Appeal 2007-0676
Application 09/803,221
(Damm, col. 1, ll. 6-18). One object of Damm’s connecting element is “to provide
a sound decoupling connecting element … which is comprised of as few parts as
possible” (Damm, col. 3, ll. 13-15). In particular, Damm discloses a connecting
element 1 consisting of two parts, a screw 2 and a formed body 3 (Damm, col. 6,
ll. 48-50). The screw 2 has a head 4, a shaft 8 having a smooth part and a threaded
part, and an upset swelling 13, which protrudes radially from the otherwise smooth
diameter of the smooth part of the shaft (Damm, col. 6, ll. 51-67). The swelling 13
forms a shoulder 14 in an axial direction of the shaft 8 (Damm, col. 7, ll. 1-2). In
use, the swelling 13 acts as a stop 24 against a corresponding counterstop 25 in the
opening 16 of formed body 3 (Damm, col. 7, ll. 26-28). Once the connecting
element 1 is assembled as a pre-mounted unit, by inserting the screw 2 into the
formed body 3, the screw 2 is then held in the formed body, so that it cannot be
lost, in part by stop 24 and counterstop 25 (Damm, col. 7, ll. 28-32). As such,
Damm teaches that a captive screw can be formed by the cooperation of a collar
(swelling 13) formed on the shank of a screw and a corresponding counterstop in
the opening of a ferrule (formed body 3).
PRINCIPLES OF LAW
To assess an obviousness determination, we must first ascertain the scope of
the claims. We determine the scope of the claims in patent applications not solely
on the basis of the claim language, but upon giving claims their broadest
reasonable construction in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by
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