Appeal No. 96-0043
Application 08/059,043
Two additional references applied below in rejections pursuant
to 37 CFR § 1.196(b) are:
Cook et al. (Cook) 3,086,242 Apr. 23,
1963
Ellis 3,455,336 Jul. 15,
1969
Claims 1, 2, 5-10 and 12-14 stand finally rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Peacock alone, or in view
of Kunze or Sachsse.
Considering first the rejection of claim 1 as
unpatentable over Peacock, the examiner finds that Peacock
discloses (answer, pages 3 and 4):
a heat recoverable pre-formed article comprising a
substantially hollow enlarged section for receiving
a wire bundle, with this enlarged section having a
slit therein. See Figures 1, 3, and 11. As shown
in Figure 1, the article includes a pair of tab
portions disposed adjacent each other and extending
outwardly from the slit so as to be aligned with
each other. The shape of the article inherently
biases the tabs toward one another in the manner
claimed, although the reference does not discuss
this. The Peacock article is formed of a cross
linked polymer which can have its interior surface
coated with a hot melt or other suitable adhesive.
At column 9, lines 47 to 49 the reference appears to
teach that the slit open composite can have its edge
structure formed into a variety of conventional
shapes, such as are claimed here.
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