Appeal No. 1999-1663
Application No. 08/715,221
forces cause transverse waves to radiate into the material and
propagate through the material. Of note is that Thompson
(‘836) does not make reference to any waves that propagate in
the surface of the test block. However, the statement in
Thompson (‘836) (col. 3, lines 54-60) discussing changes in
shear wave polarization, discloses that when the stress in the
block is neither perpendicular nor parallel to the direction
of the transducer, the shear wave is decomposed into two waves
and that “[b]ecause these two polarized waves are traveling in
material under different conditions of stress, their velocity
will be different.” From the statement in
Attachment “D” supra, “when waves move across an interface
with different elastic properties, the velocity, direction and
phase of the wave may be changed and will give rise to waves
of other modes” it may be implied that a surface wave could be
inherently created in Thompson (‘836). Assuming arguendo that
the transducer of Thompson (‘836) inherently produced some
surface waves, we find that Thompson (‘836) does not teach
measuring an acoustic velocity of the surface wave. Nor does
Thompson (‘836) teach evaluating the stress based on a
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