Appeal 2006-3265
Application 10/047,670
elevated temperatures and pressures without slipping or becoming
disconnected from its coupler” (Turner, col. 1, ll. 30-35). Kocher’s coupling
arrangement is particularly adapted for mass production, is self-aligning and
devoid of cocking tendencies, and effects a particularly secure and fluid-
tight connection (Kocher 1, col. 1, ll. 32-36 and col. 2, l. 51 to col. 2, l. 1).
One skilled in the art at the time of Appellants’ invention would have
recognized that the advantages offered by the coupling arrangements of
Turner and Kocher would likewise be applicable to tube couplings in heat
exchangers, which need to be fluid-tight and may be subjected to elevated
temperatures and pressures. Moreover, as discussed above, the
modifications necessary to utilize the coupling arrangement of either Turner
or Kocher in a heat exchanger to couple flattened heat exchanger tubes to the
header or tank structure of the heat exchanger would have been well within
the skill of a person of ordinary skill in the art with predictable results and
with the flattened heat exchanger tubes of any of Dalo, Ryan, and Ando, the
heat exchanger structure, and the coupling connection of Turner or Kocher
performing their established functions.
We do not agree with Appellants that the secondary references Dalo,
Ryan, and Ando teach away from the combination of the flattened heat
exchanger tubes and the tube coupling arrangement of Kocher or Turner. “A
reference may be said to teach away when a person of ordinary skill, upon
[examining] the reference, would be discouraged from following the path set
out in the reference, or would be led in a direction divergent from the path
that was taken by the applicant.” In re Gurley, 27 F.3d 551, 553, 31
USPQ2d 1130, 1131 (Fed. Cir. 1994). Simply that there are differences
between two references is insufficient to establish that such references
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