Appeal No. 1999-2624 Page 5
Application No. 08/561,658
heat shrunk about the distal end of the dual lumen shaft and
the proximal end of the single lumen shaft "which have been
placed end to end." The lap joint allows the single lumen4
shaft and dual lumen shaft to be in fluid communication.
The examiner's position is that it would have been
obvious to modify Crawford by substituting the Fugoso joint
for the Crawford joint, "since it is clear that one means of
connection is merely an inventive expedient for the other in
the medical art, and that the joint of Fugoso will act in the
new environment in the same manner it acted in the old
environment" (final rejection, page 3). The examiner's stated
motivation for making the modification is that:
Fugoso clearly teaches that connecting two members
by means of a heat-shrinkable sleeve is a well known
method of connection. Thus, the fact that Crawford
relies on some sort of connection to maintain the
probe and tube connected to one another, provides
suggestion enough to modify that connection by
substituting therefore a heat-shrinkable sleeve in
order to reinforce the connection [answer, page 4].
4As correctly pointed out by the appellant (brief, page 7), Fugoso's
Figure 6 appears to be inconsistent with this written description, in that
lumen shafts (14 and 6) are shown therein as continuous.
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