Appeal No. 97-2619
Application 08/104,461
Nishijo et al. (Nishijo)
Claims 1-4 and 6-9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Bruni or
Shindo in view of Beyer.
Claims 5-9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Bruni or Shindo
in view of Beyer, and further in view of Berg or Piscitelli.
The rejections are explained in the final rejection and the answer.
The opposing viewpoints of appellants are set forth in the brief and reply brief.
Claim 1 calls for an electrical connector having a housing for holding a plurality of contact
elements, with each contact element being connected to an insulated wire by crimping. Regarding the
crimping of the contact elements to the insulating jacket of the wire, claim 1 requires that
said insulation crimping portion defining a cross-section when crimped wherein its
dimension along the longitudinal direction of the housing is less than its dimension along
a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of said housing, each of
said wire contact assemblies [i.e., the contact element with the wire crimped thereto]
being positioned within the respective cavities in substantially the same orientation with
respect to each other.
There appears to be no dispute that Bruni and Shindo generally disclose the subject matter of
claim 1 with the exception of the above quoted claim requirement regarding the configuration of the
insulation crimping portions and their orientation in the housing. For a teaching of this claim
requirement, the examiner relies on Beyer. Specifically, the examiner has taken the position that
[Beyer] discloses an oval crimp section, and to form the insulation crimping portion of
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