Appeal No. 2002-0018
Application No. 09/231,897
. . . Matsui et al as well as applicant are interested in using materials to make
nozzles that are abrasive resistant (column 1, lines 12-16). It is the position of the
examiner that one having ordinary skill in the art would consider all materials that
exhibit abrasive resistant properties as candidates for a liquid jet nozzle that requires
high abrasion resistance. . . .
. . . Buehler discloses that Nitinol has abrasive resistant properties (column 1,
line 35; and column 8, lines 36-37). Therefore, while considering metals for
candidacy as a material for liquid jet nozzles, Nitinol would make a good candidate.
As correctly pointed out by appellant in both the corrected main brief and reply brief, the
thrust of Matsui is the provision of a high pressure injection nozzle member formed of a super hard
alloy or a hard sintered material having a hardness of more that about 94 HRA (Rockwell A)
(column 3, lines 55-56; column 3, lines 64-67; column 4, lines 7-10). This is a result of Matsui’s
finding that hardness is of paramount importance in designing a high pressure injection nozzle, to
the point of accepting lower than previously thought to be acceptable tenacity in order to obtain the
desired high degree of hardness (column 9, lines 41-45; column 10, lines 47-56; column 13, lines
20-23). The range of acceptable hardness for Matsui’s purposes is further exemplified upon review
of the graphs of Figures 2, 12 and 14, where the black circles (!) represent Matsui’s invention and
the white circles (") represent what Matsui calls “conventional” technology. As can be clearly
discerned from the graphs of Figures 2, 12 and 14, the alloys of Matsui’s invention all have
hardnesses of about 94 HRA (Rockwell A) or higher, whereas the alloys of the “conventional”
technology having hardnesses as high as 88 to 93 HRA (Rockwell A) are not acceptable in
accordance with Matsui’s teachings.
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