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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification and Claims
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. 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, “Disclosed”, “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.
It appears that “the” should be reinserted on line 9 of claim 1 as the present line is grammatically incorrect.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 3 and 9, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3 and 5-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hain et al. (DE 102005054849) in view of Umezu et al. (JP 2017107757). Regarding Claim 1, Hain discloses an electrical connection device comprising a female contact (201) and a male contact body (202) configured such that the male contact body is insertable into the female contact along an insertion direction (Fig. 3B) and the male contact body has a cavity (59) extending through the male contact body, the cavity being bounded by an inner surface (Fig. 3B) of the male contact body, the device further comprising a spreader element (203) inserted into the cavity, which has cross-sections (Fig. 3B) tapering along its longitudinal axis in a locking direction (Fig. 3B), the spreader element being transferable along the locking direction from a released position to a tightened position in such a way that the male contact body is spread open and a contact pressure is thereby generated between the female contact and the male contact body, wherein device has a housing (56) which surrounds the male contact body at least in regions (Fig. 3B), wherein the housing forms an assembly with the male contact body.
Hain discloses substantially the claimed invention except for an additional housing forming an assembly with the female contact.
Umezu teaches an electrical connection device comprising a female contact (16) and a male contact body (9) configured such that the male contact body is insertable into the female contact along an insertion direction and the male contact body has a cavity (Fig. 3) extending through the male contact body, the cavity being bounded by an inner surface (Fig. 3) of the male contact body, the device further comprising a spreader element (4) being transferable along the locking direction from a released position, the device has a housing (6) which surrounds the male contact body at least in regions, wherein the housing forms an assembly with the male contact body and an additional housing (7) forming an assembly with the female contact and is configured such that the housing of the assembly with the male contact body is insertable between the additional housing and the female contact.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the device of Hain by including an additional housing forming an assembly with the female contact as taught in Umezu in order to effectively protect the female contact from outside damage.
Regarding Claim 3, Hain discloses the housing being configured such that the female contact is insertable between the male contact body and a housing part (55), the housing part preferably stabilizing the female contact during spreading of the male contact body from the outside.
Regarding Claim 5, Hain discloses the inner side of the male contact body having a first latching element (54) and an outer side of the spreader element has a second latching element (Fig. 3B), the first latching element latching with the second latching element when the spreader element reaches the tightened position, so that a securing of the spreader element in the tightened position is produced.
Regarding Claim 6, Hain discloses the cavity tapering in the locking direction such that the male contact body spreads out in such way that a planar contact (Fig. 3B) between the inner side of the male contact body and an outer surface of the spreading spreader element is obtained when the spreader element is in the tightened position.
Regarding Claim 7, Hain discloses the first latching element and/or the second latching element having a rounding (Fig. 3B) so that non-destructive release of the latching between the first latching element and the second latching element is possible by applying force to the expanding element in the opposite direction to the locking direction.
Regarding Claim 8, Hain discloses the male contact body having slots (59) at its axial end lying opposite the locking direction, so that the male contact body can be spread open in this region under the action of less force by the spreader element.
Regarding Claim 9, Hain discloses the cross-sectional area of the cavity and a cross-sectional area of the spreader element each have a circular shape (Fig. 3B), preferably a circular area.
Regarding Claim 10, Hain discloses the spreader element having the second latching element as a circumferential projection (61) on its outer side and the male contact body has the second latching element as a circumferential groove (Fig. 3B) on its inner side, wherein the projection and the being formed in a form-fitting manner with respect to one another.
Regarding Claim 11, Hain discloses the circumferential projection and the circumferential groove being configured such that the spreader element is non-destructively movable into and out of the tightened position by sliding a surface (Fig. 3B) of the projection off a surface of the groove, under the action of a force acting in or against the locking direction on the spreader element.
Regarding Claim 12, Hain discloses the device comprising a movement mechanism (67) which causes the movement of the spreader element, the movement mechanism being lockable when the spreader element is in the tightened position.
Regarding Claim 13, Hain discloses the movement mechanism comprising a lever (67) which is rotatably mounted about a pivot axis (64) relative to the male contact body, wherein a first leg (Fig. 3A) of the lever attaches to a region of the spreader element which extends out of the cavity of the male contact body in the locking direction such that movement of the lever between an open position and a closed position causes movement of the spreader element between the released position and the tightened position.
Regarding Claim 14, Hain discloses the lever being mounted (Fig. 3B) on the housing.
Regarding Claim 15, Hain discloses a releasable securing (Fig. 3A) of the lever locking the lever in the closed position as soon as the lever reaches the closed position.
Regarding Claim 16, Hain discloses the securing of the lever being designed as a snap element (Fig. 3A) in the form of a hook, whereby the hook hooks onto a second leg (Fig. 3A) of the lever, which is opposite the first leg of the lever with respect to the pivot axis, when the lever is transferred from the open position to the closed position.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art discloses electrical connection devices, similar to Applicant’s claimed invention, having female and male contacts and bodies, spreader elements and housings.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN A LEON whose telephone number is (571)272-2008. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. 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 S Luebke can be reached on 5712722009.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDWIN A. LEON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833