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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/04/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment filed on 05/04/2023 in which claims 1-10 were canceled and claims 11-21 added. Therefore, claims 11-21 are pending for examination below.
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.
Claim(s) 11-13 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakurai [US 2010/0315040].
With respect to claim 11, Sakurai discloses a charging device for DC charging of electric vehicles [Fig. 1A], the charging device comprising: a housing [51]; power electronics disposed in said housing [see fig. 2, i.e. at least converter 54]; a charging cable connected to said power electronics and leading out of said housing [52], said charging cable having a charging plug at a distal end, said charging plug having a grip portion and a contact portion [par. 0059]; and a charging plug holder disposed on said housing and is configured to hold said charging plug [see fig. 3], said charging plug holder having a first depression formed therein and sized and shaped to receive said contact portion of said charging plug in an insertion direction and to hold said charging plug in a standby state of the charging device [par. 0060].
With respect to claim 12, Sakurai further discloses wherein said grip portion of said charging plug is disposed outside of said first depression in the standby state [fig. 4A].
With respect to claim 13, Sakurai further discloses wherein said contact portion of said charging plug is held in a frictionally engaged manner by said first depression in the standby state [fig. 4B].
With respect to claim 15, Sakurai further discloses wherein said first depression extends around a center axis running in the insertion direction and is defined by a bottom surface, through which the center axis passes, and a lateral surface facing the center axis [75].
With respect to claim 16, Sakurai further discloses wherein the center axis forms an acute angle to a horizontal line and the center axis rises in a direction opposite to the insertion direction [as illustrated in figs 4a-4b].
With respect to claim 17, Sakurai further discloses wherein said first depression has an inner shape that corresponds at least approximately to an envelope body of said contact portion of said charging plug [as illustrated in figs 4a-4b].
With respect to claim 18, Sakurai further discloses wherein said charging plug holder has a second depression formed therein and surrounds an opening of said first depression, such that at least a portion of said grip portion of said charging plug in the standby state is disposed in said second depression and spaced from a wall of said charging plug holder defining said second depression [74].
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.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai [US 2010/0315040] as applied above, and further in view of Effenberger et al. [US 2019/0047426].
With respect to claim 14, Sakurai fails to explicitly disclose wherein said first depression tapers along the insertion direction. However, Effenberger relates to an electric vehicle charging plug connection and teaches incorporating a tapering element along an insertion direction [par. 0055]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Sakurai to incorporate a tapering surface as taught by Effenberger for the benefit of guiding the connection into a secure fit as stated by Effenberger.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai [US 2010/0315040] as applied above, and further in view of Moseke [US 2017/0054248].
With respect to claim 19, Sakurai fails to explicitly disclose wherein said charge plug holder has a drainage channel formed therein and leading from a lowest point of said first depression into a surrounding environment of the charging device. However, Moseke relates to a plug-in connector and teaches utilizing drainage holes to lead liquid away from the contact opening [abstract]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Sakurai to incorporate a drainage channel from the lowest point for the benefit of guiding the water/liquid (in which gravity pulls to the lowest point) away from the contacts thereby preventing risks of short circuiting from the circuit components.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai [US 2010/0315040] as applied above, and further in view of Herold et al. [US 2020/0298717].
With respect to claims 20-21, Sakurai fails to disclose wherein said charging plug holder is at least partially made of a partially transparent plastic. However, such a concept is well-known in the art. For example, Herold relates to a charging socket recess and teaches being at least partially made of transparent plastic in order to illuminate the socket to facilitate connection [abstract, par. 0049-0061]. While Herold does not explicitly recite “opalescent” he does disclose the plastic is translucent. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to select the type of translucent plastic as being opalescent since there are only a finite number of translucent plastics to choose from and doing so would not invoke undue experimentation or present any unexpected results.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Sakurai to utilize a translucent plastic (specifically an opalescent plastic) for the benefit of guiding the user to the connection port by allowing the light to illuminate through the connection structure via the translucent plastic as stated by Herold.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859