Appeal No. 2006-2231
Application No. 10/306,120
ordinary skill in the art to employ the metal droplet spraying
technique of Singer to bond a flexible corrugated conduit to a
backing surface.
We are not persuaded by appellants' argument that the
references are not combinable because "Widmer is directed to
components that utilize cast-in cooling tubes" (page 3 of
principal brief, second paragraph). While we appreciate that
there are distinct differences in both the thermal spray process
of Singer and appellants and the casting process of Widmer, the
relevant teaching in Widmer is the benefit in utilizing flexible
corrugated conduits for fluid material. Certainly, the
advantage of using a flexible corrugated conduit is not
contingent upon the casting process but, clearly, would transfer
to the metal spraying process of Singer as well. Notwith-
standing appellants' arguments to the contrary, we do not find
that the examiner resorted to impermissible hindsight in
combining the relevant teachings of the applied references.
Although we certainly agree with appellants that "[t]he process
of casting parts is a very different process than the spray
forming process of Singer" (page 4 of principal brief, last
paragraph), appellants have not explained why one of ordinary
skill in the art would have been dissuaded from utilizing a
-4-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007