Appeal No. 2002-1352
Application 09/051,975
are the only other claims remaining in the application, have been
indicated by the examiner to contain allowable subject matter,
but are objected to as depending from rejected claims. Claims 1
through 8, 27 and 28 have been canceled.
Appellants’ invention relates to a method of manufacturing a
two-piece, light weight vehicle wheel wherein a wheel rim part
(6) and a wheel center part (5), each formed of alloy material,
are joined together utilizing a friction stir welding process.
Independent claims 9 and 18 are illustrative 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 of record relied upon by the
examiner as evidence of obviousness of the claimed subject matter
are:
Midling et al. (Midling) 5,813,592 Sep. 29, 1998
Stach ‘415 6,024,415 Feb. 15, 2000
Claims 9, 10, 13, 16, 18 through 20 and 23 stand rejected
under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Stach ‘415 in
view of Midling.
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