Appeal No. 1999-2145 Page 4
Application No. 08/781,605
such that opposite side faces are in radial alignment, and securing the convolutions from
movement so that they do not move relative to one another when the pipe is pressurized.
In rejecting claim 33, the examiner has interpreted the teachings of the applied
references in the following manner. Reinforcement Digest discloses a CLOCK SPRING1
strip of high tensile strength memory matrix composite material that is wrapped around a
pipe for use as a crack arrestor, but also states on page 2 that it “can be wrapped around
deteriorated sections of line pipe” to allow it to be capable of operating at its original
design pressure. However, the reference does not describe the details of the material that
are recited in the claim nor does it teach that the deteriorated sections constitute
unbreached weakened sections or that filler can be used in depressions in the weakened
sections. Fawley, which appears to be directed to the crack arrestor described in
Reinforcement Digest, discloses the claimed material and explains that it is adhered to the
pipe by means of an adhesive. The admitted prior art recognizes that it was known at the
time of the appellant’s invention to restore a deteriorated pipeline by digging it up and
covering the damaged area with sleeves installed around the pipe. Shaw and Stark teach
that a repair can be made by applying filler to a depression and then wrapping it with resin
or plastic impregnated tape, and Medkeff that adhesive can be used in addition to tension
to secure a repair strip to a pipe and subsequent convolutions of the strip to one another.
1CLOCK SPRING is a trademark of NCF Industries, Inc.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007