Appeal No. 2006-1149
Application No. 10/296,406
tabs 10 of adapter 1 are plugged into spring shackles 12 of contact tabs 13.
As described in the specification, supra, the term “contact tab” may take two forms:
as a male connector or as the corresponding female “spring shackles” connector. From the
above description of the preferred exemplary embodiment, plug-in connection 4 (attached to
the fuel injector) provides two male prongs (contact tabs 14) that plug into two
corresponding female receptacles (contact tabs 10 implemented as spring shackles 12) of
adapter 1. The top portion of adapter 1 provides two male connectors (contact tabs 10) that
plug into two corresponding female receptacles (contact tabs 13 implemented as spring
shackles 12) on counterplug 6. Thus, the male connectors at the top of adapter 1 are inserted
into the corresponding female connectors on counterplug 6, in the preferred embodiment.
Claim 18 requires that elastic spring shackles (female) are pluggable into contact tabs
(male) of the counterplug, thus reversing the female counterplug orientation of the preferred
embodiment.
The examiner asserts that there is a reasonable expectation of success for modifying
the adapter of the Muzslay patent to include spring shackles at an end that connects to
connector 16 and that it would have been within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art to
duplicate the spring shackles of Muzslay on the counter-plug connection side (46), since this
only requires providing a similar structure on the counter-plug connection side [answer,
pages 6 and 7].
Specifically, the examiner asserts that since Muzslay teaches the use of spring
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