APPLICATION OF ROSENBERGER

• Citation: 156 USPQ 24,386 F.2d 1015
• Decision Date: 07 March 1968
• Docket Number: Patent Appeal No. 7827.
• Parties: Application of Frank B. ROSENBERGER and Corwin R. Brandt.
• Court: United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals

156 USPQ 24, 386 F.2d 1015 (1967)

Application of Frank B. ROSENBERGER and Corwin R. Brandt.

Patent Appeal No. 7827.

United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

December 7, 1967.

Rehearing Denied March 7, 1968.

George B. Campbell, New York City, Arthur J. Plantamura, Morristown, N. J., for appellants.

Joseph Schimmel, Washington, D. C. (Fred W. Sherling, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for the Commissioner of Patents.

Before WORLEY, Chief Judge, RICH, SMITH and ALMOND, Judges, and WILLIAM H. KIRKPATRICK.^*

ALMOND, Judge.

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Appeals affirming the rejection of claims 1-4, 6-11, 13-17, and 19, all of the claims in the application.¹

Appellants' invention is a method for producing a smooth, glossy, stain-resistant surface on molded plastic dinnerware. The method comprises, briefly, partially curing a preformed charge of a molding compound, placing a second particularly-defined granular amine-formaldehyde resin on the surface of the partially cured charge, and molding and curing the charge and the second resin in a manner to cause uniform flow of the second resin over the partially cured charge forming an integral coherent coating.

Claims 1 and 3 are illustrative:

1. A process of producing a molded thermoset object having a glossy, stain-resistant surface that comprises: introducing into a molding zone, a charge comprising a molding compound of a fusible, thermosetting resin of the group consisting of urea- and melamine-aldehyde resins; molding said charge while in said molding zone into a partially cured molded object; introducing, in granular form, on at least one surface of said object, a second, fusible, thermosetting resin of the group consisting of melamine- and benzoguanamine-aldehyde resins and which, as measured by "Flow Time Determination," has a flow time of from 1 to 15 seconds; continuing molding of said charge with said second, fusible, thermosetting resin thereon at a rate to cause flow of said second, fusible, thermosetting resin uniformly over the surface of said object prior to final curing of said charge and said fusible, thermosetting resin thereon; and thereafter continuing molding until said charge and said flowed resin thereon are finally cured as an integral object.

3. A process of producing a molded thermoset object of dished configuration having a glossy, stain-resistant generally concave surface that comprises: introducing into a molding zone a charge comprising a molding compound of a fusible, thermosetting resin of the group consisting of urea- and melamine-aldehyde resins; forming said charge into an object of dished configuration and partially curing the thermosetting resin; introducing, in granular form, on the resulting generally concave surface of the dished object and substantially centrally thereof, a second, fusible, thermosetting resin of the group consisting of melamine- and benzoguanamine-aldehyde resins and which, as measured by "Flow Time Determination," has a flow time of from 1 to 15 seconds; molding said dished object, while the generally concave surface thereof faces upwardly, with said second, fusible, thermosetting resin thereon by applying a downwardly directed force to said surface at a rate to cause flow of said second, fusible, thermosetting resin uniformly over said surface of said object prior to final curing of said charge and said fusible, thermosetting resin thereon; and thereafter, continuing molding of said object until said charge and said flowed resin thereon are finally cured as an integral object.

Claims 9, 10, 11, and 17 are similar to claim 3 but contain the further limitation that a decorative foil is interposed between the partially cured preform and the coating resin. Claim 2 is directed to the product produced by the process of claim 1.

The references are:

                  Nast                       2,244,565                June 3, 1941
                  Barlow et al. (Barlow)     2,646,380               July 21, 1953
                  Varela et al. (Varela)     2,781,553           February 19, 1957
                

Varela was concerned with the same problem as appellants — the formation of a protective surface on molded dinnerware. In reviewing the prior art, Varela states:

Among the general methods of applying a surface to molding compositions are dusting, dipping, spraying and placing a pill preform of surfacing compound on a core preform and then molding. The dusting technique is utilized in a two-step molding process for glazing the top surface of fairly non-complex shapes such as plates and table tops. By this method, a suitable core material is partially cured, the mold then opened, a layer of surfacing resin dusted on the surface, and the cure of the material then completed. Such a surface, however, does not have adequate durability to resist cracking during thermal stress. * * * In the pill preform technique the general method is to place a charge in a mold and form a preform. The mold is opened after a set interval and an electronically warmed pill preform is inserted, the mold

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