Ex parte SHYR et al. - Page 6




          Appeal No. 1996-3194                                                        
          Application 08/218,802                                                      


          could be changed to “wherein the force applying means is of                 
          unitary construction with at least one of the first and second              
          parts.”  We would interpret this phrase as requiring the                    
          unitary construction argued by appellants.                                  
          We also note at this time that we do not agree with                         
          the examiner’s position that any assembly of components                     
          becomes a unitary construction after assembly.  The phrase                  
          “unitary construction” means that all parts making up the                   
          assembly were constructed at the same time from the same                    
          materials.  Two separately manufactured components which are                
          affixed to each other do not result in a unitary construction               
          within the usual meaning of that phrase.                                    
          In summary, we agree only with the examiner’s position                      
          that the wherein clause of claim 1 is technically met by the                
          clamp 44 and either case part 20 or 54 of DeBalko.  Since the               
          examiner’s claim interpretation is reasonable, and since the                
          claim could be easily amended to limit its scope to what                    
          appellants intended, we sustain the rejection of claim 1 as                 
          fully met by the disclosure of DeBalko.                                     
          With respect to dependent claims 2 and 3, the examiner                      
          reads the claimed spring tab on any of the contact parts used               
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