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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 15-19. 24, 26-31, and 33 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection is based in part on references that have not been applied in the prior rejection of record.
Claim Objections
Claims 15-19, 24, 26-31, and 33 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 15, line 14; Claim 33, line 16 (including deleted lines), “the thickness” lacks antecedent basis and should be “a thickness”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 15-19, 24, 26-31, and 33 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (KR 10-1034878), Hoshina (JP 2002-152927), Isenberg (US 2,717,917) and Marc (US 4,441,876).
With respect to Claim 15, Cho teaches a high-voltage device (see title), comprising: an encapsulation housing (fig. 5, 120); a bushing (fig. 1, 3b; fig. 2, 100) for guiding at least one electrical conductor (110) into said encapsulation housing and/or out of said encapsulation housing; and an insulating layer (140) coated on said at least one electrical conductor. said insulating layer being made of silicone. Cho fails to disclose said insulating layer being made of silicone, said insulating layer being formed of a plurality of layers, the thickness of the insulating layer being a combined thickness of the plurality of layers, said plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity from layer to layer, and a layer of the plurality of layers that is in direct contact with said at least one electrical conductor has a highest dielectric permittivity, and said encapsulation housing and/or said bushing are being filled with clean air. Hoshina teaches said encapsulation housing (2) [is] filled with clean air (40, ¶|[0020], dry air). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cho with the clean air of Hoshina for the "insulating performance is improved, even if an insulating gas other than SF6 gas is used, the insulating performance can be ensured to be equal to or higher than that of the conventional gas insulated switchgear. This allows the amount of expensive SF6 gas used to be reduced, making the process economical and environmentally friendly" (¶[0010]). Isenberg teaches said insulating layer (fig. 2, 12,13,14,15,16) being formed of a plurality of layers (12,13,14,15,16), the thickness (combined thicknesses of 12,13,14,15,16) of the insulating layer being a combined thickness (combined thicknesses of 12,13,14,15,16) of the plurality of layers, said plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity (col. 3, ll. 36-41) from layer to layer, and a layer (12) of the plurality of layers that is in direct contact with said at least one electrical conductor has a highest dielectric permittivity (col. 3, ll. 38-39), and one of the insulating layers is made of silicone (col. 4, l. 35). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cho with the insulating layers of Isenberg for the purpose of providing “an improved high tension insulated cable comprising a plurality of layers of a thermoplastic insulation, which layers are so arranged that the cable has a considerably smaller overall diameter for the same insulation value” (col. 2, ll. 49-53) and to using silicones because “the silicones in addition to having high dielectric properties, possess a very high resistance to electric arcs” (col 4, ll. 35-37). Isenberg fails to disclose the insulating layers are only made of silicone. Marc teaches that silicones (col. 10, ll. 25-26) can be made with different dielectric permittivities (see fig. 5, shows between 4 and 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the insulating layers of Marc for that of Isenberg for the purpose of selecting a silicone material that “easily resists the higher temperatures that are used in the molding process. . . . also has a very low power factor which may be on the order of 0.01 so that there is not very much heat dissipated under the radio frequency heating. Also, the silicone rubber is quite pliable” (col. 10, ll. 27-34).
With respect to Claim 33, Cho teaches a method of increasing a dielectric strength in a high-voltage device (see title), the method comprising: providing the high-voltage device with an encapsulating housing (fig. 5, 120) and a bushing (fig. 1, 3b; fig. 2, 100) for guiding at least one electrical conductor (110) into said encapsulation housing and/or out of said encapsulation housing; coating the at least one electrical conductor with an insulating layer (140) in a region (see fig. 2) of the bushing through which the at least one electrical conductor is guided into, or out of, the encapsulation housing of the high-voltage device. Cho fails to disclose the insulating layer being made of silicone; filling the encapsulating housing and/or said bushing with clean air; forming the insulating layer of a plurality of layers, the thickness of the insulating layer being a combined thickness of the plurality of layers, said plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity from layer to layer, and a layer of the plurality of layers that is in direct contact with said at least one electrical conductor has a highest dielectric permittivity. Hoshina teaches filling the encapsulating housing and/or said bushing with clean air(40, ¶[0020], dry air). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cho with the clean air of Hoshina for the "insulating performance is improved, even if an insulating gas other than SF6 gas is used, the insulating performance can be ensured to be equal to or higher than that of the conventional gas insulated switchgear. This allows the amount of expensive SF6 gas used to be reduced, making the process economical and environmentally friendly" (¶[0010]). Isenberg teaches forming the insulating layer (fig. 2, 12,13,14,15,16) of a plurality of layers (12,13,14,15,16), the thickness (combined thicknesses of 12,13,14,15,16) of the insulating layer being a combined thickness (combined thicknesses of 12,13,14,15,16) of the plurality of layers, said plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity (col. 3, ll. 36-41) from layer to layer, and a layer (12) of the plurality of layers that is in direct contact with said at least one electrical conductor has a highest dielectric permittivity (col. 3, ll. 38-39), and one of the insulating layers is made of silicone (col. 4, l. 35). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cho with the insulating layers of Isenberg for the purpose of providing “an improved high tension insulated cable comprising a plurality of layers of a thermoplastic insulation, which layers are so arranged that the cable has a considerably smaller overall diameter for the same insulation value” (col. 2, ll. 49-53) and to using silicones because “the silicones in addition to having high dielectric properties, possess a very high resistance to electric arcs” (col 4, ll. 35-37). Isenberg fails to disclose the insulating layers are only made of silicone. Marc teaches that silicones (col. 10, ll. 25-26) can be made with different dielectric permittivities (see fig. 5, shows between 4 and 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the insulating layers of Marc for that of Isenberg for the purpose of selecting a silicone material that “easily resists the higher temperatures that are used in the molding process. . . . also has a very low power factor which may be on the order of 0.01 so that there is not very much heat dissipated under the radio frequency heating. Also, the silicone rubber is quite pliable” (col. 10, ll. 27-34).
