Appeal No. 2002-1352
Application 09/051,975
may be manufactured separately from one another by different
processes and from various materials so that, corresponding
to the demands on the wheel, the material and the
manufacturing process as well as the connecting process, for
example, a welding process, can be freely selected.
Although Stach ‘414 broadly indicates that “a welding
process” can be freely selected as the means by which the two
wheel parts are joined together and gives examples of some
acceptable welding methods which might be employed, that patent
does not specifically mention friction stir welding.
To account for this difference between the teachings of
Stach ‘415 and the methods claimed by appellants, the examiner
turns to Midling, noting that this patent teaches a method of
friction welding for joining metal parts together, and more
specifically a friction stir welding process wherein a probe of
harder material than the treated workpieces is applied in the
welding process. Midling indicates that the process of friction
stir welding has been known since about 1993 (from WO93/10935)
and gives a general description of the process at column 1, lines
25-30, wherein it is indicated that
Friction stir welding is based on a relative cyclic movement
between the probe and the workpieces, urging the probe and
workpieces together to create a plasticised region in the
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