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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 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(s) 1-8, 10, 11-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen, US Pub. 2005/0042904, in view of Lan, CN 203260833.
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Chen discloses an electronic apparatus having AC inlet with heat insulation function comprising: a body 111, wherein the inlet is incorporated into an adaptor power supply 11 (par. 0018-0020); the adaptor 11 includes the housing 111, AC inlet 112, and an engagement unit 113; a conductive pin 1121 extending from the AC inlet 112 to internal circuit 114 (Fig. 1; par. 0018), one end of the pin 1121 is connecting to the conductive terminal and the other to internal circuit; the internal circuit system comprises a printed circuit board; a power cord 2122 that passes through an opening 2111 and connect to the internal circuit 214 (par. 0019); an insulating structure through which the conductive element passes; the insulating element 3121 wraps around the AC inlet 312 and includes holes 31211 through which conductive element 3122 passes to electrically connect the AC inlet 312 with adapter 31 (Fig. 3; par. 0020).
Chen fails to disclose wherein the circuit board is disposed of on a first plate, the PCB has a second hole receiving the first pin and a second plate is disposed on the PCB and covers the first pin.
Lan discloses a small multifunctional power plug comprising: an upper cover 1 and a bottom cover 2; a power protection circuit 4, incoming power electrodes 5, output terminals, are all integrated and connected on PCB 3 positioned on the bottom cover (Fig. 1-2, 6).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen’s AC inlet such that the conductive pin are directly associated with the electrically connected to the PCB within the inlet as taught by Lan and to provide insulation supporting/covering structure around the PCB-pin connection. Such modification would provide a more compact, small volume structure while reducing the number and length of electrical connections. Therefore, it would have been an obvious extension as taught by the prior art.
Regarding claims 2-3 and 12-13, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Lan discloses that the incoming electrode is a 3-pin flat copper plug and the 3 electrodes are respectively connected to terminal L, N, and ground E of the protection circuit (Fig. 6; par. 0054-0056). Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claims 4 and 14, in addition to rejection of claim 1 above, Lan further discloses output terminals are connected to terminal N and E (see Fig. 6). Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Chen further teaches a housing-cover structure surrounding and receiving the AC inlet (Fig. 1, 3; par. 0018, 0020). Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claim 6 and 16, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Chen teaches fastening the inlet using bolts 1131 and openings 1132, other attachment including an elastic strip, buckle, etc. (Fig. 3; par. 0020). Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Chen teaches a insulating element 3121 surrounding the AC inlet 312 and an insulating material disposed between the insulating element and the inlet, wherein the insulating element may be cup-shape or L-shape and its position may be changed (par. 0020-0021). Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claims 8 and 18, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Lan teaches that the protection circuit 4 comprises an overcurrent switch S1, thermal cutoff F, temperature switch S2, varistors RV1/RV2, gas discharge tube G, neon lamp LG, resistor R, and ground E (see Fig. 7). It would have been obvious to provide the PCB of the modified Chen inlet with the gas discharged tube and the resistor protection circuit as taught by Lan to provide surge protection at the power input interface. Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Regarding claim 11, Chen in view of fail to specifically teach separating the high voltage from the low voltage region and couple the low voltage with a jump wire. However, it is common practice to separate the high voltage rejoin from the low voltage region as disclosed in the applicant specification, and with respect to coupling the low voltage with a jump wire is also represented a conventional electrical interconnection technique. Therefore, it would have been an obvious arrangement of known components according to their electrical functions in order to maintain physical separation voltage regions. Therefore, Chen in view of Lan render the claims obvious.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 19 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: The applicant teaches an inlet for a charger and a charger which includes a first plate having a first hole, a circuit board assembly disposed on the first plate and having a second hole, a second plate disposed on the circuit board assembly, a first pin penetrating through the first hole and the second hole and covered by the second plate, wherein the circuit board further has a third hole configured to receive and to be electrically coupled with a jump wire, and the gas tube discharge device and the resistor are disposed between the second hole and the third hole. These limitations in conjunction with other limitations in the claims were not shown by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wagner et al, US Pub. 2013/0235527, disclose a power electronic system and method of assembly.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL ST CYR whose telephone number is (571)272-2407. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:00-8:00.
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DANIEL ST CYR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/DANIEL ST CYR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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