Appeal No. 98-1253
Application No. 08/249,931
while the plug may be considered to form a seal between the
wire 20 and the wall of the passage (see claims 1 and 17),
there is clearly no seal between the terminal 30 and the wall
of the passage (note, e.g., Fig. 2 clearly shows a
significant space between the insulation barrel 31 of the
terminal 30 and the wall of the passage). Claims 15 and 16
(which are directed to the embodiment of Fig. 3) are further
inaccurate since they depend indirectly from claim 11 which
sets forth that the surface directs fluid "away from the
wire." In the embodiment of Fig. 3, however, the end plug
"surface" directs fluid toward the wire.
Claims 10 and 16 are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to
particularly
point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the
appellants regard as the invention. Both of these claims set
forth "said tapered end plug," however, there is no antecedent
basis for such a recitation. In apparent contradiction to the
end plug being tapered as recited, the claims from which
claims 10 and 16 depend only refer to the lip portion as being
11
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