Appeal No. 1999-2775
Application No. 08/549,847
Appellants' invention relates to an apparatus for sanding or
polishing a surface wherein the apparatus includes means for
directing a cold gas flow (e.g., at -20°C or lower) onto the
surface to be treated, characterized in that the means for
directing the cold gas flow comprises a compressed gas line
having a vortex tube. An adequate understanding of the invention
can be had from a reading of independent claims 1 and 13, a copy
of which, as reproduced from the Appendix to appellants' brief,
is appended to this decision.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner as evidence of obviousness of the claimed subject matter
are:
Peter 4,333,754 Jun. 8, 1982
Lubbering et al. 5,088,242 Feb. 18, 1992
(Lubbering '242)
Vortec Catalog, "Vortex tubes" pp. 1-5 (1992).
Claims 1, 2, 5 through 7 and 13 through 17 stand rejected
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Lubbering '242
in view of Peter or the Vortec Catalog.
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by
the examiner and appellants regarding the above-noted rejection,
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