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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 4 and 5 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/9/26.
The traversal is on the grounds that the search of the groups would overlap. This is not found persuasive because this overlooks the separate status in the art in view of their different classification listed in the species requirement. Further, the inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it exceeds the word limit. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Irisawa (US 8,322,932 B2). Irisawa teaches:
1. (Original) A connection mechanism (202, Figs. 2-17) that connects an optical probe (101) used in an optical tomographic imaging apparatus and a drive portion (222) that rotates the optical probe (101) (C5 L4-15),
(a) the connection mechanism (202) comprising:
a female connection portion (202b, Fig. 4) having an approximately cylindrical shape disposed on a distal end side of the drive portion (222); and
a male connection portion (102, Fig. 6) having an approximately cylindrical shape disposed on a proximal end side of the optical probe (101) (when the probe is attached to the scanner),
(b) wherein the female connection portion (202b, Fig. 4) includes:
a proximal rotation cylindrical portion (405) having an approximately cylindrical shape disposed at a distal end of the female connection portion (202b) coaxially with a central axis (center) of the female connection portion (202b),
an adapter (404) fixed inside the female connection portion (202b), and
a protruding portion (702) disposed on an inner circumferential surface of the female connection portion (202b),
(c) wherein the male connection portion (102, Fig. 6) includes:
a distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) having an approximately cylindrical shape disposed at a proximal end of the male connection portion (102) coaxially with a central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102),
a connector (602) fixed inside the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) correspondingly to the adapter (404),
a guide portion (802) disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) and extending from an end portion of a proximal end of the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) toward a distal end along the central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102), and
an inclined end surface (801A-B) that is symmetrical with respect to a plane including the guide portion (604) and the central axis (center) (see Fig. 8a) and extends toward a proximal end along the central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102) at a proximal end of the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) (Fig. 8),
the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) being configured to rotate about the central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102) (C7 L6-22), and
(d) wherein the male connection portion (102) is rotated by moving the male connection portion (102) toward the female connection portion (202b) in a state where the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) of the male connection portion (102) is inserted into the proximal rotation cylindrical portion (405) of the female connection portion (202b) and the inclined end surface (801A-B) of the male connection portion (102) is brought into contact with the protruding portion (702) of the female connection portion (202b), the protruding portion (702) is inserted into the guide portion (802), and the connector (602) is connected to the adapter (404) (C8 L48 – C9 L13).
2. The connection mechanism (202) according to claim 1, wherein the distal rotation cylindrical portion (603, 609) is configured to be movable along the central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102) (C7 L6-22).
3. The connection mechanism (202) according to claim 1, wherein the male connection portion (102) includes an elastic member (605) that has an approximately cylindrical shape extending along the central axis (center) of the male connection portion (102) and is disposed between the male connection portion (102) and the connector (602) (C8 L1-21, Fig. 6).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach optical connections between a probe and scanners similar to applicant’s: US 7740408, US 2017/0153439, US 2018/0207417.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LEPISTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1946. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN A LEPISTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874