Appeal No. 96-2202
Application 08/117,088
stator as required by claim 5. Although the distance between the
permanent magnets is not expressly set forth in McMichael, Figure
1 plainly discloses that the distance between the permanent
magnets is not greater than the width of either magnet.
Appellants' arguments (Brief, page 10) to the contrary
notwithstanding, the distance between the two permanent magnets
is, therefore, greater than 0.0 and less than 1.0 times the
radial width of either permanent magnet. The lower end of the
range in McMichael is probably around 0.5 times the radial width
of either permanent magnet. The only difference between Figure 1
of McMichael and the superconductor bearing of claim 5 is the
mounting of the permanent magnets on a stator as opposed to a
rotor, and the mounting of the superconductor on a rotor as
opposed to a stator. With respect to this difference, we are of
the opinion that the skilled artisan would have known that the
roles of the stator and the rotor are reversible, and that the
magnetic flux would not be altered in any way in Figure 1 of4
McMichael. For example, Figure 13 of McMichael discloses the
permanent magnets 390 and 391 arranged on the rotor, and the
superconductor is the stator. In view of the well-known
4Appellants acknowledge (Brief, page 9) that the "magnetic
fluxes emitted by McMichael's permanent magnets are permitted to
penetrate into the superconductor."
5
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