Appeal No. 2006-1166
Application No. 09/994,257
Van der Pol discloses a mass flowmeter which operates
according to the Coriolis principle and includes a housing, a
thick-walled tube (4), the flow channel of which is a Coriolis
measuring tube (1), an oscillation generator (2), and oscillation
sensors (3) (col. 1, line 65 - col. 4, line 28). The materials
of which the thick-walled tube can be made include metal, metal
alloy and plastic, particularly PTFE, PFA or polyether
etherketone (col. 4, lines 29-33).
The appellants argue that it would not have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute PTFE or PFA for
metal or glass in a Coriolis flowmeter tube because glass and
metal have different characteristics than PTFE and PFA (brief,
page 5). Sipin does not disclose the material of the conduit.
Thus, there is no substitution to be made. One of ordinary skill
in the art would have made Sipin’s conduit from the materials
known to be suitable for making flowmeter vibrating tubes, such
as Van der Pol’s PTFE and PFA.
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