DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the flange, as required by claim 1, must be shown (i.e. labeled) or the feature canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered. Applicant’s used remarks and annotated figures, support that the flange is not clearly shown/identified.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The specification remain objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: The specification as originally filed does not mention nor describe a flange, as required by claim 1.
Please note that a reader to the patent should be able to refer to the specification (and drawings) to find any element included in the claims. In this case, Applicant purports to distinguish from the prior art using this element (i.e. the flange), which makes it an essential element and thus more important that it can be easily and accurately found in the specification (and the drawings).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5-16 and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. In this case, while the drawings can be purported to show a flange (that needs to be clearly identified), nothing in the original specification supports the flange configured to retain the pressing part within the pressing hole of the wiring unit body in a moving direction of the pressing part.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 5-16 and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (9,922,778) in view of Wu (US 9,624,951, previously cited) and Mullen et al. (US 4,064,381).
Regarding claim 1, Wu et al. discloses a contact module, comprising a housing (10), a middle pole (20), and wiring unit body (40), wherein: the middle pole and the wiring unit body are disposed at least partially within the housing; the middle pole is configured to move up and down in the housing to realize a connection or disconnection between the middle pole and the wiring unit body; the wiring unit body is disposed inside the housing, and the wiring unit body comprises an electrically conductive part (50, 60, 70) configured to provide a connection between one or more conductor wires and the wiring unit body, and wherein the wiring unit body comprises a pressing part (80) configured to provide a withdrawal of the one or more conductor wires from the electrically conductive part of the wiring unit body, and wherein the one or more conductor wires, connected into the electrically conductive part, being configured to be pulled out by operating the pressing part; wherein the housing comprises a bottom, an upper part, and a lateral facing side (see Figs. 3 and 5), and wherein the laterally facing side of the housing (at least partially) defines a conductor wire insertion port (12) configured for the one or more conductor wires to be inserted into the electrically conductive part, wherein the housing defines a pressing hole (15) configured to accommodate the pressing part, the pressing part being configured to move up and down along a central axis of the pressing hole.
Wu ‘951 teaches a wire unit body (5) defining a pressing hole (not labeled, top of 5 in Figures 2-4) comprising a pressing part (not labeled, in contact with spring 3) and a spring (3, 31, 32), wherein the pressing part is partially within the pressing hole, wherein the pressing part define a pressing main body and a flange (extending left in Fig. 4) extending out from a portion of the pressing main body, wherein the flange is configured to contact a surface of the wiring unit body (see Fig. 3) and retain the pressing part within the pressing hole of the wiring unit body in a moving direction of the pressing part (see Figs. 3 and 4); wherein at least a portion of the pressing main body of the pressing part is configured to move an end of the spring (31) away from the one of more conductor wires when withdrawing the one of the one or more conductor wires (6). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to use an integrated pressing part, as taught by Wu ‘951, in order to facilitate actuation of the spring arm.
Mullen teaches a bottom of the housing including mounting legs and below a wall of a cavity within the housing configured to at least partially receive the wiring unit body; (Fig. 3), and an upper part of the housing including mounting grooves (next to the screws), and wherein the mounting legs are configured to be matched with the mounting grooves, and the matching of the mounting legs with the mounting grooves of another housing enables superposition of multiple contact modules (Fig. 3). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to use mounting legs, as taught by Mullen, in order to provide simultaneous operation of multiple switches.
Regarding claim 2, Wu et al. discloses an extension line of the insertion port for the conductor wire intersects an extension line of movement direction of the middle pole (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claims 5-8, Wu et al. discloses the wiring unit body comprising a unit housing (50), the spring (70), and a contact current bar (60), wherein: the contact current bar is disposed in the unit housing, and one end (62) of the contact current bar is arranged to be in contact with or separated from the middle pole, and an other end (61) of the contact current bar is provided with a spring installation cavity (58), wherein the spring is arranged in the spring installation cavity, and a middle part (73)of the spring is sleeved on a fixing part (14) provided on the unit housing.
Regarding claims 9-12, Wu et al. discloses the wiring unit body comprising a unit housing (50), two springs (78, 79), and a contact current bar (60), wherein the two springs comprise the spring; wherein: the contact current bar is disposed in the unit housing, the unit housing is provided therein with a middle separation cavity (56, 57), the two springs are located on both sides of the middle separation cavity respectively, one end (62) of the contact current bar is arranged to be in contact with or separated from the middle pole, and an other end (61) of the contact current bar includes a first pin (61a) and a second pin (61b), wherein the first pin, the second pin and the contact current bar form two spring installation cavities (58, 59), wherein the two springs are respectively arranged in the spring installation cavities, and a middle part (73) of each of the two springs is sleeved on a fixing part (14) provided on the unit housing.
