Appeal No. 2006-0132
Application No. 09/946,627
the initial failure load of the joint between the
stiffener and the skin materials and also by
inserting reinforcing pins through the flange portion
of the stiffener and into the skin material to resist
crack propagation. In addition, the pins reinforce
the individual plies of the both the stiffener and
the skin material to resist delamination. The pins
may be inserted when the stiffener and/or the skin
material are in the prepreg stage and then the whole
assembly can be co-cured to form a very strong
stiffener reinforced assembly....
Further, the appellants do not challenge the examiner’s Official
Notice that “it is well known in the art to provide pins along
the entire bond-line of pre-forms [inclusive of the base portion
between the legs of the pi-shaped pre-form taught by Wanthal] in
order to reinforce the entire base of the pre-form ....” Compare
the Answer, page 11 with the Brief, page 14. Nor do the
appellants challenge the examiner’s finding that Childress and/or
Boyce show parallel reinforcing pins along the entire bond-line
consistent with the official notice taken by the examiner.
Compare the Answer, pages 10-11, with the Brief, page 14.
Thus, notwithstanding the appellants’ arguments to the
contrary, we concur with the examiner that one of ordinary skill
in the art would have been led to employ parallel reinforcing
Z-pins along the bond-line of a pre-form, including a bond-line
represented by the base portion between the legs of the woven
pi-shape pre-form taught by Wanthal, motivated by a reasonable
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