Appeal No. 98-2457
Application No. 08/851,312
hot-plastic deformation is not clear from the
claims.
Regarding 2), in column 6, lines 4-12, Jin
et al. states that the composite body is
subjected to "slow cooling", and column 8, lines
33-37 state that the composite body is "furnace
cooled". This demonstrates that Jin et al.
"controls" the cooling rate and recognizes that
rapid cooling and moderate cooling are to be
avoided. Accordingly, a cooling rate of less
than 50EC/min is at least suggested by Jin et
al., because it would be difficult to cool the
composite body at a rate greater than 50EC/min
while it is within a "furnace". Furthermore,
Example I in column 8 of Jin et al. implies that
the heating to 900EC and cooling to 600EC are
performed in the same furnace. This also
indicates that the cooling rate is less than
50EC/min, because it appears to be physically
impossible to lower the temperature of the
furnace form [sic] 900EC to 600EC quick enough
such that the cooling rate of the composite body
would be greater than 50EC/mn [sic].
Alternatively, the exact cooling rate is deemed
to be a matter of design choice, because such
rate per se solves no stated problem nor serves
any apparent purpose. The significance of
cooling the metal pipe at a rate of less than
50EC/mn [sic] is not clear from the claims. For
analogous reasons, the subject matter of claim
92 is at least suggested by Jin et al. It is
important to note that the claims do not require
that the cooling rate is "constant" over time.
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