Appeal 2007-0689
Application 10/329,825
spring piston of any of Hoffman, Ebert, and Hillburger as a longitudinal-
seam welded tube as proposed by the Examiner (Office Action 2).
FINDINGS OF FACT
FF1. Hoffman discloses an air spring comprising a solid piston 22 (Fig. 1),
which is preferably formed of a high strength plastic but which may be
formed of aluminum or other lightweight material (Hoffman, col. 6,
ll. 22-25).
FF2. Ebert discloses four embodiments of an air spring piston 8. The first
embodiment (Figs. 2a-2c) of piston 8 is a case profiled member, such as an
injection molded member, having a thin outer wall with a circular mantle
surface 8a and a plurality of stays 8b extending radially toward the center of
the piston (Ebert, col. 3, ll. 61-65). The second embodiment (Figs. 3a-3b)
likewise is a cast member, especially an injection-molded member,
comprising a thin outer wall with a circular mantle surface 8a connected by
radially extending stays 8b to a solid central body having threaded bushings
14 inserted therein (Ebert, col. 4, ll. 22-36). The third and fourth
embodiments (the right side and left side, respectively, of Fig. 4) are both
extruded profiled members that can be produced as a continuous material
which is subsequently cut to length as needed (Ebert, col. 4, ll. 37-42). The
profiled members comprise a central support body 8c connected by radially
extending stays 8b to an outer wall with a cylindrical mantle surface 8a.
Ebert’s piston 8 may be made of plastic material, preferably fiberglass-
reinforced plastic material, or a cast light metal alloy, preferably aluminum
cast alloy (Ebert, col. 2, ll. 41-49).
FF3. Hillburger discloses an air spring including a piston 3 (Fig. 2) “having
an inverted generally bowl-shaped configuration formed of a suitable
3
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Last modified: September 9, 2013