Appeal No. 97-3682
Application 08/491,458
Appellants’ invention pertains to an electrical connector
for removably connecting a conductor of a mating contact member
to a printed circuit member. Independent claims 15 and 16,
copies of which appear in the appendix to appellants’ brief, are
exemplary of the appealed subject matter.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner in
support of a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are:
Lytle 5,403,209 Apr. 4, 1995
Frantz 5,445,528 Aug. 29, 1995
(filed May 31, 1994)
Claims 4, 7, 9, 15 and 16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Frantz in view of Lytle.
Frantz pertains to a connector 20 for electrically
connecting the conductor 24 of a wire 22 to circuitry on a
circuit board 14. The connector includes a dielectric housing 32
having cavities 60 receiving a contact terminal 34. The
conductors 24 of the wires are terminated to the contact terminal
34 by pushing the wires through openings and into locking
engagement with beam portions 44 of the contact terminal to trap
the wires in the connector and thereby prevent removal of the
wires in the direction A. This is shown in Figure 12. To
release the wires, a tool 94 is pushed through a second opening
-2-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007