Appeal No. 1999-2371 Page 5
Application No. 08/909,834
Notoya discloses a fastener that can be categorized as a push-on, rotate-off system.
Push-on is accomplished by pressing the head of the fastener through an opening,
whereupon a pair of flared resilient wings 19 is cammed inwardly by first edges 23 of the
opening, which finally rest on oppositely inclined ramps 20. According to the reference,
removal is accomplished by engaging a slot in the front of the fastener head with a screw
driver and rotating the head at least forty-five degrees on flexible stem 18 in order to align
the wings with a wider portion of the opening, at edges 24 (column 6, line 5 et seq.).
There is no explicit teaching in Notoya of disengaging the fastener by pulling it. Nor does it
appear to us that it is capable of being removed in such a fashion, particularly in view of
the statement that the oppositely inclined ramps 20 “catch onto the small diameter portion
hole edges 23" (column 6, lines 18-20, emphasis added), and the fact that there is no way
to determine whether the angle of inclination of ramps 20 is such as to allow them to be
cammed inward by aperture edges 23 when pulled outward. From our perspective,
therefore, the examiner’s conclusion that the fastener can be disengaged by pulling is
merely speculation. Moreover, the claim requires that the dimensioning of the elements be
such as to require a lesser force for pushing on as for pulling off, and the reference
provides absolutely no teaching in this regard. Raymond, which was applied for its
showing of a tree-like structure to secure the fastener in an aperture in the cabinet, does
not alleviate the shortcomings with the other two references.
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