Appeal No. 97-2999 Page 8
Application No. 08/338,714
The obviousness issues
Claims 23 through 25
We sustain the rejection of claims 23 through 25 under
35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claim 23 recites a link element comprising, inter alia, a
male ball, a female socket, and a body extension extending
between the male ball and the female socket. The male ball is
locked on the body extension by the male ball having a recess
which receives a bead provided on the body extension.
Kujawski discloses a flexible joint of the ball and
socket type. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, Kujawski's flexible
joint includes a conduit 10 having two ends, a socket housing
22 is connected to one end of the conduit 10 and a ball 20 is
connected to the other end of the conduit 10. As shown in
Figure 2, the conduit 10 appears to be threadably connected to
the ball 20.
Haver discloses a ball and socket joint. As shown in
Figure 1, the joint includes a spherical cuff (i.e., ball) 8,
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