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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-14 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant Argument:
Sarraf fails to disclose at least one thermal conductive pad that includes at least one first thermal contact surface in direct engagement with the at least one contact terminal, and a second thermal contact surface in direct engagement with the at least one thermal sensor.
Examiner’s response:
Sarraf teaches at least one thermal conductive pad (300) that includes at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) in direct engagement with the at least one contact terminal (114), and a second thermal contact surface (302) in direct engagement with the at least one thermal sensor (304). In Sarraf Paragraph 34, The sealing pad 300 is thermally coupled to the power terminal 114, such as by direct engagement between the sealing pad 300 and the power terminal 114. Paragraph 35, The thermal shunt 302 is manufactured from a material having a higher thermal conductivity than the material of the sealing pad 300, which conclude the sealing pad thermally conductive. In Paragraph 44, a majority of the thermal path between the power terminal 114 and the temperature sensor 304 is through the thermal shunt 302 as opposed to the sealing pad 300. For this reason rejection is still maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sarraf et al. (US. 20200067237 A1).
In Regards to Claim 1:
Sarraf teaches “An electrical connector (102), comprising:
at least one contact terminal (114); a printed circuit board (306) on which at least one thermal sensor (304) is mounted to monitor a temperature of the at least one contact terminal (114); at least one thermal conductive pad (300) that includes at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) in direct engagement with the at least one contact terminal (114), and a second thermal contact surface (302) in direct engagement with the at least one thermal sensor (304), to transfer heat from the at least one contact terminal (114) to the at least one thermal sensor (304); and a support device (110) for the at least one thermal conductive pad (300), wherein the at least one thermal conductive pad (300) is compressed between the support device (110) and the printed circuit board (306) by a force of compression causing the at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) to press against the at least one contact terminal (114) and the second thermal contact surface (302) to deform on the thermal sensor (304) covering the thermal sensor (304).
In Regards to Claim 2:
Sarraf teaches the electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board (306) extends through a plane and the force of compression is orthogonal to the plane of the printed circuit board (306).
In Regards to Claim 3:
Sarraf teaches the electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the support device for the at least one thermal conductive pad (300) is a sealing pad provided with at least one hole for receiving the at least one contact terminal (114) and has a higher thermal conductivity than the sealing pad (300), and the thermal conductive pad (300) is compressed between the sealing pad (300) and the printed circuit board (306).
In Regards to Claim 10:
Sarraf teaches the electrical connector according to claim 1, including two contact terminals (114) and one thermal conductive pad (300) having two first thermal contact surfaces (See Reproduced Drawing 1, 302) in direct engagement with the two contact terminals (114), respectively.
In Regards to Claim 11:
Sarraf teaches a charging inlet device (100) for a vehicle, including the electrical connector (102) according to claim 1.
In Regards to Claim 12:
Sarraf teaches a vehicle (Paragraph 22, vehicle) including an electric battery (Paragraph 3, battery system) and a charging inlet device (100) according to claim 11 to charge the electric battery (Paragraph 3, battery system).
In Regards to Claim 13:
Sarraf teaches a method of manufacturing an electrical connector (102) comprising at least one contact terminal (114), including the steps of:
providing a printed circuit board (306) provided with at least one hole (350) for receiving the at least one contact terminal (114), and on which at least one thermal sensor (304) is mounted to monitor a temperature of the at least one contact terminal (114); providing a thermal conductive pad (300) having at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) and a second thermal contact surface (302), and coupling the thermal conductive pad (300) to a support device (110) provided with at least one hole (116) for receiving the at least one contact terminal (114); coupling the printed circuit board (306) to an assembly of the at least one thermal conductive pad (300) and the support device (110), by causing the second thermal contact surface (302) of the at least one thermal conductive pad (300) to come into direct engagement with the at least one thermal sensor (304) mounted on the printed circuit board (306); exerting a force of compression to compress the at least one thermal conductive pad (300) between the support device (110) and the printed circuit board (306) and cause the at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) to move to a path of the at least one contact terminal (114) and the second thermal contact surface (302) to deform on the thermal sensor (304) covering the thermal sensor (304); and inserting the at least one contact terminal (114) into the at least one hole (350) of the printed circuit board (306) and into the at least one hole (116) of the support device (110), by causing the at least one contact terminal (114) to come into direct engagement with the at least one first thermal contact surface (See Reproduced Drawing 1) of the at least one thermal conductive pad (300).
In Regards to Claim 14:
Sarraf teaches the method according to claim 13, wherein the support device (110) is a sealing pad (300) for receiving the at least one contact terminal (114).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest these limitation as substantially described in claims 4-9, these limitations, in combination with remaining limitations of claims 4-9, are neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 NADER J ALHAWAMDEH whose telephone number is (571)270-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9Am - 6Pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah A Riyami can be reached at (571)270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NADER J ALHAWAMDEH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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