Appeal No. 1999-2542
Application No. 08/832654
secure the part and a plate together (Fig. 3). Fin-shaped
projections 8, with free edge 9, are pressed from the material
of the base 6 and shank 7 of the sheet metal nut (Figs. 3, 5,
and 6). As explained by the patentee (page 1, column 2, lines
29 through 35),
[w]hen the screw member is tightened in engagement
with the nut, the projections 8 will be drawn into
the support 2 (Fig. 3) and any rotation of the nut
will be prevented, and after the nut and screw are
in final engagement the projections embedded in the
support will aid in preventing the nut from becoming
unloosened.
Considering the Nicholas disclosure as a whole, and in
conjunction with the other applied prior art, it is clear to
us that the teaching thereof would not have been suggestive of
an interrelationship between a deformable single line edge and
serrations to hold a nut against rotation and against
unintended axial withdrawal, particularly in a connector rod
for a loom, as now claimed, wherein conical surfaces are
present and interact with one another.
While we have assessed the evidence of obviousness in its
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