Appeal No. 1999-0067
Application 08/533,305
16). The principal objective of the Rudolph device is to
provide a coupling that can accommodate a number of different
male members (column 1, line 9 et seq.). This is accomplished
by providing a cup-shaped casing 10 within which is received a
reversible packing retaining member 12, which in turn can
accommodate various male members such as those shown in
Figures 4-9. Member 12 has the slots and grooves of a bayonet
joint at one end and conventional screw threads on the outside
of its other end. In the arrangement of Figure 1, member 12
is screwed into casing 10 in such a manner that the bayonet
joint end is innermost and is inoperative insofar as attaching
components together is concerned. In this orientation, member
12 connects to a male member “of the pressure-hold type,” such
as that shown in Figure 9, with the tapered washer 32 being
“held firmly against the tapered end of the male nipple [49d]”
(page 3, lines 63-94) by the application of “considerable
pressure” by the user (page 4, lines 26-28). No mechanical
connection, much less a bayonet joint, is utilized in this
embodiment, in which the members are held together and the
seal compressed by pressure applied by the user. As shown in
Figure 3, female member 12 also can be installed so that the
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Last modified: November 3, 2007