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 § 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 6-8, and 19 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.
Claim 6 is rejected as it recites the limitation “the guide member half” in line 5. It is ambiguous which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear to which of the “guide member halves” it refers to from claim 6 line 2. Claim 6 is also rejected as it recites the limitation “the terminal” in line 6. It is ambiguous because it is unclear to which of the “two terminals” it refers to from claim 5 line 2. Its dependent claims 7 and 8 are also rejected for the same reason.
Claim 8 is rejected as it is drawn to a device. However, the claim further recites “in the process of inserting the front ends… inserted into the housing” in lines 2-7 of claim 8. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112. In this instance, the claim is statutorily directed to a device, but instead recites a method of using the device. Accordingly, the reader cannot determine the scope of the claimed apparatus, nor how it is intended to be defined structurally. For the same reason, claim 19 is rejected.
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, 9-10, 12-15, and 18, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al (C.N. Patent Application Publication 112909707 A), herein after Liu.
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses an insertion device (Title: Automatic Assembling Device) for inserting a cable assembly(tail sleeve assembly, p. 4, ll. 22-25) into a housing (tail sleeve 20 in FIG. 10, p. 8, ll. 28-30, “the tail sleeve locating mechanism 400 is installed on the inserting rod 300; and can be placed in the locating groove 310 of the tail sleeve 20 for locating, the tail sleeve 20 is provided with the cable tail end of the connecting terminal 31 for inserting the jack”), the cable assembly including a cable (wire whole 32 in FIG. 10, p. 9, ll. 33-35, “The invention before inserting the tail sleeve 20 and the connecting terminal 31, except for locating the connecting terminal 31 itself, further locating the wire branch 33 and the wire whole 32 of the tail end of the cable”) and two terminals (connecting terminal 31 in FIG. 10, p. 9, ll. 33-35, Though Liu discloses there being ) crimped on two exposed core wires of the cable (wire branch 33 in FIG. 10, p. 9, ll. 33-35), comprising:
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a cable control module (p. 8, ll. 17-19, “the automatic assembling device 10 of the invention comprises a base 100, an inserting seat 200, inserting rod 300, tail locating mechanism 400, terminal locating mechanism 500; a wire positioning mechanism 600 and a driving mechanism 700”, Though Liu doesn’t explicitly mention the cable control module structure, the automatic assembling device 10 includes claimed portions of the cable control module covered in this rejection, see also annotated FIG. 5 below) including:
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a terminal clamping device adapted to clamp to the two terminals (terminal positioning mechanism 500 in FIG. 1, p. 9, ll. 11); and
a core wire clamping device adapted to clamp to the two core wires (core positioning mechanism 600 in FIG. 1, p. 9. ll. 28); and
a housing control module (p. 8, ll. 17-19, Though Liu doesn’t explicitly mention the housing control module structure, the automatic assembling device 10 includes claimed portions of the housing control module covered in this rejection, see also annotated FIG. 5 above) including a housing clamping device adapted to hold the housing while the two terminals are inserted into the housing (tail sleeve locating mechanism 400 in FIG. 13, p. 12, ll. 32-34, “tail sleeve locating mechanism 400 comprises a pressing sheet 410 and drives the pressing sheet 410 to move up and down of the tail sleeve cylinder 420; the pressing sheet 410 has an arc-shaped inner wall corresponding to the top contour of the tail sleeve 20”).
