Appeal No. 2002-0933
Application No. 09/325,944
tube (22) is a "male plug" having a projecting portion which is
received in and accommodated by an opening in a female plug
socket (41) of connector (36) provided on the wall of the housing
of the afterloader (26). As urged by appellant, Rague does not
at any point in the specification indicate that the male plug
(37) and female socket provide a locking function or act as a
locking member. We see no reason to assume that they do.
As indicated on page 18 of appellant's specification, and as
shown in Figures 5 and 6, the locking device of the present
application includes a sliding plate (58) fitting into horizontal
guiding channels (44) located adjacent to the exit port of the
afterloader. The sliding plate has an opening large enough to
allow the tubing section of the transport tube (24) to pass, but
not the hub (26) of the tube, thereby allowing the transport tube
to be locked firmly to the afterloader after hub (26) has been
connected to and substantially completely mated within connector
port (30). There is nothing in Rague that corresponds to the
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