Appeal No. 2000-2262
Application No. 08/990,996
The disclosed invention relates to an electrical wedge
connector having a wedge and a shell, the shell being sized and
shaped to receive the wedge and an electrical conductor. A
curved wall of the shell has a conductor piercing tab member
which extends inwardly from the curved wall and includes a set of
piercing teeth at an end edge.
Claim 11 is illustrative of the invention and reads as
follows:
11. In a wedge connector shell, the shell comprising a
one-piece sheet metal member forming a receiving area for a
wedge and an electrical cable, wherein the improvement
comprises:
the metal member having an insulation piercing section
extending inward into the receiving area which is sized
and shaped to pierce through an electrical insulation
cover of the cable and make direct electrical contact
with an electrical conductor of the cable, wherein the
insulation piercing section comprises a tab of the
sheet metal member which is folded to project inward
generally perpendicular to a centerline axis of the
shell, wherein the tab has teeth at a free end thereof.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art:
Gerhard 3,811,105 May 14, 1974
Chadbourne et al. (Chadbourne) 5,679,031 Oct. 21, 1997
Claims 11, 13, 16, 19, 21, and 22 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Chadbourne in view
of Gerhard.
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