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 . Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7-11, 13, and 14, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akita et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2002/0044036 A1, hereinafter “Akita”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Akita discloses a circuit breaker (Abstract), comprising a mechanical switch circuit (FIG. 1), wherein the mechanical switch circuit comprises: a busbar (14, 15), a power module (3), comprising a movable contact (2) and a stationary contact (1), wherein the stationary contact (1) is electrically connected to the busbar (14, 15; FIG. 3b), the movable contact (2) is movable (FIGS. 3a and 3b), when the movable contact (2) is in contact with the stationary contact (1), the mechanical switch circuit is conducted (¶ [0041]), and when the movable contact (2) is disconnected from the stationary contact (1), the mechanical switch circuit is disconnected (¶ [0040]), a drive module), comprising a movable coil (10) and a stationary coil (11), wherein the movable coil (10) and the stationary coil (11) are placed adjacently so that the movable coil (10) and the stationary coil (11) repel each other based on whether current directions are the same (¶¶ [0040]-[0041]), and the movable coil (10) is configured to drive the movable contact (2) to be in contact with or disconnected from the stationary contact (1; ¶¶ [0040]-[0041]).
Regarding Claim 2, Akita discloses that a linkage structure (5, 13) is disposed between the movable coil (10) and the movable contact (2).
Regarding Claim 5, Akita discloses that the busbar (14, 15) comprises a first busbar (14) and a second busbar (15), the stationary contact (1) comprises a first stationary contact (1) and a second stationary contact (also 1), the first stationary contact (1) is fastened on the first bus bar (14; FIG. 10a), and the second stationary contact (1) is fastened on (above) the second busbar (FIG. 10a).
Regarding Claim 7, Akita discloses that the movable coil (10) and the stationary coil (11) are connected in series with each other (FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 8, Akita discloses that the movable coil (10) is coaxial with the movable contact (2; FIG. 2), and the movable coil (10) can drive the movable contact (2) to move up and down in an axial direction (FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 9, Akita discloses that a protrusion part (PP; FIG. 1, reproduced and annotated below) is disposed on a first surface of the movable contact (2), and the first surface of the movable contact (2) is configured to be in contact with the stationary contact (1).
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Regarding Claim 10, Akita discloses that the movable coil (10) and the movable contact (2) are connected by using an insulation material (¶¶ [0039], [0049]).
Regarding Claim 11, Akita discloses that the movable coil (10) is coaxial with the movable contact (2), and the movable coil (10) can drive the movable contact (2) to move up and down in an axial direction (FIGS. 3a and 3b).
Regarding Claim 13, Akita discloses a wound coil of the movable coil (10) is led out by a flexible conducting wire, so that an armature system can move automatically without damage (FIGS. 2 and 4).
Regarding Claim 14, Akita discloses a protrusion part (PP) is disposed along a first surface of the movable contact (2) to ensure a reliable connection of the movable and stationary contacts (FIG. 1 above).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akita in view of Azzola et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0199912 A1, hereinafter “Azzola”).
Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed circuit. However, Azzola discloses that the solid-state switch circuit (20; FIG. 2) is connected in parallel to the mechanical switch circuit (10; FIG. 2), when the circuit breaker is closed, the solid-state switch circuit is conducted prior to the mechanical switch circuit, and when the circuit breaker is opened, the mechanical switch circuit is disconnected prior to the solid-state switch circuit (¶¶ [0059], [0068]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Azzola with those of Akita to provide faster fault detection and response.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akita in view of Sturm (German Pat. No. DE 2356515 A1).
Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed circuit. However, Sturm discloses that the movable coil is specifically configured to: when currents flowing through the movable coil and the stationary coil are in opposite directions, stay away from the stationary coil, and drive the movable contact to be disconnected from the stationary contact, and when the currents flowing through the movable coil and the stationary coil are in same directions, approach the stationary coil, and drive the movable contact to be in contact with the stationary contact (Applicant provided Eng. Translation submitted Sept. 13, 2024, p. 4, the 5th to the last line through p. 5, line 12).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Azzola with those of Sturm to provide ease of bidirectional coil movement.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akita.
Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed materials. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to minimize a weight of the movable coil and increase movement speed since it has been held to be within the general ordinary skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akita in view of Takahashi et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,693 B2, hereinafter “Takahashi”).
Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed materials. However, Takahashi discloses a maintenance apparatus (electromagnet of bistable type) is further disposed in the mechanical switch circuit and the maintenance apparatus is configured to maintain the movable contact and the stationary contact in a contact state after the movable contact is in contact with the stationary contact, and to maintain the movable contact and the stationary contact in a disconnected state after the movable contact is disconnected from the stationary contact (col. 9, ll. 7-12). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Takahashi with those of Azzola to ensure secure device positioning.
Claims 15, 16, 19, and 20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Carnemark et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 11,831,196 B2, hereinafter “Carnemark”) in view of Akita.
Specifically, regarding Claim 15, Carnemark discloses a power supply system (Abstract), wherein the power supply system comprises a circuit breaker (121; FIG. 1), but does not disclose the claimed (i) mechanical switch circuit, as recited in Claim 15, (ii) linkage, as recited in Claim 16, and (iii) busbar, as recited in Claim 19.
However, Akita discloses (i) a mechanical switch circuit [that] comprises: a busbar (14, 15), a power module (3), comprising a movable contact (2) and a stationary contact (1), wherein the stationary contact (1) is electrically connected to the busbar (14, 15), the movable contact (2) is movable, when the movable contact (2) is in contact with the stationary contact (1), the mechanical switch circuit is conducted, and when the movable contact (2) is disconnected from the stationary contact (1), the mechanical switch circuit is disconnected, and a drive module), comprising a movable coil (10) and a stationary coil (11), wherein the movable coil (10) and the stationary coil (11) are placed adjacently, so that the movable coil (10) and the stationary coil (11) repel or attract each other based on whether current directions are the same, and the movable coil (10) is configured to drive the movable contact (2) to be in contact with or disconnected from the stationary contact, as recited in Claim 15, (ii) a linkage structure (5, 13) is disposed between the movable coil (10) and the movable contact (2), as recited in Claim 16, and (iii) that the busbar (14, 15) comprises a first busbar (14) and a second busbar (15), the stationary contact (1) comprises a first stationary contact (1) and a second stationary contact (also 1), the first stationary contact (1) is fastened on the first bus bar (14; FIG. 10a), and the second stationary contact (1) is fastened on (above) the second busbar (FIG. 10a), as recited in Claim 19.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Akita with those of Carnemark to provide rapid electrical isolation in a power supply system.
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Carnemark and Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed materials. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to minimize a weight of the movable coil and increase movement speed since it has been held to be within the general ordinary skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Carnemark and Akita in view of Azzola.
The combination of Carnemark and Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed circuit. However, Azzola discloses that the solid-state switch circuit (20; FIG. 2) is connected in parallel to the mechanical switch circuit (10; FIG. 2), when the circuit breaker is closed, the solid-state switch circuit is conducted prior to the mechanical switch circuit, and when the circuit breaker is opened, the mechanical switch circuit is disconnected prior to the solid-state switch circuit (¶¶ [0059], [0068]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Azzola with those of Carnemark and Akita to provide faster fault detection and response.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Carnemark and Akita in view of Sturm.
The combination of Carnemark and Akita discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, but does not disclose the claimed circuit. However, Sturm discloses that the movable coil is specifically configured to: when currents flowing through the movable coil and the stationary coil are in opposite directions, stay away from the stationary coil, and drive the movable contact to be disconnected from the stationary contact, and when the currents flowing through the movable coil and the stationary coil are in same directions, approach the stationary coil, and drive the movable contact to be in contact with the stationary contact (Applicant provided Eng. Translation submitted Sept. 13, 2024, p. 4, the 5th to the last line through p. 5, line 12).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Sturm with those of the combination of Carnemark and Akita to provide ease of bidirectional coil movement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833