Appeal No. 1999-0405
Application No. 08/651,571
devised a system whereby they have improved the means for
attachment of the bearing ring to the impeller and shaft of a
molten metal pump. That attachment system involves the
inclusion of one or more generally concentric grooves on one
or both of the surface portions of the notch in contact with
the bearing ring. Note, for example, the grooves (58) in the
radially facing wall (59) and axially facing wall (61) of the
notch (56) seen in Figure 5 of the drawings. As indicated on
page 8 of the specification, appellants have found that the
grooved walls facilitate even distribution of the cement over
the entire joint surface between the impeller notch and the
bearing ring and improves the mechanical bonding at the
graphite/refractory cement interface. Independent claims 1, 9,
14, 19 and 20 are representative of the subject matter on
appeal and a copy of those claims may be found in the Appendix
to appellants’ brief.
The prior art references relied upon by the examiner in
rejecting the appealed claims are:
Mordue et al. (Mordue) 5,028,211 Jul. 2,
1991
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