Appeal No. 2002-1352
Application 09/051,975
Based on the collective teachings of the applied patents,
the examiner has concluded that it would have been obvious to the
person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of appellants’
invention to utilize friction stir welding as taught by Midling
to join the alloy rim part (2) and alloy center part (3) of the
wheel in Stach ‘415 together, because such a welding process “is
more flexible and provides a smooth finish surface” (Paper No.
13, page 4).
Our evaluation of the combined teachings of Stach ‘415 and
Midling, and the fact that we believe the worker of ordinary
skill in the art of two-piece alloy wheels at the time of
appellants’ invention would have readily recognized that high
integrity welds free from voids and exhibiting a smooth surface
quality, as well as uniform homogenized weld seams exhibiting
reduced heat affected zone, like those in Midling, would be very
desirable in the highly competitive alloy wheel art, leads us to
conclude that the examiner is correct in his conclusion of
obviousness. While it is true that neither Stach ‘415 nor
Midling expressly teaches that using friction stir welding to
form a two-piece alloy wheel would be advantageous, we are
nonetheless of the opinion that it would have been obvious to a
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