Appeal No. 1999-0221
Application No. 08/766,847
round stem. In describing the manufacturing process, Feller
explains that in deforming the stem the material of the stem2
“tends to fill-out the cross-section of the associated opening
3, thereby assuming the shape or configuration of such
associated opening” (column 3, lines 33-35). The result is
that the applied element “can no longer rotate within its
opening” (column 3, lines 40 and 41).
We share the examiner’s opinion that one of ordinary
skill in the art would have been taught by Feller that the
rotation that could result when a round projection is
installed in a round hole is eliminated by placing the round
projection in a non-circular hole, such as one having a square
cross-section, because the subsequent deformation of the
projection causes the metal to fill in the boundaries of the
opening, thus creating a non-circular portion of the
projection in a matching non-circular hole. Suggestion for
such a modification is found in the explicit teachings of
Feller, which were referred to above. It is our further view
that the artisan would have recognized from the teachings of
2Feller establishes that riveting was a known means for
accomplishing this deformation (column 1, line 33).
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