Appeal No. 97-3717 Page 12
Application No. 08/397,163
or more preferably formed of ceramic having specific gravity
of about 2 to 4. Kamiya teaches (column 4, lines 57-64) that
[s]ince the slide member 33 is of a hollow cylindrical
shape and the valve member 32 and the slide member 33 are
formed of a light material such as titanium, the valve
body 31 is reduced in weight, thereby increasing the
response characteristic to the on-off operation of the
exciting coil and reducing the time required for the
valve body to be stabilized when the valve is opened or
closed.
In applying the above-noted test for obviousness, the
examiner determined (final rejection, p. 3) that
[i]t is deemed to have been obvious to one of ordinary
skill in the art to construct the valve stem [of
Terakado] from titanium as taught by Kamiya to reduce the
valve stem weight and increase [sic, decrease] the
response time of the valve in Terakado.
Implicit in this rejection is the examiner’s view that
the above noted modification of Terakado would result in an
apparatus which corresponds to the apparatus recited in claim
9 in all respects.
Initially, we note that the appellant has not argued that
the material of the valve seat carrier does not have a larger
coefficient of thermal expansion than the material of the
Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007