With respect to Claims 16, 26-28, 30, and 31, Cho further teaches said at least one electrical conductor is completely coated (see fig. 5) with said insulating layer along an entire length of said at least one conductor (claim 16), said encapsulation housing includes a flange (fig. 1, 3b) and an insulator (4) fastened in a mechanically stable manner (see fig. 1) on said flange (claim 26), said insulator is a hollow-tubular (see fig. 1) made of silicone (¶[0004], I. 12), and having ribs (fig. 1, 6) formed on an outer circumference thereof, and wherein a center axis of said insulator is coaxial (see fig. 1) with a longitudinal axis of said at least one electrical conductor (claim 27), at least one electrode (fig. 1, 7, fig. 2, 130) at ground potential (¶[0004], I.. 9, 3b at ground potential and is connected to conductive 130) with is enclosed by said bushing (claim 28), said at least one electrical conductor consists of a metal (¶[0025], II. 4-5) and has a shape of a bar (see fig. 2) (claim 30) and said metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum (¶[0025], I. 4, Al), said bar is circular-cylindrical (¶[0035], I. 3, diameter is a property of circular/cylinder) (claim 31).
With respect to Claims 17 and 18, Cho, Hoshina, Isenberg and Marc disclose the claimed invention except for said at least one electrical conductor is coated with said insulating layer exclusively in a region of said bushing (claim 17) and said at least one electrical conductor is coated with said insulating layer exclusively at an opening in said encapsulation housing (claim 18). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to omit the insulating coating in regions that do not require the insulation protection of the electrical conductor in order to minimize the amount of the insulating material used, since it has been held that omission of an element and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same functions as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
With respect to Claim 24, Cho and Hoshina disclose the claimed invention except for said insulating layer has a layer thickness in a range of millimeters or in a range of centimeters. Isenberg teaches said insulating layer has a layer thickness in a range of millimeters (see Table II, combined thickness is .120” which is 3 mm). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the device of Cho and Hoshina with the insulation layer of Isenberg for the thickness of the insulating layer to be sufficient to provide effective amount of insulation for the voltage carried by the electrical conductor to prevent shorting or arcing within the device, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With respect to Claim 29, Cho discloses the claimed invention including which comprises at least one switching unit (switching unit of ¶[0003], II. 1-2) of a high-voltage circuit breaker (¶[0003], II. 1-2) connected via said at least one electrical conductor to lines (¶[00005], I. 2, transmission capacity). Cho, Hoshina, Isenberg and Marc fail to specifically disclose a power grid. Admitted prior art that it is well known in the art to have a power grid (lines are connected to power grids) (since the applicant's transverse of the rejection does not specifically address the examiner's assertion of official notice, the transverse is not adequate and is taken as admitted prior art. MPEP 2144.03). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cho, Hoshina, Isenberg and Marc with a well-known power grid for the purpose of distributing high voltage transmitted through the conductor to either from generators of power or to consumers of the power.
Conclusion
The art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO 2023/138860 discloses an electrical conductor having a plurality of insulating layers, the plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity from layer to layer, and a layer of the plurality of layers that is in direct contact with said at least one electrical conductor has a highest dielectric permittivity.
JP 2005-33830 discloses a switchgear component having an insulating element including a plurality of insulating layers, the plurality of layers having a decreasing dielectric permittivity from layer to layer
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RJH 5/19/2026
/ROBERT J HOFFBERG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835
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