Appeal No. 98-2126 Page 9
Application No. 08/490,180
having ordinary skill in the art (In re Boe, 355 F.2d 961, 965,
148 USPQ 507, 510 (CCPA 1966)).
Keiji appears to teach all the subject matter set forth in
claims 45-47 with the exception that (1) the non-ferrous shot
material in Keiji is blasted by metal shot having a hardness
greater than the non-ferrous shot material, rather than being
blasted against a metal body having a metal hardness at least
equal to that of the non-ferrous shot material as set forth in
claim 45 and (2) recovering and re-blasting the non-ferrous
shot material as set forth in claim 46. Straub, however,
teaches that the fatigue strength of shot material may be
increased (see the abstract) by accelerating the shot material
against a target member 24 which has a hardness equal to or
greater than the hardness of the shot material (see col. 5,
lines 4-7). Although the illustrated accelerating means of
Straub relies on the force of gravity, Straub expressly teaches
that the accelerating means may be a compressed air nozzle (see
col. 4, line 41). Straub also teaches that the shot material
may be recovered and re-blasted (see the paragraph bridging
columns 4 and 5). Taken as a whole, Keiji and Straub teach
that (a) blasting shot material with metal shot having a
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