DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant. Regarding claim 7, the limitations of “A contact for a floating connector . . .
wherein the first held portion . . . is held by the stationary housing . . .
the second held portion is held by the movable housing . . .” is ambiguous. It is ambiguous whether 1) the claim requires that the contact be capable of being used with a housing as described, given that the housing is not positively claimed or 2) that the claim requires both a contact and a housing, and the contact is held by the housing. The claim is treated as requiring a contact capable of being used in a housing as described.
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 anticipatory rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Obata et al. US 20210376509 (“Obata”). Regarding claim 1, Obata discloses a floating connector 10 comprising:
a stationary housing 150 having an internal space opened upward;
a movable housing 160 having a fitting portion to be fitted with a connection object in a first direction (Z), at least one part of the movable housing being received in the internal space and configured to be freely movable with respect to the stationary housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction;
a plurality of contacts 101 arranged along a second direction (Y) perpendicular to the first direction, each contact being formed by bending a flat elongated metal strip, each contact comprising:
a soldered portion (labeled SP in annotated figure 5 below), a first held portion (labeled HP1), a spring portion (labeled SPR), a second held portion (labeled HP2), a contact arm (labeled CAR) and a contact portion (labeled CP);
wherein the soldered portion is located on a bottom surface of the stationary housing,
the first held portion extends from the soldered portion and is held by the stationary housing,
the second held portion is held by the movable housing,
the first held portion and the second held portion are connected by the spring portion,
the contact arm extends from the second held portion,
the contact portion is formed on an end of the contact arm,
the spring portion comprises: a first straight portion (labeled SP1), a first bent portion (labeled BP1), an intermediate portion (labeled SPIP), a second bent portion (labeled BP2) and a second straight portion (labeled SP2),
the first straight portion is connected to the first held portion, the second straight portion is connected to the second held portion, the intermediate portion is connected to the first straight portion via the first bent portion and is connected to the second straight portion via the second bent portion,
the spring portion is formed with a plurality of first elongated slots (see slots at BP1) and a plurality of second elongated slots (see slots at BP2), the first elongated slots extend over the first straight portion and the first bent portion and extend to the intermediate portion, the second elongated slots extend over the second straight portion and the second bent portion and extend to the intermediate portion,
and in the intermediate portion, the first elongated slots and the second elongated slots are spaced from each other by a slot interruption (labeled INT).
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Per claim 4, the connector includes two fixing brackets 180 which are affixed to
two ends of the stationary housing respectively so that the movable housing is restricted to be movable in the plane perpendicular to the first direction (¶ 0065).
Regarding claim 7, Chen discloses a contact 101 for a floating connector (i.e., capable of being used in a floating connector), the floating connector comprising a stationary housing and a movable housing which is movable with respect to the stationary housing, the contact being formed by bending a flat elongated metal strip,
the contact comprising:
a soldered portion (labeled SP in annotated figure 5 above),
a first held portion (labeled HP1 above),
a spring portion (labeled SPR above),
a second held portion (labeled HP2), a contact arm (labeled CAR) and
a contact portion (labeled CP),
wherein the first held portion extends from the soldered portion and is held by the stationary housing,
the second held portion is held by the movable housing, the first held portion and the second held portion are connected by the spring portion, the contact arm extends from the second held portion, the contact portion is formed on an end of the contact arm,
the spring portion comprises:
a first straight portion (labeled SP1),
a first bent portion (labeled BP1),
an intermediate portion (labeled SPIP),
a second bent portion (labeled BP2) and
a second straight portion (labeled SP2),
the first straight portion is connected to the first held portion, the second straight portion is
connected to the second held portion, the intermediate portion is connected to the first straight portion via the first bent portion and is connected to the second straight portion via the second bent portion,
the spring portion is formed with a plurality of first elongated slots and a plurality of second elongated slots, the first elongated slots extend over the first straight portion and the first bent portion and extend to the intermediate portion, the second elongated slots extend over the second straight portion and the second bent portion and extend to the intermediate portion, and in the intermediate portion, the first elongated slots and the second elongated slots are spaced from each other by a slot interruption (labeled INT).
Claim Rejections - and 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Obata in view of Chen US 2024/0283180.
Regarding claim 2, Obata does not disclose that the contact portion is configured to be substantially U-shaped, V-shaped or L-shaped.
Chen discloses a power/ground terminal 12 where the contact portion (labeled CP in annotated figure 5 below) is configured to be substantially U-shaped, V-shaped or L-shaped, and the contact portion is formed with a contact slot (labeled “slots”) running parallel to a direction in which the contact arm extends.
It would have been obvious to substitute the Obata flat platelike contact portion with a slotted resilient contact portion as taught in Chen. Both types of contact portions are well known in the art. The substituted components and their functions were known in the art. One with ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element for another and the results of the substitution would have been predictable. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ.2d 1385 (2007). The resulting resilient contact portion (at taught in Chen) may be less likely to accidentally become unmated when the mating connectors are moved relative to each other.
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Regarding claim 8, Obata does not disclose that the contact portion is configured to be substantially U-shaped, V-shaped or L-shaped.
Chen discloses a power/ground terminal 12 where the contact portion (labeled CP in annotated figure 5 above) is configured to be substantially U-shaped, V-shaped or L-shaped, and the contact portion is formed with a contact slot (labeled “slots”) running parallel to a direction in which the contact arm extends.
It would have been obvious to substitute the Obata flat platelike contact portion with a slotted resilient contact portion as taught in Chen. Both types of contact portions are well known in the art. The substituted components and their functions were known in the art. One with ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element for another and the results of the substitution would have been predictable. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ.2d 1385 (2007). The resulting resilient contact portion (at taught in Chen) may be less likely to accidentally become unmated when the mating connectors are moved relative to each other.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, 5, and 6 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. Claim 9, 10, and 11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROSS GUSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2005. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30 - 5:00.
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/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834