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Regarding claim 2, Liu further discloses that the housing control module includes a mobile seat (inserting rod 300 in FIG. 13, p. 12, ll. 42-44, “and the inserting seat 200 comprises a feeding channel 220 and a guide channel 230, feeding channel 220 connected with the conveying flow channel 910 of the outlet and the guide channel 230, inserting rod 300 sliding along the guide channel 230. the guide channel 230 extends along the inserting direction”) movable along a longitudinal direction of the terminal relative to the terminal (inserting direction X in FIG. 5, p. 8, ll. 25-26, “wherein the inserting rod 300 along the inserting direction (as shown in FIG. 5 direction X) is slidingly set on the inserting seat 200; the front end of the inserting rod 300 is formed with a locating groove 310”), the housing clamping device is installed on the mobile seat such that two terminals are insertable into the housing by driving the mobile seat (p. 12, ll. 27-31, “Referring to FIG. 13 and FIG. 16, one end of the inserting rod 300 is connected with the guide block 740, and the other end is correspondingly provided with a tail sleeve locating mechanism 400. the driving motor 710 through the nut slide block 730 and the guide block 750 drives the inserting rod 300 along the inserting direction linear movement and has a first stroke and a second stroke for a first stroke and performing a secondary insertion”). See supra rejection of claim 1.
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Regarding claim 3, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 2, wherein the housing clamping device comprises:
a housing clamp (pressing sheet 410 in FIG. 13, p. 12, ll. 32-33, “tail sleeve locating mechanism 400 comprises a pressing sheet 410 and drives the pressing sheet 410 to move up and down of the tail sleeve cylinder 420”) installed on the mobile seat and adapted to be opened and closed (move up and down, p. 12, ll. 32-33); and
a housing clamp driver (tail sleeve cylinder 420, p. 12, ll. 32-33) installed on the mobile seat and driving the housing clamp to open and close (drives the pressing sheet to move, p. 12, ll. 32-33). See supra rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 9, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 2, wherein the housing control module further comprises:
a fixed seat (inserting base 200 in FIG. 15, p. 8, ll. 25-26, "wherein the inserting rod 300 along the inserting direction (as shown in FIG. 5 direction X) is slidingly set on the inserting seat 200”) on which the mobile seat is movably installed (slidingly set on the inserting seat, p. 8, ll. 25-26); and
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a mobile seat driver (driving mechanism 700 in FIG. 5, p. 12, ll. 18) installed on the fixed seat and driving the mobile seat to move along the longitudinal direction of the terminal (inserting direction, p. 8, ll. 25-26). See supra rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 10, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 9, wherein the mobile seat driver comprises:
a servo motor installed on the fixed seat (driving motor 710 in FIG. 16, p. 12, ll. 18-23, “the driving mechanism 700 comprises a driving motor 710; screw 720 and nut sliding block 730, driving motor 710 drives the screw 720 to rotate, nut block 730 connected on the screw 720, the rotation movement of the screw 720 into the nut block 730 along the screw 720 axial linear movement. the driving mechanism 700 further comprises a guide sliding rail 740 and a guide sliding block 750, a guide sliding rail 740 is set on the inserting seat 200, a guide sliding block 750 is slidingly connected on the guide sliding rail 740”; p. 9, ll. 9: “the driving mechanism 700 is a servo motor”); and
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a transmission mechanism (guide sliding block 750 in FIG. 16 p. 12, ll. 18-23) connected between an output shaft of the servo motor and the mobile seat, the transmission mechanism is adapted to convert a rotation of the output shaft of the servo motor (rotation movement, p. 12, ll. 18-23) into the linear movement (axial linear movement, p. 12, ll. 18-23) of the mobile seat. See supra rejection of claim 9.
Regarding claim 12, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal clamping device comprises:
a terminal clamp including two terminal clamp halves adapted to be opened and closed (terminal positioning 510 and terminal lower positioning 530 in FIG. 7, p. 9, ll. 11-15, “the terminal positioning mechanism 500 includes a terminal positioning 510, and a terminal positioning the first driving member 520 to be moved up and down on the driving terminal positioning 510; The terminal lower positioning 530 and the lower positioning 530 of the lower positioning 530 of the terminal lower positioning 530 and the lower positioning 530 of the terminal positioning 510 are positioned to position the second driving member 540”); and
a terminal clamp driver driving the two terminal clamp halves to open and close to clamp or loosen the two terminals (first driving member 520 and second driving member 540, p. 9, ll. 11-15). See supra rejection of claim 1.
