Appeal No. 2006-2108
Application No. 10/392,418
Claims 2, 3, 9-12, 24 and 26 stand or fall with claim 1, and
claim 27 stands or falls with claim 25. See
37 CFR § 41.37(c)(1)(vii)(2004).
Claim 1
Oetiker discloses a connector for flexible, stretchable
tubes such as silicon tubes used for intravenous feeding (col. 1,
lines 8-11). The connector includes a nipple portion (30), a
sleeve member (50) for placement around the nipple portion, a
collar (15) having recesses (17) and locking members (16)
therein, a cylindrical main portion (11), an annular portion
(12), and fin-like members (25) for removable connection to
another part (col. 4, lines 28-54; col. 5, lines 65-66; fig. 1).
In operation, a tube is slipped over the nipple and then the
sleeve is placed around the tube in a non-clamping position (fig.
3A), slid to a clamping position (fig. 4A), and rotated until its
notches (58) align with the collar’s locking members (col. 6,
lines 7-31). The sleeve then can move very slightly, depending
on the depth of the notches, in the axial direction, but this
movement does not affect the holding ability of the connector due
to the compressibility of the tube (col. 6, lines 27-40).
The appellants argue that Oetiker does not disclose any type
of vehicle component used in the automotive industry (brief,
3
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