Appeal No. 2004-1150
Application No. 09/924,490
involves the application of this welding technique to aircraft
airframe structures. More particularly, appellants assert that:
The application of this technique [i.e., friction
stir butt welding] to aircraft airframe structure,
including primary load bearing structure would not have
been foreseen owing to the aforesaid known properties of
welds, namely liability to fatigue. Surprisingly however
work carried out has revealed that such friction stir
butt welds do indeed possess the qualities to make such
structures as aforesaid possible. [Specification, page
5, lines 10-16.]
With this as background, we take up for consideration the
examiner’s anticipation rejection of claims 1, 13, 18, 38 and 52 as
being anticipated by the Dawes.
As noted above, representative claim 1 is directed to a method
of forming a structural airframe component for an aircraft
including the step of placing at two components in abutting
relationship with each other and joining them together by friction
stir butt welding, whereas representative claim 13 is directed to a
structural airframe component for an aircraft including at least
one friction stir butt welded joint.
The following comprises our findings with respect to the scope
and content of Dawes. Dawes discloses a method of joining
components that includes utilizing a welding technique that
involves placing two components in abutting relationship with each
other, inserting a probe into a joint region between the two
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