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 § 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 12-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hammer et al. [Hammer hereinafter, US 20230045643].
In regard to claim 12, Hammer discloses [in Figs. 1-3] an apparatus comprising: a movable electrical contact assembly [12] configured to move relative to a stationary electrical contact [14]; an arcing contact [18] attached to the movable electrical contact assembly [12]; a secondary arcing contact [17] electrically connected to the movable electrical contact assembly [12]; and an elastic connection [46] attached to the movable electrical contact assembly [12] and the secondary arcing contact [17].
In regard to claims 13 and 14, Hammer discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the apparatus of claim 12, wherein that the secondary arcing contact [17] is electrically connected to the movable electrical contact assembly [12] through an electrically conductive element [16], wherein the electrically conductive element [16] is flexible.
In regard to claim 16, Hammer discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the secondary arcing contact [17] and the arcing contact [18] comprise a first electrically conductive material, and the movable electrical contact assembly comprises a second electrically conductive material that has a higher electrical conductivity than the first electrically conductive material.
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammer et al. [Hammer hereinafter, US 20230045643] in view of Maier [US 4,713,504]. Hammer discloses [in Figs. 1-6] a system comprising: a stationary electrical contact [14]; a movable electrical contact assembly [12] configured to move relative to the stationary electrical contact [14]; a first arcing contact [18] on the movable electrical contact assembly [12]; an electrical element [16] electrically connected to the movable electrical contact assembly [12]; an elastic connection [46] attached to the movable electrical contact assembly [12]; and a secondary arcing contact [17] connected to the electrical element [16] and the elastic connection [46]. Hammer does not disclose a second arcing contact on the stationary electrical contact. Maier teaches [in Fig. 3] a second arcing contact [34] on the stationary electrical contact [31]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the second arcing contact of Maier with the apparatus of Hammer in order to further reduce deterioration of the contacts.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed. In regard to claim 1, in combination with other limitations,
a second arcing contact on the first stationary electrical contact, wherein the secondary arcing contact is connected to the second arcing contact when the switch is closed and remains connected to the second arcing contact during at least part of an opening operation of the switch is neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art.
Claim 15 is 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. In combination with other limitations, the movable electrical contact assembly comprises a first contact portion and a second contact portion, and the secondary arcing contact being between the first contact portion and the second contact portion is neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art.
Conclusion
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/LHEIREN MAE A CAROC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833