THIS OPINION WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR PUBLICATION
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the examiner’s refusal to allow
claims 1
through 6 which are all the claims remaining in the application.
THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to a metal powder having a spherical shape, an average
particle size of 25 µm or less, and a tap density ratio of 50 - 60%. In one
embodiment, the powder is prepared by forming metal particles from non-spherical
molten metal by water atomization followed by subjecting the resulting particles to a
high speed gas stream in the presence of a collision target.
THE CLAIMS
Claims 1 and 2 are illustrative of appellants’ invention and are reproduced
below.
1. A water-atomized metal powder having a spherical particle shape, an average
particle size of 25 µm or less and a tap density ratio of 50 - 60%.
2. A method for producing water-atomized spherical metal powder, the method
comprising forming metal particles of non-spherical shapes from molten metal by
water-atomization, and subjecting the metal particles to a high speed gas stream to
cause high speed collisions to occur between said particles and between said
1
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Last modified: November 3, 2007