Appeal No. 1997-2667
Application No. 07/632,907
Claim 26 is representative of the subject matter on
appeal and reads as follows:
26. A greatly expanded titanium metal mesh of enhanced
void fraction, said greatly expanded mesh being selected
from the group consisting of titanium metal, titanium
metal alloys, and intermetallic mixtures containing
titanium metal, said titanium mesh having a pattern of
substantially diamond- shaped voids having LWD and SWD
dimensions for units of the pattern, the pattern of
voids being defined by a continuum of metal strands
interconnected at nodes, wherein the mesh is a flexible and
stretchable titanium mesh with strands of thickness less than
0.125 cm and having a void fraction of at least 90%, said
flexible and stretchable mesh being coilable and uncoilable
about an axis along the LWD dimension of the pattern
units and being stretchable along the SWD dimension of the
pattern units and further being bendable in the general
plane of the mesh about a bending radius in the range from
5 to 25 times the width of the mesh, with the mesh nodes
being of double strand thickness.
In support of his rejections, the examiner relies on the
following prior art:
Watkins 896,912 May 23, 1962
(Published British Patent Application)
“Niles Expanded Metals,” page 12, 1973 (hereinafter referred
to as “Niles”).
Claims 26, 28, 30 through 38, 43 and 44 stand rejected
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by the disclosure of
Niles. Claims 26, 28, 30 through 38, 43 and 44 stand
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over the
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007