Appeal No. 96-0021
Application No. 08/105,820
According to appellants, the invention is directed to a
method of manufacturing a permanent magnet based on an
intermetallic alloy of neodymium, iron and boron (hereafter
NdFeB) where an alloy of gallium and one or more rare earth
metals is mixed with the NdFeB, magnetically aligned,
compressed, and sintered to produce a magnet with improved
corrosion resistance and increased coercive force (Brief,
pages 1-2). Claim 6 is illustrative of the subject matter on
appeal and is reproduced below:
6. A method of manufacturing a permanent magnet comprising
NdFeB, said method comprising forming a mixture of a powder of
NdFeB and a powder of an alloy consisting in an amount of at
least 50% of Ga and at least one rare earth metal in an amount
not greater than 50%; magnetically orienting said mixture;
compressing said thus oriented mixture and sintering the
resultant compressed mixture in an oxygen-free atmosphere.
The examiner has relied upon the following references to
support the rejections:
Ghandehari (Ghandehari ‘574) 4,762,574 Aug. 9, 1988
Ghandehari (Ghandehari ‘499) 5,004,499 Apr. 2, 1991
Claims 4 through 9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
102(b) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35
U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Ghandehari ‘499 (Answer, page 3).
Claims 4 through 9 also stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
2
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