Appeal No. 2004-0868
Application 09/742,980
While producing the plug-in connection, in which plug connector 2 is guided into
mating connector 3 in the direction of an arrow 10, cam-like guide element 8 glides
along recess 9 until plug-in contacts 6 are brought into engagement with mating plug-
in contacts 7. The guidance of cam-like guide element 8 in recess 9 is subsequently
released, in that the cross-section of recess 9, particularly in a region 11 which is also
shown in the cross-section in Figure 3, is larger than the cross-section of guide element
8, so that cam-like guide element 8 is no longer immediately encircled by the walls of
recess 9. When this position of plug connector 2 in mating connector 3 is reached, then
in this exemplary embodiment, centering elements 12 shown in Figure 2 position plug
connector 2 in mating connector 3. [Page 4, lines 12-25; see also brief, page 3, line 29,
to page 4, lines 11.]
We observe that specification Fig. 3 is “a section through a guide element according to
Figure 1 along a line III-III” (specification, page 3, lines 33-34). While lower region 11 of recess
9 is shown in Fig. 1 as having a larger diameter than the upper “guide” region of recess 9, in
Fig. 3, recess 9 has a constant cross-section that is larger than the constant cross-section of guide
element 8 such that the latter “is no longer immediately encircled by the walls of” the former,
with centering elements 12 providing the “centering function.”
We determine that in either structure shown for recess 9 in specification Figs. 1 and 3,
recess 9 is “dimensioned” such that guide element 8 “is guided into” recess 9 during insertion
and, “in an inserted state,” recess 9 “is set apart from” guide element 8 as required by the
language of appealed claim 1. In other words, one of ordinary skill in this art would have
interpreted the written description in the specification to disclose that guide element 8 is not
encircled by the walls of and can move within recess 9, in which respect, recess 9 does not serve
to restrict the movement of guide element 8 therein, which would be the case if guide element 8
and recess 9 provide a “centering function” with respect to the mated connectors.
Accordingly, in considering the written description in the specification, including the
specification figures, as interpreted by one of ordinary skill in this art and in light of the
arguments advanced by the examiner and appellants, we interpret the phrase “the recess is set
apart from the guide element” to mean that the guide element is separated from the recess at least
to the extent that the guide element can move within the recess in the sense that the recess and
the guide element do not provide a centering function. We are not persuaded otherwise by the
examiner’s argument based on the cited dictionaries that the guide element should merely be
“kept separate” from the recess, that is, a small difference in cross-sectional size would satisfy
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