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Regarding claim 13, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 12, wherein:
two terminal positioning grooves adapted to position roots of two terminals are formed on one of the two terminal clamp halves (upper terminal groove 511 and lower terminal groove 531 in FIG. 7, p. 9, ll. 15-18, “one end of the terminal lower positioning 530 facing the terminal is formed with an upper terminal groove 511 of the connecting terminal 31 corresponding to the tail end of the cable; one end of the terminal lower positioning 530 facing the upper positioning 510 is formed with a lower terminal groove 531 of the connecting terminal 31 corresponding to the tail end of the cable”); and
two terminal positioning protrusions adapted to retain the roots of two terminals in the two terminal positioning grooves are formed on the other of the two terminal clamp halves (p. 9, ll. 15-18, Though Liu doesn’t disclose protrusions formed on one of the two terminal clamp halves, the structure of the upper positioning 510 clamp half features the protrusion, also see annotated FIG. 7 below). See supra rejection of claim 12.
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Regarding claim 14, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 12, wherein:
the two terminals are arranged side by side in a first direction, the first direction vertical to the longitudinal direction of the terminal (FIG. 15 depicts the first direction and bottom two terminals being arranged side by side in the first direction, also see annotated FIG. 15 below); and
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the two terminal clamp halves are opened and closed in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of the terminal (moved up and down, p. 9, ll. 11-15). See supra rejection of claim 12.
Regarding claim 15, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the core wire clamping device comprises:
a core wire clamp including a pair of core wire clamp halves adapted to be opened and closed (branch locating component 620 including branching positioning 621 and lower positioning 623 in FIG. 9, p. 10, ll. 3-7, “the branching positioning member 620 comprises a branching positioning 621, a branching positioning upper driving member 622 located on the upper and lower movement of the driving member 622; a branch lower positioning 623 and a branch positioning lower driving member 624 for driving the lower positioning 623 to move up and down on the upper and lower parts of the branching upper positioning 621”); and
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a core wire clamp driver driving the pair of core wire clamp halves to open and close (upper driving member 622 and lower driving member 624, p. 10, ll. 3-7). See supra rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the cable control module further comprises:
a first cable support frame (core wire lower locating 613 in FIG. 8, p. 9, ll. 40-41, “core wire lower locating 613 towards one end of the core wire is formed with corresponding cable tail end of the wire whole lower core wire groove 613A”) on which a cable positioning slot for positioning and supporting the cable is formed (lower core wire groove 613A with in FIG. 8, p. 9, ll. 40-41); and
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a second frame on which the terminal clamping device, the core wire clamping device and the cable support frame are installed (base 100 in FIG. 1, p. 8, ll. 19, “wherein the base 100 is the base support of the whole device”). See supra rejection of claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Tominoi (E.P. Patent Application Publication 0041332 A2).
Regarding claim 4, Liu further teaches the insertion device according to claim 3, wherein the housing clamp comprises:
a base fixed on the mobile seat (locating groove 310 on inserting rod 300 in FIG. 13, p. 13, ll. 6-7, “the inserting rod 300 front end of the locating groove 310 corresponding to the feeding channel 220 of the tail end, combined with FIG. 13, the locating groove 310 comprises a locating cavity 311”) and having a positioning groove for positioning the housing (locating cavity 311, p. 13, ll. 6-7).
However, Liu fails to teach or suggest a clamping arm rotatably connected to the base and a connecting arm rotatably connected to the clamping arm where the housing clamp driver comprises a cylinder including a cylinder block and a telescopic rod.
