Appeal No. 2001-1385 Page 4
Application No. 09/275,132
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given
careful consideration to the appellant's specification and
claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellant and the
examiner. For the reasons which follow, we cannot sustain the
examiner’s rejection.
David discloses a carrier element 41 constructed from a
malleable and readily formable material such as aluminum alloy
(col. 5, lines 27-29) used in an assembly for inserting blind
rivets. The rivet body 40 is formed by subjecting the carrier
element 41 to a conventional drawing process whereby the
cylindrical body 45 is drawn from the material of the carrier
element 41, with the rivet head 42 having top and bottom
surfaces which are coplanar with the respective surfaces of
the carrier element 41, as illustrated in Figure 5. To
provide for flexibility in the use of the carrier element 41,
apertures 50 are disposed in the transverse edges of the
carrier element 41 in opposition to one another. To provide
additional flexibility, perforations 51 can be disposed in the
remaining portion of the carrier element 41 between the
apertures 50 to ensure that the carrier element 41 can be
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