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 .
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.
Claim 20 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 20 recites, “and each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts disposed on opposite sides of a respective mounting end.” This limitation is already introduced in claim 17. For examination purposes, claim 20 will be interpreted as omitting this limitation.
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.
Claims 1-7, 17, and 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manickam (US 2019/0214755 A1), Liu (US 2020/0321732 A1) and Lin (US 2023/0402794 A1).
Regarding claim 1: Manickam (Figures 1, 7, 9) teaches an electrical connector comprising: a housing (i.e. 1) comprising a slot (i.e. 11); a plurality of terminals (i.e. 22) held by the housing, each of the plurality of terminals comprising a mating end (i.e. 225) having a mating contact portion curving into the slot, a mounting end (i.e. 226 and 223) opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion (i.e. 224) joining the mating end and the mounting end; wherein: the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals is narrower than the respective intermediate portion (i.e. 223 narrower than 224) and disposed such that the respective intermediate portion extends beyond opposite sides of the mounting end; the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals comprises a flat surface (i.e. bottom of 226);
but does not specifically teach a plurality of solder balls, each of the plurality of solder balls attached to the mounting end of a respective terminal of the plurality of terminals, each of the plurality of solder balls is attached to the flat surface of the mounting end of a respective terminal of the plurality of terminals; and the flat surface of the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals is narrower than the respective solder ball attached thereto, and wherein each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts disposed on opposite sides of the respective mounting end.
However, Liu (Figures 3, 4) teaches a plurality of solder balls (i.e. 214), each of the plurality of solder balls attached to the mounting end (i.e. 213) of a respective terminal of the plurality of terminals (i.e. 21), each of the plurality of solder balls is attached to the flat surface of the mounting end of a respective terminal of the plurality of terminals; and the flat surface of the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals is narrower than the respective solder ball attached thereto.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to attach the solder balls taught by Liu to the terminals taught by Manickam for easier assembly to a circuit board.
Furthermore, Lin (Figure 6) teaches wherein each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts (i.e. at 211b) disposed on opposite sides of the respective mounting end.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the connector taught by Manickam and Liu to have a pair of cuts as taught by Lin so as to better-focus the signal of the terminal towards the mounting end.
Regarding claim 2: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 1, Manickam further teaches wherein: the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals is disposed in a central portion of the respective intermediate portion (i.e. as in figure 7).
Regarding claim 3: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 1, Manickam further teaches wherein: the slot of the housing is configured for receiving a DDR card.
Regarding claim 4: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 1, Manickam further teaches wherein: the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals comprises a portion (i.e. 226) extending perpendicular to a mating direction; and the portion comprises the flat surface attached with the solder ball (i.e. per the combination).
Regarding claim 5: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 4, Manickam further teaches wherein: the slot of the housing extends in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the mating direction; the portion of the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals has a length in a transverse direction perpendicular to the mating direction and the longitudinal direction; and the length of the portion of the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals is sized such that the portion is positioned between planes in which opposite sides of the housing extend (i.e. as understood from figure 9).
Regarding claim 6: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 5, Manickam further teaches wherein: the plurality of terminals are a plurality of first terminals arranged in a first row (i.e. right row of figure 9); the electrical connector comprises a plurality of second terminals (i.e. left row of figure 9) arranged in a second row parallel to the first row; and each of the plurality of second terminals comprises a mating end (i.e. 225) having a mating contact portion curving into the slot and toward the mating contact portion of a respective first terminal of the plurality of first terminals, and a mounting end (i.e. 223 and 226) extending out of the housing and away from the mounting end of the respective first terminal of the plurality of first terminals.
Regarding claim 7: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electrical connector of claim 6, Manickam further teaches wherein: the mounting end of each of the plurality of second terminals comprises a portion (i.e. 226) extending in the transverse direction; the portion of the mounting end of each of the plurality of second terminals has a length in the transverse direction; and the length of the portion of the mounting end of each of the plurality of second terminals is sized such that the portion is positioned between the planes in which the opposite sides of the housing extend (i.e. as understood from figure 9).
Claims 17 and 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manickam, Liu, and Lin.
Regarding claim 17: Manickam (Figures 1, 7, 9) teaches an electronic system comprising: a printed circuit board (i.e. circuit board of paragraph [0080]) comprising a surface having a plurality of contact pads (i.e. for soldering with 226); and an electrical connector (i.e. 10) comprising: a housing (i.e. 1) comprising a slot (i.e. 11), and a plurality of terminals (i.e. 22) held by the housing in a row in a longitudinal direction, each of the plurality of terminals comprising a mating end (i.e. 225) having a mating contact portion curving into the slot and a mounting end (i.e. 226 and 223) opposite the mating end,
but does not specifically teach wherein each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts disposed on opposite sides of the respective mounting end, the mounting ends of the plurality of terminals are narrower respective contact pads in the longitudinal direction, a plurality of solder balls electrically coupling the plurality of terminals of the electrical connector to the plurality of contact pads of the printed circuit board, wherein: the plurality of solder balls are wider than respective contact pads in the longitudinal direction;
However, Liu teaches a plurality of solder balls (i.e. 214) electrically coupling the plurality of terminals of the electrical connector to the plurality of contact pads (i.e. soldered with 22 in figures 6-7) of the printed circuit board.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to attach the solder balls taught by Liu to the terminals taught by Manickam for easier assembly to a circuit board.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the mounting ends of the plurality of terminals narrower than respective contact pads in the longitudinal direction. This routine optimization allows the solder to cover the contact pad without being pushed away by the mounting end of the terminal. It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the solder balls be wider than the contact pads. This routine optimization acts to cover the desired portion of the contact pad with the solder, effectively sealing the contact pad.
Furthermore, Lin (Figure 6) teaches each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts disposed on opposite sides of the respective mounting end,
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the connector taught by Manickam and Liu to have a pair of cuts as taught by Lin so as to better-focus the signal of the terminal towards the mounting end.
Regarding claim 20 (as understood): Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electronic system of claim 17, wherein: the mounting end of each of the plurality of terminals comprises a flat surface (i.e. 226 of Manickam is flat and 213 of Liu is also flat) attached with a respective solder ball of the plurality of solder balls;
and each of the plurality of terminals comprises a pair of cuts disposed on opposite sides of a respective mounting end.
Claim 18-19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manickam, Liu, Lin, and Farkas (US 2023/0032371 A1).
Regarding claim 18: Manickam, Liu, and Lin teach the electronic system of claim 17, but do not specifically teach wherein: the printed circuit board comprises a trace extending from a contact pad of the plurality of contact pads; and the trace is elongated in a direction extending in a non-right angle to the longitudinal direction.
However, Farkas (Figure 2) teaches wherein: the printed circuit board (i.e. 220) comprises a trace (i.e. 224A) extending from a contact pad (i.e. 222A) of the plurality of contact pads; and the trace is elongated in a direction extending in a non-right angle to the longitudinal direction (i.e. as in figure 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the circuit board taught by Manickam, Liu, and Lin to have the traces extending in a non-right angle to the longitudinal direction so as to route the traces in the desired manner.
Regarding claim 19: Manickam, Liu, Lin, and Farkas teach the electronic system of claim 18, but do not specifically teach wherein: the plurality of contact pads are circular contact pads.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the contact pads taught by Manickam, Liu, Lin, and Farkas to be circular contact pads so as to reduce the surface area of the contact pad and thereby the amount of solder needed to seal the contact pad in the solder.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-16 remain allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/GREGORY L MANGOT/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
