Appeal No. 1997-0287
Application 08/263,034
justified via the increased safety/protection? For at
least the reasons taught by New and Miura it wold [sic]
have been obvious to use a combined fluid and magnetic
bearing system in Andres.
We refer to the Office Action entered April 4, 1995
(Paper No. 5), the Final Rejection (Paper No. 9) (pages
referred to as "FR__"), and the Examiner's Answer (Paper
No. 12) (pages referred to as "EA__") for a statement of the
Examiner's position and to the Appeal Brief (Paper No. 11)
(pages referred to as "Br__") and the Reply Brief (Paper
No. 13) (pages referred to as "RBr__") for a statement of
Appellants' arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
It is admitted that turbo machinery having a
turboexpander and compressor was well known (specification,
pages 1-2). It is admitted (specification, page 3): "Two
primary types of bearings that may be used to support the
rotor shaft in turbo machinery are magnetic bearings and oil
film bearings. Magnetic bearings provide superior performance
over oil film bearings." It is admitted that active magnetic
radial and thrust bearings were conventional (specification,
page 10) and that use of a proximity sensor and a
discontinuity on the shaft for measuring axial displacement
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