Sunday, November 16, 2008

US Patent 7449432 - Carbon nanomaterial gear oil

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7449432.html

This patent teaches using carbon nanotubes as a viscosity modifier for gear oil. Claim 1 reads:

1. A fluid composition comprising base oil, an oil soluble additive containing nanomaterials selected from the group consisting of carbon nanoplates formed by wet milling of bulk graphitic material, carbon nanotubes having a length of 50 nanometers to 100 microns, and mixtures thereof.

The claim actually appears anticipated by Moy et al. US 6,828,282 (column 4, lines 24-27). However looking at the prosecution history there appears to be an Examiner's amendment improperly entered that may have inadvertedly deleted claim limitations entered on 3/25/2008.

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