Appeal No. 2005-0582
Application 09/870,014
expressed in the Answer, and we add the following primarily for
emphasis.
There is no dispute that Hamasaki, like appellants, dis-
closes an arc/laser hybrid welding process for joining steel
workpieces in which a mixture of gases is used to shield at least
one part of the welding zone. Appellants’ principal contention
is that Hamasaki does not disclose the claimed ternary gas
mixture for shielding in the hybrid arc/laser welding process,
and that the secondary references, which do disclose the claimed
ternary gas mixture, are directed to an arc welding process, not
a hybrid one. Appellants maintain that “the prior art laser
welding and arc welding techniques do not have the same results
and characteristics when applied to hybrid welding; that is,
importation of either laser welding or arc welding techniques
into hybrid welding is unpredictable” (page 7 of Brief, second
paragraph).
We do not subscribe to appellants’ position. In our view,
appellants are reading the Hamasaki disclosure too narrowly. As
explained by the examiner, Hamasaki teaches that arc (MIG)
welding is performed in close proximity to laser welding in the
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