Appeal No. 2002-0116 Page 4
Application No. 09/457,730
forming at least one first opening in a disk of material, said first opening
having at least one flexible side for elastically holding said workpiece; and
forming a slot adjacent each of said at least one flexible side for allowing
said flexible side to flex, wherein said slot comprises a second opening distinct
from said first opening and said slot has a length approximately equal to that of said
flexible side.
The Admitted Prior Art (see Figures 1-4) teaches the use of three fixtures 30 for
holding six workpieces 40 in a machining apparatus. Each fixture 30 includes two four-
sided openings 31. Each opening 31 holds one workpiece 40.
Balz's invention relates generally to a retainer for accurately positioning and
retaining electronic components. The component retainer shown in Figure 4 has a
component receiving opening 30b defined by an inner sidewall 31b which consists entirely
of compliant material 14 having inwardly extending substantially "doughnut" shaped
contoured portions 22 with holes 24 therein. During insertion of a component 20, doughnut
shaped portions 22 compress and holes 24 collapse (i.e., become more oval) as
indicated by arrow 25 to accommodate variations in dimensions of the component within
normal part size tolerances. As a secondary benefit, holes 24 permit the inwardly
extending portions 22 to shift laterally or "roll" as indicated by arrow 26 without causing a
significant amount of torque thereby precluding distortion of the position of component 20.
The movements of doughnut-shaped portions
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