being from about 9 to about 11, and the total moisture content of said composition being less than about 15% and the free moisture content being less than about 1%.
It appears from the specification that appellant has taken various measures to stabilize his bleach product in order to minimize reaction between bleach product components (including KDCC, its degradation products, and the other additives) and water-soluble PVA. Thus, appellant uses at the outset a relatively pure KDCC material having a pH from about 5.8 to about 6.4,3 postulating that KDCC of lower purity and pH contains (1) certain inorganic acids, such as hypochlorous acid (HOC1), which cause the formation of insolubilizing ether cross-links between adjacent molecules of polyvinyl alcohol during storage of the bleach packet, and (2) certain other acidic impurities, such as trichlorocyanuric acid or dichlorocyanuric acid, "which are detrimental to product stability." Appellant further employs a bleach composition which has a total moisture content, including water of hydration, of less than 15% and a free moisture content of less than 1%, having found that water reacts with KDCC or its impurities to produce the deleterious, PVA-insolubilizing, inorganic acids. Advantageously, the individual particles of KDCC may be "protectively" coated4 with a material which appears to form a barrier to moisture penetration. Finally, appellant states, acidic degradation products of KDCC, once formed, can be neutralized and prevented from reacting with the PVA film enclosure by including in the bleach composition sufficient alkaline material to give a total product pH of "preferably" about 9 to 11.
According to the specification, the final bleach product may be in granular form or "in the form of compressed tablets." In the latter case, it is said the PVA film "helps to maintain the tablet form of the bleach product."
The references are:
Abbott 2,635,400 April 21, 1953
Morgenthaler 3,112,274 Nov. 26, 1963
Lee 3,120,378 Feb. 4, 1964
Fuchs (Australia) 219,930 Jan. 22, 1959
Miller (Canada) 510,555 Mar. 7, 1955
Marks (German) 1,053,739 Mar. 26, 1959
"Elvanol," Publ. of E. I. DuPont & Co. (1947), pages 4, 17, 18, 19
and 31
Fuchs observed that various chlorinecontaining bleaches, including trichlorocyanuric acid, had not been satisfactory for commercial use because of "lack of adequate stability during formulation into commercial preparations and during storage." In contrast, he found dichlorocyanuric acid "to have excellent stability" during manufacture and storage. The alkali metal salts of dichlorocyanuric acid may also be used, being more soluble than the acid itself and forming "solutions that are approximately neutral." For practical use, the bleach material may further be combined with various alkaline compounds, synthetic detergents and inorganic fillers. In that regard, Fuchs states:
The presence of alkaline compounds aids in the release of chlorine from dichlorocyanuric acid and therefore renders the latter compound more effective for bleaching and other applications in which an alkaline solution of a hypochlorite is needed. A very high alkalinity, such as indicated by a pH of 12 or higher, is in general undesirable and hence when free hydroxides, such as sodium hydroxide, are used, the amount must be carefully controlled.
Morgenthaler discloses a stable, dry bleach composition comprising granules of a polychlorocyanurate (e. g., tri-and dichlorocyanuric acid and alkali metal salts of dichlorocyanuric acid) spraycoated with an inorganic salt, preferably alkaline,5 to protect the polychlorocyanurate from attack by material with which it is reactive, such as moisture and air "which are known to increase the tendency of such compounds to decompose." Preferred polychlorocyanurates are the sodium and potassium dichlorocyanurates "since they are more stable than the polychlorocyanuric acids." Sodium tripolyphosphate alone or in admixture with sodium sulfate (an inert salt) is the preferred alkali which provides "the desired buffered alkalinity for the optimum bleaching activity of the polychlorocyanurate." The alkaline coating may also contain 0-10% suitable synthetic anionic detergents. The weight ratio of coating material to polychlorocyanurate ranges from 1:3 to 5:1. The coating material (a slurry) should have a pH less than 11 since "a pH higher than about 11 undesirably decreases the stability of the polychlorocyanurate particles on which it is sprayed." Total moisture content is in the range of 2-15%. The free moisture content of the final product is a carefully controlled variable, Morgenthaler stating:
* * * The finished product should not contain more than about 2% free moisture, preferably not more than about 1%, since more than this amount decreases the stability of the product * * *
Finally, Morgenthaler observes:
The coated polychlorocyanurate particles obtained in the process of this invention are more stable and have less chlorine odor than either uncoated polychlorocyanurate particles or granular products having the same composition but dried by different processes. Other drying processes do not provide the protective coating that is obtained in the process of the present invention. This coating comprises a substantially complete film of inorganic salt around the polychlorocyanurate particles. Emphasis supplied.
Lee discloses a water-soluble bleach tablet possessing "excellent stability during storage" containing (1) dichlorocyanuric acid or its alkali metal salts, particularly the sodium salt or potassium salt (the latter being KDCC), (2) an alkali metal carbonate, (3) a hydrate forming compound and (4) a solid acid. The acid and carbonate react upon dissolution in water to form effervescent carbon dioxide which facilitates solution in water. The preferred tablet contains "no free water," thus preventing the premature release of available chlorine. Lee prefers the dichlorocyanurates "rather than the well known...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Application of Fielder
...of facts of which this court will take judicial notice. We do not consider them. 35 U.S.C. § 144. See also In re Moore, 409 F.2d 585, 589, 56 C.C.P.A. 1060, 1065 n. 7 (1969); In re Mergner, 399 F.2d 231, 236, 55 C.C. P.A. 1415, 1421 n. 5 Appellants have attempted to overcome the prima facie......
-
Application of Fisher, Patent Appeal No. 8454.
...however, I feel it is not the province of this court to attempt such independent analyses. Compare the dissent in In re Moore, 409 F.2d 585, 56 CCPA 1060, 1066 (1969). In any event, I am of the opinion that such an undertaking is unnecessary in this case. Appellant himself has gone out on a......