Ex Parte Groezinger

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Sep 7, 2011

10591198 (B.P.A.I. Sep. 7, 2011)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
10/591,198 08/30/2006 Dieter Groezinger 1032/0108PUS1 7398
60601 7590 09/07/2011
Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe, PLLC
4000 Legato Road
Suite 310
FAIRFAX, VA 22033
EXAMINER
LIN, KUANG Y
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1735
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/07/2011 PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
____________

Ex parte DIETER GROEZINGER
____________

Appeal 2010-005503
Application 10/591,198
Technology Center 1700
____________

Before CHUNG K. PAK, CHARLES F. WARREN, and
CATHERINE Q. TIMM, Administrative Patent Judges.

PAK, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s
refusal to allow claims 1, 2, and 4 through 7. 1 Claim 8, the other claim
pending in the above-identified application, stands withdrawn from
consideration by the Examiner as being directed to a non-elected invention.
We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6.

1 See Appeal Brief (“App. Br.”) filed August 21, 2009, 2; and Examiner’s
Answer (“Ans.”) filed October 9, 2009, 2.

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Application 10/591,198

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STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The subject matter on appeal is directed to water soluble salt cores
that are manufactured by compacting a mixture of water soluble salts and an
inorganic phosphate binder or a mixture of inorganic phosphate binder under
pressure and subsequently sintering or thermally treating the compacted
mixture. (See original Spec. 2, ll. 5-10 and 3, l. 14.) The use of the
inorganic phosphate binders in forming the water soluble cores is said to be
advantageous in that they avoid the carbonization and outgassing problem
associated with using synthetic resin binders (See original Spec. 1-2.) Such
water soluble salt cores are said to be used for casting purposes and are said
to contain “0 and 10 wt. % of a parting agent2 such as graphite.” (See
original Spec. 1, ll. 13-14 and 2, ll. 15-16.) Details of the appealed subject
matter are recited in representative claim 13 reproduced from the Claims
Appendix to the Appeal Brief as shown below:

1. Water soluble salt cores manufactured by compacting a mixture of
water soluble salts and binder under pressure and by subsequently subjecting
said compacted mixture to a thermal treatment,

2 According to pages 1 and 876 of Hawley’s Condensed Chemical
Dictionary(11th Ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.1987), the term
“parting agent” is defined as “[a]ny substance that prevents adhesion of a
material to…another material.”
3 Appellant has presented substantive arguments directed to claim 1 only.
(See App. Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-2). Therefore, for purposes of this appeal,
we select claim 1 and decide the propriety of the Examiner’s § 103
rejections set forth in the Answer based on this claim alone in accordance
with 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(vii) .

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wherein the binder is an inorganic phosphate or a mixture of inorganic
phosphates, the binder comprising between 0.5 and 10 by wt. % of said
mixture of water soluble salts and the binder, the mixture of water-soluble
salts and the binder further comprising between approximately 1 and 10% by
weight of a parting agent comprising graphite,

wherein the mixture of the water soluble salts and the binder is
compacted and subsequently sintered at approximately 200 degrees C, and

wherein the compacted and sintered mixture is not subjected to
outgassing at a temperature below 700 degrees C during a heating process in
the subsequent thermal treatment.

As evidence of unpatentability of the claimed subject matter, the
Examiner relies on the following prior art references at pages 2 and 3 of the
Answer:
Halpern US 2,878,539 Mar. 24, 1959
Anderko US 3,764,575 Oct. 9, 1973
Melling US 5,573,055 Nov. 12, 1996
Belyakov SU 1196096 A Dec. 7, 19854

Appellant seeks review of the following grounds of rejection set forth
in the Answer:
1. Claims 1, 2, and 4 through 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over the combined disclosures of Anderko, Melling,
and Halpern; and

4 Our reference to Belyakov is to the English translation of the Abstract of
SU 1196096 A relied upon by the Examiner. (See the Final Office Action
dated April 6, 2009, and Ans. 3).

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2. Claims 1, 2, and 4 through 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over the combined disclosures of Belyakov and
Halpern. (See App. Br. 3.)

