Appeal No. 97-2619
Application 08/104,461
locking portion (generally adjacent reference numeral 4), a conductor crimping portion 3B, and an
insulation crimping portion 3A. The forward end of the contact may
comprise either a receptacle (Figure 3) or an elongate terminal pin (Figure 9). As clearly seen in Figure
4, the insulation crimping portion 3A defines a cross-section when crimped wherein its horizontal
dimension is less than its vertical dimension. The wire contact assembly is carried in a housing (see, for
example, Figure 10).
Shindo discloses an electrical connector generally as called for in the first 16 lines of claim 1.
Thus, Shindo’s connector 60 comprises an elongate housing including a front face (i.e., the face of
connector 60 beyond which the elongate terminals 51, as seen in Figure 2, extend) and a rear face.
The housing includes a plurality of cavities 62 separated by partitions. Shindo’s cavities are provided in
an array that extends both longitudinally and laterally. The cavities receive wire contact assemblies,
each comprising an insulated wire 70 and electrical contact 50 having a wire crimp portion 53, an
insulation crimp portion 52, a locking portion 21, and an elongate terminal 51. The locking portions of
the contacts engage with housing latches 37 (Figure 2) to releasibly hold the wire contact assemblies in
their respective cavities.
Considering first claim 1, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to
provide a housing of the type shown by Shindo for holding a plurality of Nishijo’s wire contact
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