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 1-2, 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al, US 9899168 [Zheng] in view of Ahn, KR 20210090828.
Regarding claim 1, Zheng discloses (figs.1-9) an arc elimination device (2) comprising:
a housing (12);
an arc extinguishing part (11) that is located inside the housing (12) and provided with a high-voltage electrode (140) and a ground electrode (130) therein;
an operating rod (20) that is movable to electrically connect or disconnect the high-voltage electrode (140) and the ground electrode (130) inside the arc extinguishing part (11);
a handle (T section of 20) that is coupled to one end of the operating rod (20) to move the operating rod (20).
Zheng fails to explicitly disclose a moving plate that is disposed between the arc extinguishing part and the handle to be movable while pressing the handle;
an actuator that applies driving force to move the moving plate; and
a power transmission unit that transmits the driving force of the actuator to the moving plate so that the moving plate is moved in a direction of pressing the handle.
Ahn discloses (figs.1-8) an arc eliminator comprising a moving plate (20, 150) that is disposed between an arc extinguishing part (10, 110) and a handle (12, 141) to be movable while pressing the handle (12, 141);
an actuator (motor) [paras.0024 and 0071] that applies driving force to move the moving plate (20, 150); and
a power transmission unit that transmits the driving force of the actuator (motor) to the moving plate (20, 150) so that the moving plate (20, 150) is moved in a direction of pressing the handle (12, 141) [para.0072].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arc elimination device of Zheng with the inclusion of the moving plate of Ahn, thereby providing a configuration that when the movable load is inserted, the moving (return) plate aids in moving the movable rod to the open position, a contact portion located on a surface of the handle connected to the other end of the movable rod facing the moving (return) plate, and a pressure sensor for detecting a contact pressure with the contact position when the movable rod is moved to the open position by the moving (return) plate, thereby monitoring whether the movable contact of the arc eliminator is abnormal.
Regarding claim 2, Zheng and Ahn further disclose where the moving plate (Ahn; 20, 150) is formed to be movable between a first position spaced apart from the arc extinguishing part (10, 110) in a direction toward the handle (12, 141) and a second position located closer to the arc extinguishing part (10, 110) than the first position.
Regarding claim 7, Zheng and Ahn further comprising an elastic member (Ahn; 30, 160)) that is disposed on the moving plate (20, 150) to alleviate impacts between the moving plate (20, 150) and the handle (12, 141).
Regarding claim 14, Zheng and Ahn further disclose where the arc extinguishing part (Zheng; 11) is provided in plurality, and the plurality of arc extinguishing parts (11) are disposed side by side to be adjacent to one another [see fig.7].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 8-13 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed arc elimination device comprising a first switch and a second switch that generate a start signal for controlling the actuator, where the control unit controls the moving plate to move from the first position to the second position when the first switch is pressed and stops an operation of the actuator when the second switch is pressed.
The prior art, either alone or in combination cannot reasonably be construed as adequately teaching the above limitations in combination with the remaining claim elements.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kisanuki, saxegaard et al, Ahn, Jeong and Al-Hosini et al are examples of arc elimination device configured similar to the present invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A BOLTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5887. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30AM - 5:00PM.
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 at (571)-272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIAM A BOLTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833
Prosecution Insights