RELEVANT FACTUAL FINDINGS
Anderko discloses that sand cores were known to be used in foundries
for casting purposes, but were replaced by “cores of water-soluble salts, such
as sodium chloride or potassium chloride which was pressed and…sintered
at temperatures between 500 and 750oC” (col. 1, ll. 5-36). Such high
sintering temperatures, according to Anderko, were known to carbonize the
synthetic resin binder employed in the water-soluble salt cores, thereby
avoiding evolution of gases during their use in making castings (col. 2, ll.
15-27). Anderko discloses that it was known to include “up to 10 percent of
borax [(i.e., borate)], magnesia, or talcum, individually or in admixture to
the [water-soluble] salt in order to promote the sintering process so that the
compressive and bending strengths are much improved” (col. 1, ll. 46-53).
Melling, like Anderko, discloses forming a water dispersible mold, in
particular a core, for use in casting processes (col. 3, l. 6 to col. 4, l. 10).
Melling also discloses the desirability of using a binder derived from at least
one water-soluble phosphate and/or borate glass in forming the mold since
such binder “avoids the use of any organic materials which would volatilise
or burn out when the mould is heated at high temperature” (col. 4, ll. 4-7).
Belyakov discloses forming water-soluble salt cores for casting
purposes via combining water-soluble phosphate containing substance, such
as chromophosphate binder and/or sodium polyphosphate, and sodium
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chloride (water-soluble salt) (p. 1). Belyakov also discloses that the use of
such a mixture eliminates the need for firing the cores and reduces the
thermal treatment temperature for the cores from 700oC (in a previous
method) to 300oC (p. 2). There is no dispute that it was well known at the
time of the invention to use a compact molding machine or a pressure
blowing machine for pressuring the foundry mixture to form cores, such as
the core taught by Belyakov. (Compare Ans. Ans. 3 with App. Br. ).
Halpern, like Anderko, Melling, and Belyakov, discloses forming a
core for casting purposes (col. 1, ll. 15-17). Halpern discloses forming such
core with a mixture of foundry sand and a resin binder in the presence of
about 0.1 to 1.0 wt % of “lubricants that...are …parting agents such as
calcium or zinc stearate, talc, graphite…” (col. 1, ll. 18-20, col. 2, ll. 32-34,
and 64-66, and col. 6, ll. 13-24). Halpern also teaches adding a lubricant or
a parting agent to a core forming composition is useful in forming a product
virtually dust-free (col. 3, ll. 25-54, Example 1).
PRINCIPLES OF LAW
As our Supreme Court stated in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc, 550 U.S.
398, 417 (2007) (quoting Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc., 425 U.S. 273, 282
(1976):
[W]hen a patent ‘simply arranges old elements with each
performing the same function it had been known to perform’
and yields no more than one would expect from such an
arrangement, the combination is obvious.
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“[A] reasonable expectation of success, not absolute predictability”
supports a conclusion of obviousness. In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 897 (Fed.
Cir. 1985).
Discovery of a problem readily noticeable by one of ordinary skill in
the art does not impart patentability. In re Ludwig, 353 F.2d 241, 244
(CCPA 1965).
ISSUE, ANALYSIS, AND CONCLUSION
Appellant does not dispute the Examiner’s determination that the
collective teachings of Anderko and Melling would have suggested
compacting an inorganic phosphate binder and a water soluble salt under
pressure to form a core and then thermally treating the core in the claimed
manner. (Compare Ans. 4 with App. Br. 5-6 and Reply Br. 1-2.) Nor does
Appellant dispute the Examiner’s determination that one of ordinary skill in
the art would have been led to form Belyakov’s cores via compacting a
mixture containing a water soluble salt and an inorganic phosphate binder
under pressure with a compact molding machine or a pressure blowing
machine and then thermally treating the resulting compacted mixture in the
claimed manner. (Compare Ans. 3 with App. Br. 3-5 and Reply Br. 1-2.)
Rather, Appellant contends that there is no reason or suggestion to include
graphite in the core forming composition suggested by Anderko and Melling
or Belyakov. (See App. Br. 3-6 and Reply Br. 1-2.)
Thus, the dispositive question is: Has the Examiner erred in
determining that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been led to
employ graphite in the core forming composition suggested by the combined
disclosures of Anderko and Melling or the disclosure of Beyakov within the
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meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103 ? On this record, we answer this question in the
negative.
As recognized by Appellant at page 4 of the Appeal Brief, Halpern
discloses forming a core with a mixture of foundry sand and a resin binder in
the presence of about 0.1 to 1.0 wt % of a parting agent (an adhesion
preventing agent) such as calcium or zinc stearate, talc, or graphite. (See
also Halpern, col. 1, ll. 18-20, col. 2, ll. 32-34, and 64-66, and col. 6, ll. 13-
24). Although Halpern discloses using a parting agent in the context of a
core formed of foundry sand and a resin binder, it, like Anderko, Melling,
and Belyakov, discloses forming a core containing a binder (an adhesion
promoting agent) for the casting purposes as indicated supra. Moreover,
Halpern teaches that the addition of a parting agent to a core forming
composition is useful for forming a product virtually dust-free as indicated
above.
Given the above teachings, we concur with the Examiner that one of
ordinary skill in the art would have been led to employ the claimed amount
of a parting agent, such as graphite, in the core forming composition
suggested by Anderko and Melling or Beyakov, with a reasonable
expectation of successfully minimizing any adhesion during casting
associated with the binder in the core forming composition and/or the
formation of dust associated with using water soluble salt and binder
particles. KSR, 550 U.S. at 417 (quoting Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc., 425
U.S.at 282); Longi, 759 F.2d at 897. This is especially true in this case since
any adhesion or dusting problem associated with using the water soluble salt
and binder particles suggested by Anderko and Melling or Beyakov in
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casting processes and/or core forming processes, which warrants the parting
agent taught by Halpern, would have been readily noticeable by one of
ordinary skill in the art via simple observation. Ludwig, 353 F.2d at 244.
Accordingly, we affirm the Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1, 2,
and 4 through 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over the combined
disclosures of Anderko, Melling, and Halpern and as unpatentable over the
combined disclosures of Belyakov and Halpern.
.
ORDER
In view of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that the decision of the Examiner rejecting claims1, 2, and
4 through 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is AFFIRMED; and
FURTHER ORDERED that no time period for taking any subsequent
action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.136(a)(1)(iv).
AFFIRMED

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