Regarding claim 13, Wu et al. discloses the spring installation cavity having a first mounting side (53), a second mounting side (51) and a connecting side (52) connecting the first mounting side and the second mounting side.
Regarding claim 14, Wu et al. discloses the spring having a fixing end (73), a first elastic contact pin (77), and a second elastic contact pin (78), wherein: the first elastic contact pin is in contact with the first mounting side; the second elastic contact pin is in contact with or separated from the second mounting side; when the conductor wire enters the wiring unit, the conductor wire is located between the second elastic contact pin and the second mounting side (Fig. 3), and at this moment, the second elastic contact pin is in a separated state from the second mounting side; when the conductor wire exits the wiring unit, the second elastic contact pin is in a contact state (i.e. electrical) with the second mounting side.
Regarding claim 15, Wu et al. discloses that the unit housing and the housing cooperate to form a space configured to accommodate the spring and the contact current bar (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 16, Wu et al. discloses that a pressing groove (top opening of 15 in Fig. 3) is provided on an upper end surface of the pressing main body, and the pressing groove is configured to receive the pressing part configured to move along the wiring unit body.
Regarding claim 18, Wu et al. discloses first and second wiring unit bodies, the middle pole of the housing is arranged in a middle of the housing, and wiring unit bodies are respectively provided on both sides of the middle pole (Fig. 3), wherein the middle pole includes a middle pole main body (20), a contact slider (30), a first contact spring (35), wherein; an installation cavity (not labeled, see Fig. 1) is provided in the middle pole main body, a first installation cavity is provided in the installation cavity, and the first contact spring is arranged in the first installation cavity; the contact slider including a first arm and a second arm, and the first arm and the second arm are used to be in contact with or separated from the wiring unit bodies arranged on both sides of the middle pole (Fig. 3).
Mullen teaches the use of a second contact spring (67), wherein; a first installation cavity (not labeled, receiving 41) and a second installation cavity (at 53) provided in the installation cavity, and the first contact spring (41) and the second contact spring are respectively arranged in the first installation cavity and the second installation cavity; the contact slider is disposed between the first contact spring and the second contact spring. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to use a second contact spring, as taught by Mullen, in order to prevent overtravel damage.
Regarding claim 19, Wu et al. discloses the spring comprising a V shape (Fig. 3) with an opening and has a first section (71), a second section (78, 79), and a curved section (73) connecting the first and second sections, wherein the first section is in contact with the first mounting side (53) of the spring installation cavity, the second section is a bifurcated structure so as to have a first leg (78) and a second leg (79), wherein the first leg and the second leg are located on both sides of the middle separation cavity, respectively; the first leg and the second leg are respectively in contact with or separated from the second mounting side; when the conductor wires are inserted into the wiring unit from the two wire insertion ports, the conductor wires are located between the first leg and the second mounting side and between the second leg and the second mounting side (Fig. 3), and at this moment, the first leg and the second leg are both in a separated state from the second mounting side;
Lin teaches that when the conductor wires are extracted from the wiring unit body, the first leg and the second leg are automatically brought into contact with the second mounting side under the force applied by the spring (Fig. 7). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to form the legs in contact with the second mounting side when the wires are removed, as taught by Lin, in order to better secure the spring and prevent rattling.
Regarding claim 20, Lin teaches the lateral side (right side in Fig. 12) of the housing defines a conductor wire test hole (not labeled, intended use). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to form the test hole on the side wall, as taught by Lin, in order to provide easy accessibility and conform to environmental limitations.
Regarding claim 21, Lin teaches a central axis of the test hole being parallel to an extension line of the conductor wire insertion port. Please note that the test hole as claim can have several central axes, and that the extension line from the port is not required to extend along the central axis of the port.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection, as applied.
Regarding the specification and drawing objection, please note that Applicant’s annotated figures and remarks support that the flange is not clearly shown. Please note that a reader to the patent should be able to refer to the specification (and drawings) to find any element included in the claims. In this case, Applicant purports to distinguish from the prior art using this element (i.e. the flange), which makes it an essential element and thus more important that it can be easily and accurately found in the specification (and the drawings).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FELIX O FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-2003. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee Luebke can be reached on 571-272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FELIX O FIGUEROA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833