Tominoi teaches the insertion device (Title: Apparatus For, And A Method Of, Inserting Electrical Terminals Into An Electrical Connector Housing), wherein the housing clamp comprises:
a clamping arm rotatably connected to the base and adapted to be opened and closed relative to the base (recess 79 in FIG. 8, p. 4, ll. 38-40, “A piston-and-cylinder device 76 is arranged to open and close the terminal gripping arms 78, through a linkage 78'. Each arm 78 has, at its end remote from the housing 75', two recesses 79 and 79' having different configurations, each for receiving a terminal 3 in a different one of the two angular orientations”); and
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a connecting arm rotatably connected to the clamping arm (terminal gripping arms 78 in FIG. 8, p. 4, ll. 38-40), the housing clamp driver comprises a cylinder including a cylinder block rotatably connected to the mobile seat and a telescopic rod connected to the connecting arm (p. 4, ll. 33-36, “The slide base 71 carries the cylinder of a piston-and-cylinder device 72 for driving horizontally a slide 73 connected to a slide plate 77 which supports a terminal positioner 75 having a housing 75'. The slide plate 77 is driven horizontally by a piston-and-cylinder device 74 fixed to the slide 73, in turn horizontally to drive the positioner 75”).
Thus, it would have been obvious by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date that applying the gripping method of terminals taught by Tominoi to the insertion device of Liu would have yielded predictable results, allowing for different angular orientations of receiving terminals during the insertion process (Tominoi, p. 4, ll. 40). See supra rejection of claim 1.
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Tei et al (C.N. Patent Application Publication 102449861 A), herein after Tei.
Regarding claim 5, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 2,
However, Liu fails to teach or suggest a guide device installed on the mobile seat to guide front ends of two terminals into the housing.
Tei teaches the insertion device (Title: Terminal Inserting Device), wherein the housing control module further includes a guide device (guide head 74 in FIG. 5, ¶56) installed on the mobile seat to guide front ends of two terminals into the housing (¶55, “a pair of guide head a party 74 in chamber 12 guide the terminal”).
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Thus, it would have been obvious by one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date that applying the divided guide part to include a conical shaped hole to guide terminals into the opening of a cavity taught by Tei to the insertion device of Liu would have yielded predictable results, allowing for proper positioning of terminal equipped wire and suppressing the terminal insertion failure inside the chamber (Tei abstract and ¶8).
Regarding claim 6, Liu further teaches the insertion device according to claim 5.
However, Liu fails to teach or suggest a guide member including a pair of guide member halves and a guide member driver driving the pair of guide member halves to close and form a semi-conical guide hole for guiding the terminal into the housing.
Tei teaches the insertion device, wherein the guide device comprises:
a guide member including a pair of guide member halves (terminal insertion guide part 76 and its pair of divided guide part 78 in FIG. 5, ¶60”) adapted to be opened and closed (close or separated, ¶57, “dividing guide part driving part 75 is through from the outside air pressure or electromagnetic force driving a pair of movable pieces 75b to make it close to or separated from each other”); and
a guide member driver driving the pair of guide member halves to open and close (dividing guide part driving part 75, ¶57), a semi-conical guide hole is formed on the guide member half, and when the pair of guide member halves are closed, a conical guide hole (tapered hole 77b in FIG. 6, ¶60) for guiding the terminal into the housing is formed. See supra rejection of claim 5.
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Regarding claim 7, Liu further teaches the insertion device according to claim 6.
However, Liu fails to teach or suggest a two semi-conical guide holes arranged side by side formed on the guide member half and when the guide member halves are closed, they form two conical guide holes to guide the two terminals into the housing.
Tei teaches the insertion device, wherein two semi-conical guide holes arranged side by side are formed on the guide member half, when the pair of guide member halves are closed, two conical guide holes arranged side by side are formed to guide the two terminals into two terminal slots of the housing (Tei teaches a pair of divided guide part 78 closing and forming the guiding hole. While Tei doesn’t specifically disclose the structure having a plurality of guiding holes, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to subdivide/modify the structure to produce a plurality of guide holes. Such a modification is predictable and does not alter the function of the device and its method for inserting). See supra rejection of claim 6.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu.
Regarding claim 11, Liu further discloses that the transmission mechanism comprises:
a lead screw drive mechanism having a lead screw and a nut threaded with the lead screw (screw 720 and nut sliding block 730 in FIG. 16, p. 12, ll. 18-23).
