Appeal No. 2001-1385 Page 5
Application No. 09/275,132
pivoted or otherwise deflected in a manner which will permit
appropriate positioning of the rivet body 40 for the blind
riveting process (col. 6, lines 5-19).
Even assuming that the carrier element 41 is made of
sheet metal, as required in claim 1, David does not disclose a
method for prototyping parts in preparation for production
manufacturing including a step of bending the sheet metal
blank along a bend line formed by slots to form the prototype.
While the carrier element is flexible, by virtue of the
apertures 50 and perforations 51, and is temporarily flexed or
bent by rollers 33 (numbered in Figure 2 but not in Figure 7)
to alter the direction of the carrier element for the purpose
of insertion, the examiner’s position that the carrier element
is bent “to form the prototype” is not well taken. The
bending of the carrier element illustrated in Figure 7 occurs
during use of the carrier element, not during formation of the
carrier element. Moreover, there is no indication in David
that the carrier element 41 is a prototype made in preparation
for production manufacturing of the parts by stamping dies.
Accordingly, we share the appellant’s view (brief, page 5;
reply brief, pages 1-2) that the examiner’s characterization
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