Appeal No. 2005-0255 Page 7
Application No. 10/190,475
A contact piece (Swengel's terminal 6) comprising a first portion (Swengel's crimp
portion 14 in the form of a tubular ferrule) for establishing a connection to a wire (4) and
a second portion (Swengel's contact receptacle portion 10) which is bent in a sleeve-like
manner so that it can be plugged onto a connecting piece wherein the end of the bent
portion of the second portion is not fixed to the opposite part of the second portion,
neither when the first portion is connected to a wire, and wherein the first portion is
connected to the second portion via a flexible web (Swengel's flat transition portion 12)
so that the second portion can be bent perpendicularly to its center axis out of the line of
alignment with the wire.
We find the appellant's specific arguments for patentability of claim 13
unpersuasive for the reasons that follow. First, like in the appellant's invention, the
sleeve of Swengel's contact receptacle portion 10 is not closed, i.e., the end of the bent
portion is not fixed to the opposite portion and the open sleeve enables the contact
receptacle portion to fit different shapes and forms. Second, the claimed "flexible web"
which permits the second portion to be bent perpendicularly to its center axis out of the
line of alignment with the wire is readable on the flat transition portion 12 of Swengel's
terminal 6 for the reasons set forth by the examiner on page 5 of the answer.
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