Appeal No. 1998-1794
Application 08/738,467
immediately inwardly adjacent hub 16 as shown in Hajec's
figure 1 (Br12).
We do not agree with Appellant's argument. First, Hajec
itself discloses magnets with two separate orientations which
are integrated to form permanent magnets 108A' (figures 3 and
7; col. 6, lines 29-37). The lower magnets 114 in Hajec help
confine the ferrofluid lubricant and are not for Hall sensors;
however, claims 11 and 33 do not recite any functions for the
different orientations. Second, one of ordinary skill in the
art would have had no problem replacing the cylindrical magnet
28 in Hajec with the cylindrical magnet with two orientations
of MacLeod because the outer shapes are identical. The
rejection of claims 11, 33, and 34 is sustained.
Claims 13, 17, and 43
The Examiner finds that Shirotori discloses that it was
well known to provide a magnetic ring 16 on which the rotor
magnet 17 is mounted to establish a magnetic circuit, and
concludes that it would have been obvious to provide a ferric
ring in Hajec to provide a flux return path (FR4-5). The
Examiner further finds that Shirotori teaches threaded
openings in the hub for a screw 15 to secure a disc clamp 14
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