Appeal No. 2004-0019 Page 6
Application No. 09/884,914
plug 2, thereby achieving a waterproof effect. Wakata provides (column 1, lines 51-60)
that:
In the above conventional rubber plug for a waterproof connector,
however, if the rear end face 7 of the rubber plug 2 is not flush with the open end
of the terminal receiving chamber 4a, a water collecting recess R may be
formed. In such a case, when the wire vibrates, although water will not intrude
immediately, a gap is formed between the collars 2b and the peripheral wall of
the terminal receiving chamber 4a. This vibration allows the collected water to
intrude into the terminal receiving chamber 4a.
In our view, the above-noted teachings of Wakata would have made it obvious at
the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have provided
each of the terminals of Yamaguchi (i.e., the receptacles 41 with wires 43) with a rubber
plug (i.e., a visual confirmation member) to achieve a waterproof effect. However,
Wakata teaches that if the rear end face of the rubber plug is not flush with the open
end of the terminal receiving chamber, a water collecting recess may be formed which
would lead to leakage. This teaching of Wakata would have suggested to one skilled in
the art to design the connection so that the rear end face of the rubber plug is flush with
the open end of the terminal receiving chamber. Thus, when applying the teachings of
Wakata to the connector of Yamaguchi, one skilled in the art would have designed the
rubber plug to be pulled into the insertion path (see Figure 1 of Yamaguchi) by a
distance from the rear end face of the outer housing which is equal to the "first
distance" so that the rear end face of the rubber plug would be flush with the rear end
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