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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, Species 1, claims 1-4, 6, 8-11, 13-14, 17-19, 24-26, and 68-70 in the reply filed on 7/07/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 20-23 and 60 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang (US 20200279701 A1).
As to claim 1, Yang discloses:
An electrical fuse assembly (Fig. 3A-3B) comprising:
electrically conductive first and second electrodes 104, 106; and
a bimetallic fuse element 140 (SnIn, SnBi; par. 0026) electrically connecting (at least indirectly) the first and second electrodes;
wherein the bimetallic fuse element is configured to disintegrate (melt; par. 0029-0030), and thereby disconnect the first electrode from the second electrode, in response to a current flowing through the bimetallic fuse element exceeding a prescribed trigger current (current flow that exceeds the thermal capacity) of the bimetallic fuse element for at least a prescribed duration (when the varistor becomes conductive, current will flow through the bimetallic solder fuse element until it melts due to heat of current flow after some duration; see par 0029).
As to claim 2, Yang discloses:
wherein the prescribed trigger current is a minimum expected short circuit current delivered by an overvoltage protection circuit (varistor) when the overvoltage protection circuit has failed as a short circuit (when the varistor becomes conductive; par. 0029).
As to claim 17, Yang discloses:
wherein the bimetallic fuse element is configured to deform and disintegrate (melt; par. 0029-0030), and thereby disconnect the first electrode from the second electrode, in response to the current flowing through the bimetallic fuse element exceeding the prescribed trigger current of the bimetallic fuse element for at least the prescribed duration (some current for some duration that results in melting).
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(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 20200279701 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mimura (US 6307144 B1).
As to claim 11, Yang does not explicitly disclose:
wherein a thickness of the bimetallic fuse element is in a range of about 0.1 mm - 3 mm.
However, Mimura discloses:
wherein a thickness of the fuse element is in a range of about 0.1 mm - 3 mm (1 mm; col. 15, lines 5-8);
in order to provide a temperature fuse/circuit cutoff (col. 15, lines 5-8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Yang as suggested by Mimura, e.g., providing:
wherein a thickness of the bimetallic fuse element is in a range of about 0.1 mm - 3 mm;
in order to provide a temperature fuse/circuit cutoff.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 20200279701 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kalra (US 6147585 A).
As to claim 14, Yang does not explicitly disclose:
including an electric arc extinguishing agent surrounding at least a portion of the bimetallic fuse element.
However, Kalra discloses:
including an electric arc extinguishing agent (sulfur hexafluoride; col. 4, lines 62-67) surrounding at least a portion of the fuse element;
in order to improve the current interrupting capability (col. 4, lines 62-67).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Yang as suggested by Kalra, e.g., providing:
including an electric arc extinguishing agent surrounding at least a portion of the bimetallic fuse element;
in order to improve the current interrupting capability.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 6, 8-10, 13, 24-26, and 68-70 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:
As to claims 3-4, 6, 8-10, 13, 24-26, and 68-70, the allowability resides in the overall structure and functionality of the apparatus as recited in the dependent claims 3-4, 6, 8, 13, 24, 68, and 69 including all of the limitations of their base claims and intervening claims, and at least in part, because they recite the following limitations:
3. (Original) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1, wherein the bimetallic fuse element is configured to carry a current of up to 25kA for a time of up to 5 ms without the bimetallic fuse opening an electrical connection between the first electrode and the second electrode.
4. (Previously Presented) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1, wherein:
the bimetallic fuse element is configured to open an electrical connection between the first electrode and the second electrode responsive to carrying a short circuit current for not greater than a maximum short circuit response time threshold; and
the short circuit current is in a range of about 300 A - 1000A and the maximum short circuit response time threshold is not greater than 5 seconds.
6. (Previously Presented) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1, wherein:
the bimetallic fuse element is configured to carry a leakage current from an overvoltage protection circuit without the bimetallic fuse opening an electrical connection between the first electrode and the second electrode; and
the leakage current is in a range of about lA - 15A.
8. (Original) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1, wherein the bimetallic fuse element includes:
a first metal layer having a first coefficient of thermal expansion; and
a second metal layer having a second coefficient of thermal expansion;
wherein the first coefficient of thermal expansion is greater than the second coefficient of thermal expansion.
13. (Original) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1, wherein the bimetallic fuse element comprises a first end and a second end coupled by a body portion, the first end being bent at a first bending angle in a range of about 70 to 110 degrees relative to the body portion and at a first bending radius in a range of about 0.25 to 2 times a thickness of the body portion, the second end being bent at a second bending angle in a range of about 70 to 110 degrees relative to the body portion and at a second bending angle in a range of about 0.25 to 2 times the thickness of the body portion.
18. (Previously Presented) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 17, wherein:
the bimetallic fuse element includes a first end in electrical contact with the first electrode;
the bimetallic fuse element includes a second end in electrical contact with the second electrode;
the second end is not affixed to the second electrode; and
the bimetallic fuse element is configured to deform and thereby displace the second end out of electrical contact with the second electrode in response to the current flowing through the bimetallic fuse element exceeding the prescribed trigger current of the bimetallic fuse element for at least the prescribed duration to thereby disconnect the first electrode from the second electrode.
24. (Original) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1 wherein the electrical fuse assembly has a total resistance greater than 1 mΩ and a surge impulse current rating of at least 25 kA in response to a 10/350 surge current pulse shape.
68. (Previously Presented) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 2 wherein the bimetallic fuse element is configured such that at least a portion of the bimetallic fuse element is evaporated by electrical arcing, in response to the current flowing through the bimetallic fuse element exceeding the prescribed trigger current of the bimetallic fuse element for at least the prescribed duration.
69. (Previously Presented) The electrical fuse assembly of Claim 1 wherein:
the bimetallic fuse element includes:
a first metal layer having a first coefficient of thermal expansion; and
a second metal layer having a second coefficient of thermal expansion;
wherein the first coefficient of thermal expansion is greater than the second coefficient of thermal expansion;
the bimetallic fuse element is configured to bend in a deformation direction, due to the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion of the first and second metal layers, in response to heat generated in the bimetallic fuse element by the current flowing through the bimetallic fuse element; and
said bending assists in extinguishing electrical arcing from the bimetallic fuse element.
Tsang (US 20180315576 A1), Ziegenbein (US 4652964 A), and Durth (US 20170236674 A1) disclose related fuse elements and short-circuit/overvoltage protection, but do not suggest the claimed limitations.
None of the prior art, either alone or in combination, can be reasonably construed as adequately teaching the above claimed elements, specifically the claimed carrying current, short-circuit response, leakage current, pulse current, and bimetal characteristics, in combination with the remaining claim limitations, particularly the bimetallic fuse element configured to disintegrate.
Further, Examiner has not identified any double patenting issues.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB R CRUM whose telephone number is (571)270-7665. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at (571) 270-1985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB R CRUM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
