Appeal No. 95-2255
Application No. 07/962,035
improving this known process by subjecting the so-treated
surface to a blasting fluid stream carrying finely divided
particles applied at a pressure so as to compact the particles
in the fissures or pores after which the original treatment is
repeated thereby locking additional particles in the fissures
and improving the useful life of the treated surface (e.g.,
see lines 11 through 22 of the Abstract).
The examiner considers the blasting fluid stream
operation of Forestek to generally correspond to the here
claimed surface processing method. In this regard, the
examiner points out that the particles used in this operation
may be in the size range claimed by the appellants and may
possess a hardness greater than the hardness of the workpiece
surface as required by the independent claim on appeal.
Although the examiner acknowledges that the Forestek reference
contains no disclosure of the here claimed velocity or
incident angle features, he concludes that it would have been
obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art to effect
patentee's blasting fluid stream operation using velocities
and incident angles within the ranges defined by appealed
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Last modified: November 3, 2007