Appeal 2007-1488
Application 10/809,072
1 Representative claim 1 reads as follows:
2 1. A system comprising:
3 an investment molding cavity;
4 a seed crystal starter cavity;
5 a seed crystal for initiating epitaxial crystal growth in
6 molten metallic material that comes into contact therewith;
7 a grain selector operatively connecting the seed crystal
8 starter cavity and the investment molding cavity for at least one
9 of: (1) selecting a single crystal from the seed crystal to grow
10 into the molten metallic material during solidification, or (2)
11 ensuring that a single crystal from the seed crystal continues to
12 grow into the molten metallic material during solidification;
13 and
14 a grain selector support for at least partially supporting
15 the weight of the investment molding cavity and any molten
16 metallic material contained therein to take at least a portion of
17 this weight off the grain selector,
18 wherein the system is capable of producing a single
19 crystal investment cast component, and wherein the grain
20 selector comprises a non-linear tubular structure comprising at
21 least one of: a helix, a three-dimensional bend, a staircase, and a
22 zigzag.
23
24 The Examiner rejected claims 1-12, 15, 17-30, and 33-35 under 35
25 U.S.C. § 103(a) on three separate grounds over various combinations of
26 prior art references.2 (Answer 3-4.)
27 The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on
28 appeal is:
29 Burd US 4,180,119 Dec. 25, 1979
30
31 Giamei US 4,475,582 Oct. 9, 1984
32
2 The Examiner expressly stated that the rejections no longer rely on United
States Patent 4,940,073 issued to Jeyarajan et al., which had been applied in
the Final Office Action of May 26, 2006. (Answer 3.)
3
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