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 § 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 10-14, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Joly et al. (US 5,695,368).
Regarding Claim 1, Joly et al. discloses a connector, comprising:
a housing (52, fig. 2, 4) having a pair of elastic fingers (88); and
a pair of terminals (72, 72, figure 2) at least partially accommodated in the housing (figure 1), each of the terminals has a terminal body (63, 64) coupled with the housing and an elastic arm (70) connected to the terminal body, the elastic arms of the terminals face each other and clamp a mating terminal (12’, figure 5) inserted between them, the elastic fingers pass through the terminal bodies of the terminals and press against the elastic arms of the terminals.
Regarding Claim 2, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 1, wherein the housing has an outer peripheral wall (84, fig. 4) surrounding an inner cavity (90), a portion of the terminal bodies and the elastic arms are accommodated in the inner cavity of the housing, the elastic fingers (88) are formed on the outer peripheral wall of the housing and extend into the inner cavity of the housing.
Regarding Claim 3, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 2, wherein the outer peripheral wall of the housing includes a pair of first sidewalls (88, fig. 4) opposite to each other in a first direction and a pair of second sidewalls opposite to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the terminal bodies of the terminals (72, 72) respectively face the pair of first sidewalls, the elastic fingers (88) are respectively formed on the first sidewalls and pass through the terminal bodies (column 3, line 62-65).
Regarding Claim 10, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 1, wherein the elastic arms (70) of the terminals are symmetrically arranged on both sides of a symmetry plane and extend diagonally relative to the symmetry plane to form a V-shape.
Regarding Claim 11, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 10, wherein a V-shaped slot is defined between the elastic arms of the terminals, the V-shaped slot is flared outward to guide the mating terminal to be inserted between the elastic arms (flare visible in figure 3).
Regarding Claim 12, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 10, wherein the elastic arm of each of the terminals has an arm body extending obliquely relative to the symmetry plane, an arm root (bend between 70 and 72) bent into an arc and connected between a pair of upper ends of the arm body and the terminal body, and an arm end (tip of 72) connected to a lower end of the arm body and bent at a predetermined angle relative to the arm body in a direction away from the symmetry plane (tip 72 bends away from a vertical plane passing through the center, figure 3).
Regarding Claim 13, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 12, wherein the arm end has a contact portion (inner face of bend of 70) connected to the lower end of the arm body, (body is part of 70) the contact portion is bent into an arc and has a raised inner surface facing the symmetry plane, the raised inner surface of the contact portion electrically contacts a surface of the mating terminal (contacts mating terminal 58’).
Regarding Claim 14, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 13, wherein when the mating terminal is inserted between the elastic arms of the pair of terminals, the elastic fingers on the housing are against an outer side of the contact portion opposite to the symmetry plane (figure 1, mating of 58” with 70 not shown).
Regarding Claim 19, Joly et al. discloses the connector according to claim 1, wherein: the terminal is an integral metal stamped piece, and/or the housing is an integral metal stamped piece or an integral injection molded piece (stamping is discloses in column , lines 40-55).
Regarding Claim 20, Joly et al. discloses connector assembly, comprising:
a connector including a housing (52, fig. 4) having a pair of elastic fingers (88) and a pair of terminals (70) at least partially accommodated in the housing, each of the terminals has a terminal body coupled with the housing and an elastic arm (70) connected to the terminal body, the elastic arms of the terminals face each other, the elastic fingers pass through the terminal bodies of the terminals and press against the elastic arms (column 3, lines 62-66) of the terminals; and
a mating terminal (58’, fig. 5) inserted between the elastic arms of the terminals, the elastic arms clamp the mating terminal and are electrically connected to the mating terminal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 15-18 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.
For claim 4, the recitation of ‘wherein the elastic fingers are L-shaped and each include a first finger part extending along the first direction and a second finger part extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction, one end of the first finger part is connected to the second finger part, and another end of the first finger part rests against the elastic arm of one of the terminals’ defines the claim over the art of record.
For claim 7, the recitation of “wherein a slot hole is formed in each of the pair of second sidewalls of the housing, a protrusion is formed on each of a pair of longitudinal side edges of each of the terminal bodies, the protrusions engage in the slot holes in the second sidewalls” defines the claim over art of record.
For claim 15, the recitation of “a plurality of separation grooves are formed on the elastic arms of the terminals, and the separation grooves are spaced from each other in the second direction and the elastic arms have a comb like shape” defines the claim over art of record.
Regarding claim 18, the recitation of “wherein the terminals each include a connecting part connected to a lower end of the terminal body and located outside of the housing, a connecting hole is formed in the connecting part that allows a connecting piece to pass through and electrically connect to a metal bar through the connecting piece” defines the claim over art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TULSIDAS C PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-2098. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30-3:00.
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, Andrea Wellington can be reached at 571 272 4483. 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.
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834