Appeal No. 1996-2811
Application 08/402,670
“yttria tetrangonal zirconia polycrystal
ceramic rails. The ceramic rails are in many cases
more cost effective and provide superior wear
resistance and corrosion resistance than prior art
chrome plated stainless guide rails. In addition,
the absence of corrosion products and the reduction
in wear debris helps reduce film contamination.”
Appellants and the examiner appear to be in agreement
that the applied patents of Ghosh ‘282 and Chatterjee ‘332 or
‘913
disclose the particular ceramic materials described in the
present application and set forth in the claims before us on
appeal. They are additionally in agreement that these patents
do not disclose or teach a guide rail for photographic film
and
paper wherein the guide rail is formed of the particular
zirconium-based ceramic compositions described in those
patents. On pages 4 and 5 of the answer, the examiner has
taken the position that
“These prior art references do not teach the
use of their zirconia compositions for ceramic guide
rails. However, it is the examiner’s position that
it is well known in the art that zirconia has
excellent fracture toughness and wear resistant
properties and the use of a zirconia composition for
a specific application requiring high toughness and
wear resistance (e.g. a guide rail) would have been
5
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