Appeal No. 1998-1266 Page 6
Application No. 08/354,459
into the claim (See Sjolund v. Musland, 847 F.2d 1573, 1581-
82, 6 USPQ2d 2020, 2027 (Fed. Cir. 1988)), it is broad enough
to read on the axial movement of DeFries’ combination tool.
DeFries’ combination tool comprises a drill portion 10
and an axially adjacent frustoconical grinding portion 20 for
machining a transverse opening in a laminated fiber-reinforced
composite material. The drill portion 10 is located at the
distal end of DeFries’ tool so that upon rotation and axial
movement of combination tool, the drill portion 10 first
penetrates the composite material to form an initial hole
(corresponding to appellants’ claimed formed hole) through the
composite material as shown in Figure 2 of DeFries’ patent
drawings.
According to the examiner’s findings on page 2 of the
final office action mentioned supra, the hole formed by
DeFries’ drill portion is “perpendicular to the longitudinal
direction of the fibers [in the laminated composite material]”
and causes delamination, as well as splintering, at the
periphery of the hole similar to the damage caused by forming
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