Appeal No. 97-2619
Application 08/104,461
Appellants’ invention pertains to an electrical connector having a housing for holding a plurality
of contact elements. Each contact element is terminated to an insulated wire by crimping adjacent
crimp portions of the contact element to, respectively, an exposed conductor wire and an insulation
layer of the wire. In appellants’ connector, the portion of the contact element crimped to the insulation
layer of the wire is of oval configuration, with the smaller dimension of the oval being oriented in the
longitudinal direction of the housing. According to appellants, this allows for a greater density of
contact elements. Independent claim 1, a copy of which is appended to appellants’ brief, is illustrative
of the appealed subject matter.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner in support of rejections under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 are:
Berg 3,707,933 Jan. 2, 1973
Bruni et al. (Bruni) 3,941,444 Mar. 2, 1976
Piscitelli et al. (Piscitelli) 4,373,773 Feb. 15, 1983
Shindo et al. (Shindo) 4,979,912 Dec. 25, 1990
German published application (Beyer) 240,466 Oct. 29, 19862
The following reference, cited by appellants in the Information Disclosure Statement filed June
26, 1997, is relied upon by this merits panel in support of new rejections pursuant to 37 CFR §
1.196(b):
Japanese patent document, 63-38536 Oct. 11, 1988
2Our understanding of this German language publication is derived from a translation prepared
in the Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the translation is attached to this decision.
2
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