Appeal No. 98-1264 Page 4
Application No. 08/489,272
a movable spring member mounted in a housing in a specified
manner and having primary and secondary pivot points which
cause the spring member to react in a particular manner to the
insertion of the male element.
It is the examiner’s position that all of the subject
matter recited in the claims on appeal is rendered obvious by
the teachings of Sian. The appellants have advanced but one
argument in opposition to the examiner’s position, and it is
directed only to independent claims 1, 11 and 20 (Brief, page
4). In its entirety, it is that
Sian teaches that each spring contact member includes
a curved portion at the entry end of the body
portion. The Applicants’ structure as claimed in
claims 1, 11, and 20 has a spring member having a
curved portion adjacent the exit end of the body
portion, not at the entry end. As a result of the
claimed spring member’s different orientation, the
claimed terminal behaves differently upon insertion
and removal of a male blade as disclosed in the
specification.
We are not persuaded by this argument that the rejection should
not stand. The applicable language of claim 1 requires that
the movable spring member have “a curved portion adjacent said
exit end; and a contact portion extending from said curved
portion toward said entry end.” As is best shown in Figure 1,
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Last modified: November 3, 2007