Appeal No. 95-2413
Application 07/936,865
and error techniques instead of mathematical analysis.
Further, no mathematical relationships are claimed. The
recitation that the "total arc length" is "substantially
proportional to >(R)xR" takes exact precision out of the
claim. Still further, while the function >(R) in claim 36
could be any function, claim 36 is satisfied by any single
function. We keep these points in mind in addressing the
obviousness rejection.
In our opinion, the subject matter of claim 36, as
broadly claimed, would have been obvious over Suzuki or Sato
'375 or Sato '374. We note that the limitation "the total arc
length of the portions of the magnet which pass beneath a
point on said target cathode surface a distance R from the
axis of rotation" refers to the swept area on the target, not
the arc length over the width of the plasma path. Suzuki
expressly discloses that the total arc length for any portion
on the magnet which passes beneath a point on the target
surface a distance R from the axis of rotation (expressed as
'L(R) to be consistent with appellants' use of R instead of r)
should have a constant erosion function (>(R) = constant), so
'L(R) = >(R)xR. One of ordinary skill in the magnetron
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