Appeal No. 2002-0963
Application No. 08/122,344
reinforcing material. Therefore, it would have been
obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to
partially advance the curing of a thermoset resin
impregnated fiber tape in the winding process disclosed
in Sherwood in a preheating zone as disclosed in Boss.
[Emphasis added.]
However, subsequent to the prior decision, appellants
amended claim 1 to include the limitation of "passing the at
least one thermoset resin impregnated fiber tow or tape through a
preheating zone of a fiber placement apparatus to preheat the
thermoset resin impregnated fiber tow or tape . . . " (emphasis
added). See also claim 32. As discussed in Evans, filament
winding is not "a form of 'fiber placement' " as alleged by the
examiner but rather is "a unique method of laminating prepregged
fiber materials onto a complex mandrel or mold." See Evans,
page 2, col. 1. Neither Sherwood, Boss, Chitwood nor Hebert
discloses a fiber placement apparatus.
To the extent that Boss suggests preheating a resin
impregnated fiber tow or tape prior to its use in the formation
of carbon fiber reinforced composite structures, we agree with
appellants that (Brief, pp. 26-27 and 52):
At best, in combining Boss with Sherwood [, or for
that matter, Evans, Chitwood or Hebert], one of
ordinary skill in the art might consider replacing the
heating means of Sherwood with the heating zone of Boss
if the heating zone of Boss could prove effective in
imparting tack or initial adhesion to the fiber tows or
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