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 .
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.
Claims 1 and 4-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (12,155,161) in view of in view of Walker (9,635,975).
Regarding claim 1, Huang et al. disclose a connector for battery packs, the connector comprising:
a terminal pin (200, Fig. 2) configured to serve as an electrical connection path;
a housing (100) to which the terminal pin is mounted; and
a high heat resistant member (500, Fig. 2) coupled to the housing (Fig. 1),
wherein the housing comprises a first material different from a second material of the high heat resistant member.
Huang et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the first material that has a lower melting temperature than the second material of the high heat resistant member, and the high heat resistant member includes solidified potting liquid made of an insulative material having a melting temperature of 1,000°C or more.
Walker, Figs. 1 and 2 show a gasket (16) comprises a high heat resistant silicone material (column 4, lines 3-4). It would have been obvious to modify the second material of Huang et al. to have the gasket comprises a high heat resistant silicone material, which has higher melting temperature than the first material, as taught by Walker for better connection.
It would have been obvious to modify Huang et al. and Walker to have the high heat resistant member includes solidified potting liquid made of an insulative material having a melting temperature of 1,000°C or more, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980) for better connection.
Regarding claim 4, it is noted that Walker discloses the insulative material is high heat resistant silicone.
Regarding claim 5, Huang et al. disclose the housing comprises:
a lower end portion (FIGURE A below, from Huang et al., Fig. 2) to which the terminal pin is coupled;
a side wall portion (FIGURE A below) extending perpendicular to the lower end portion; and
a partition wall portion (FIGURE A below) configured to prevent deformation of the terminal pin when an external terminal is coupled to the terminal pin (Fig. 3).
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Regarding claim 6, Huang et al., Fig. 1 shows the high heat resistant member is mounted to an entirety of an outer surface of the side wall portion.
Regarding claim 7, Huang et al., Fig. 1 and FIGURE A above shows the lower end portion extends outwards from an outer periphery of the side wall portion by a distance that is equal to a thickness of the high heat resistant member.
Regarding claim 8, the side wall portion comprises an outer side wall portion (FIGURE A above) extending from an outer periphery of the lower end portion perpendicular thereto and an inner side wall portion (FIGURE A above) spaced apart inwards from the outer side wall portion and parallel to the outer side wall portion, and the high heat resistant member is disposed between the outer side wall portion and the inner side wall portion (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 9, Huang et al. disclose the connector is a low voltage connector.
Regarding claims 10-13, the features in the method claims are identical to those in the apparatus claims; Therefore, a method of manufacturing the connector a lone is not a patentable feature.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 4-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdul 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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/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 10/04/26
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
