Appeal No. 97-2619
Application 08/104,461
the contacts of either . . . [Bruni or Shindo] in an oval shape thus would have been
obvious, for better engagement between the insulation and the contact. The oval shape
thus would allow closer spacing between the contacts. [Final rejection, page 2.]
In responding to appellants’ argument in the brief, the examiner acknowledges on pages 3-4 of
the answer that in Beyer the oval shaped crimp section is for the conductor of the wire rather than the
insulation jacket, and that there is no disclosure at all in Beyer of crimping a wider insulation jacket of a
wire into an oval configuration. Nevertheless, the examiner posits that
it also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the insulation
crimping portion of the male contact of either Bruni er al or Shindo et al as an oval
shape . . . to allow for a reliable connection with the conductor [sic, insulation jacket].
Clearly, it would have been desirable to have a reliable connection between the contact
and both the wire conductor itself and the surrounding insulation. [Answer, page 4.]
The examiner’s position is not well taken. Like appellants, we find no teaching whatsoever in
Beyer of crimping an insulation jacket to a contact, much less a teaching of crimping an insulation jacket
to a contact with a crimp barrel that is oval in its final configuration. While Beyer teaches that the
disclosed conductor crimp of oval configuration is advantageous as a conductor connection because it
prevents nicks to the conductor and protects the connection from the deleterious effects of aggressive
substances (translation, pages 2 and 3), it is not clear to us that these considerations would apply to a
crimp connection for the insulating jacket of a wire as well. In short, it is not at all apparent to us that
the ordinarily skilled artisan would consider Beyer’s oval conductor crimp portion to be of any benefit
in terminating the insulation jacket of a wire. Where prior art references require a selective combination
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