Liu also discloses the output shaft of the servo motor and the nut of the lead screw drive mechanism (see supra) but does not explicitly disclose a pulley drive mechanism connected between the output shaft of the servo motor and the lead screw of the lead screw drive mechanism, the nut of the lead screw drive mechanism is connected to the mobile seat.
The examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that using a pulley drive mechanism was old and well known in the art before the effective filing date to transfer rotational energy between separate components. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to incorporate a pulley drive mechanism to allow to allow for alteration in torque and speed of transferred rotational energy.
Regarding claim 16, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 15, wherein:
the two terminals are arranged side by side in a first direction, the first direction vertical to the longitudinal direction of the terminal (FIG. 15 depicts the bottom two terminals being arranged side by side, also see annotated FIG. 15 below); and
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the pair of core wire clamp halves are opened and closed in the first direction (FIG. 9, p. 10, ll. 3-7, Though Liu discloses that the branching positioning members open in the up and down direction, changing the direction of movement of the clamp is a reorientation of structures and does not alter the function of the device and its method for inserting.
The examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that changing the direction of movement of the clamps was old and well known in the art before the effective filing date for various clamping methods. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to change the direction of the clamping mechanism to accommodate for physical space constraints of the device. See supra rejection of claim 15.
Regarding claim 17, Liu further discloses the insertion device according to claim 16, wherein:
the two exposed core wires of the cable are arranged side by side in the first direction (FIG. 14 depicts the bottom two wire branches being arranged side by side, also see annotated FIG. 14 below); and
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in the process of inserting roots of the two terminals into the housing, the pair of core wire clamp halves clamp the two core wires in the first direction. (FIG. 9, p. 10, ll. 3-7, Though Liu discloses that the branching positioning members open in the up and down direction, changing the direction of movement of the clamp is a reorientation of structures and does not alter the function of the device and its method for inserting.
The examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that changing the direction of movement of the clamps was old and well known in the art before the effective filing date for various clamping methods. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to change the direction of the clamping mechanism to accommodate for physical space constraints of the device. See supra rejection of claim 16.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Tominoi and Tei.
Regarding claim 20, a method for inserting a cable assembly into a housing with an insertion device comprising the steps of:
clamping the housing with a housing clamping device of a housing control module of the insertion device (Liu, FIG. 13 illustrates clamping the house with the housing clamping device, i.e., tail sleeve locating mechanism 400, of the housing control module in the annotated FIG. 5 above; see also supra rejection of claim 1 for further detail);
clamping roots of two terminals of the cable assembly with a terminal clamping device of a cable control module of the insertion device (Liu, FIG. 10 illustrates clamping the roots with the clamping device, i.e., terminal upper and lower location 510 and 530, respectfully);
inserting front ends of the two terminals into the housing by moving a mobile seat of the housing control module, the front ends of the two terminals inserted into the housing under the guidance of a guide device of the housing control module (Liu, FIG. 10 and 13 illustrates terminal insertion by moving the mobile seat; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates how the guide head 74 aligns the terminals into the housing);
after the front ends of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the guide device (Liu, p. 12, ll. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates a guide head 74 able to open and close);
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing (Liu, p. 12, ll. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10);
after the parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat, opening the terminal clamping device and clamping roots of the two core wires with a core wire clamping device of the cable control module;
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing (Liu, p.12, ll. 27-35, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10);
after the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the core wire clamping device (Liu, p. 12, ll. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates a guide head 74 able to open and close); and
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two core wires are inserted into the housing (Liu, p. 12, ll. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10).
Though Liu discloses the method steps of inserting terminals into a housing using the insertion device, Liu fails to disclose performing the steps in the order recited by claim 20. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to rearrange the order of steps performed by Liu, along with the housing clamping method taught by Tominoi and terminal guiding members taught by Tei, to achieve the same result of inserting terminals quickly and preventing connection failure (Tei, invention effect, ¶13-17).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUGENE REY D LEGASPI whose telephone number is (571)272-2956. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at (571) 272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.D.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3729 /THOMAS J HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3729