Appeal No. 2002-0116 Page 5
Application No. 09/457,730
22 provide the required resiliency when a substrate piece or component at the nominal
size or above is retained in component receiving opening 30b. Balz teaches (column 7,
lines 30-41) that
[o]ther configurations of the inwardly extending contoured portions 22 may be
utilized. For example, and referring to FIGS. 7A-7G, inwardly extending contoured
portions may have a semi-circular shape 72, a gaussian (haystack) shape 74, a
square shape 76, a triangular shape 78, a truncated triangle shape 80, an
opposed-flexures configuration 82, an asymmetrical flexure configuration 84 and a
B (pi) shape configuration 85. Preferably, the various contours of compliant material
14 forming the inner sidewalls of the component receiving openings described
above are formed by a laser cutting process implemented after compliant material
14 is inserted between metal plates 12 and 16.
Figures 5 and 6 of Balz show retainer configurations wherein only portions of the
inner sidewalls of the component receiving openings consists solely of compliant material
14 to "bank" component 20 against the portions of the inner sidewalls that do not consists
solely of compliant material 14. Figure 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the "corner
justification" configuration of Figure 6 wherein contact points or "banking bumps" 54 are
formed on portions 44 and 46 of inner sidewall 31. Figure 10 illustrates another
embodiment of the component retainer wherein openings of various sizes and shapes are
formed at predetermined locations in the compliant material 14 (the top portion of sidewall
31f) in order to modify the hardness or the compliancy of compliant material 14. Although
Figure 10 shows substantially circular and rectangular shape openings 56 and 58,
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