Appeal No. 2001-2235 Page 2
Application No. 08/699,660
THE CLAIMED INVENTION
Appellant’s invention relates to a method of forming a temporary seal in the bore of a
fastener. The temporary seal serves to protect the bore during further processing, such as during
sand blasting or painting, but can be removed from the bore by, for example, threading a stud
into the bore (Brief1 at 2). Claim 1 is illustrative:
1. A method of sealing a bore opening in a fastener member, comprising the following
steps:
a. supporting a sealing element in said bore opening, said sealing element being heat
softenable and plastically deformable, said sealing element having a diameter less than said bore
opening;
b. heating said sealing element to a heat softened plastically deformable temperature at
which temperature said sealing element softens and is deformable, but said temperature is below
the melting temperature of said sealing element;
c. mechanically deforming said sealing element radially outwardly into a mechanical
interlocking engagement with said bore opening at said heat softened plastically deformable
temperature; and
d. cooling said sealing element below said heat softened plastically deformable
temperature, said sealing element then sealing said fastener member bore opening.
1All reference to the Brief is to the Brief recorded as Paper No. 15.
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