Appeal No. 95-2399
Application 08/061,669
optical element onto an end face of one of the connector plugs
as recited in Appellants' claim 10.
Turning to Palmer, we find that Palmer does not teach
using an adhesive to affix an optical element to an end face of
one of the connectors or depositing a non-removable coating in
the form of a thin film optical element onto an end face of one
of the connector plugs as well. Palmer teaches in column 2,
lines 33-37, that when an optical fiber is bent in the form of an
arc, there is an increased tendency for light to escape from the
bent region. Palmer teaches in column 2, lines 55-58, that his
invention employs this phenomenon to provide an improved optical
coupler for optical fibers. In column 4, lines 4-16, Palmer
teaches affixing an optical fiber in a curve form 10 with epoxy
resin 14 as shown in Figure 1. In column 4, lines 16-21, Palmer
teaches that a small amount of the side of the fiber is removed
by lapping a flat surface 18 into the epoxy 14, as shown in
Figure 2. In column 5, lines 15-18, Palmer discloses that
Figure 6 shows the side of a fiber 12 lapped to provide a planar
surface 18'. Palmer teaches in column 4, lines 39-47, that two
such assemblies as shown in Figure 2 are joined together using
optically transparent epoxy to form the coupler 20 as shown in
Figure 3.
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