Appeal 2007-0501 Application 10/747,956 (id.). Appellants contend the claimed “alkali metal fluorozincate salts having a desired particle size can be prepared by drying the product of an aqueous reaction without the need for additional processing (i.e., without pulverizing)” (id. 9-10; original emphasis deleted). Appellants argue “[t]he particle size and . . . distribution of alkali metal fluorozincates can be controlled during the synthesis of the particles by selecting the reagents used to form the particles and controlling the order in which the reagents are combined” and there is no basis to modify the processes of Seseke-Koyro or Lauzon in this respect (id. 10). Appellants contend independent claim 8 specifies a particular order of combining particular reagents results in the claimed fine particle size distribution in this claim and in dependent claim 10 which is not specified in the applied references (Br. 10-11). Appellants submit the same contentions with respect to the particular reagents and the order of combining the same to obtain certain particle size distributions specified in each of independent claims 11 and 12 and the teachings of the references (id. 12). The Examiner responds the references can be combined because they all relate “to the use of a fluxing agent (or a flux) to bond or braze aluminum substrates” (Answer 6). The Examiner contends Seseke-Koyro and Lauzon disclose potassium fluorozincate as a commercially available fluxing agent for brazing aluminum substrates by wet applications, such as spraying, or dry applications, but not the particle size (id. 6-7). The Examiner contends Popoola discloses applying the material as a slurry or suspension of smaller particle sizes and Shimajiri prefers a dry method of larger particle sizes, and thus, it would have been obvious to select the particle size for the method 6Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013