Appeal No. 1999-2775
Application No. 08/549,847
Looking first to the broader independent claim 13, we note
that this claim sets forth an apparatus for sanding or polishing
a surface, wherein the apparatus comprises a motor (1) including
a body and a working head (2) mounted on said body, said working
head including means for attachment of an abrasive or polishing
material (5) to said working head; a feed line means for
directing a cold gas flow to the surface to be treated; and means
for feeding a cold gas flow to the feed line means comprising a
vortex tube (8) adjacent said working head and a compressed gas
line (18), said vortex tube having an outlet opening
communicating with said feed line means, and having an inlet end
connected to said compressed gas line. Like the examiner, we
observe that Lubbering '242 discloses an apparatus similar to
that set forth in claim 13 on appeal, with the exception that
Lubbering '242 does not disclose or teach a means for feeding a
cold gas flow to the feed line means (3, 9) therein which
comprises "a vortex tube adjacent said working head," as in
appellants' claim 13. At column 3, lines 11-13, Lubbering '242
indicates that the term cold gas as used in that patent "refers
to a cold air which has been cooled by suitable means to
temperatures substantially lower than minus 20° C." Lubbering
'242 goes on to indicate that an advantageous way of providing
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007