Appeal No. 1997-1722
Application No. 08/385,256
The examiner relies upon the following references as evidence of obviousness:
Somerville 2,909,204 Oct. 20, 1959
Troyer 3,054,305 Sep.18, 1962
McGuire 4,182,138 Jan. 08, 1980
Ferguson 4,849,047 Jul. 18, 1989
Thiry GB 461,478 Feb. 17, 1937
(British Patent)
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a process for making a pressed-in
torsional vibration damper which comprises adhesively bonding an elastomeric spacer
ring into the annular gap between a metal hub ring and a metal flywheel ring. The adhesive
utilized is initially non-adhesive and is cured or activated "without heating it to a
temperature greater than 90° C." The adhesive is selected from the group recited in claim
1. Because of the strength of the adhesive bond, "it is possible to compress the
elastomeric spacer ring in the radial direction by as little as 20% down to essentially 0% . .
. [which] reduces or eliminates the risk of resonance occurring during use of the torsional
vibration damper." (page 4 of brief).
Appealed claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14-21 and 23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Thiry in view of McGuire and Somerville. Also, claims 1,
3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14-23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable
over either Troyer or McGuire in view of Ferguson and Somerville.
2
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