Appeal No. 2000-0484
Application No. 08/677,401
that the passage of time is significant. In re Deters, 515
F.2d 1152, 1155, 185 USPQ 644, 647 (CCPA 1975).
Thus, we are basically in agreement with the examiner
that, as a general proposition, it would have been obvious to
make the chamber 24 of Koch from a forging, in view of the
recognition in the art, as evidenced by Cross, that forged
chambers are stronger than welded ones. However, the appealed
claims call for the chamber housing to be generated from a
rolled forging that is a solid aluminum ring (claim 1) or that
has a cylindrically shaped wall (claims 21, 25, 31 and 34),
and to machine at least one or a plurality of facets thereon,
and it is not evident to us why it would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill to make the rectangular chamber 24 of
Koch in this fashion. The examiner states that (answer, page
4):
the exact configuration of the forged piece of
metal, prior to machining, would have been an
obvious matter of engineering design choice, since
such configuration per se solves no stated problem
nor serves any apparent purpose with regard to
forming a chamber housing that is stronger than a
welded chamber housing.
Nevertheless, there is no evidence as to why one of ordinary
skill would have selected a cylindrical forging as the basis
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