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 .
Response to Amendment
The Examiner acknowledges the amendments. The previous 112 rejections to claims 1-15 are withdrawn. Claims 3 and 10 have not been amended accordingly so the previous objections to claims 3 and 10 are maintained. New rejections are set forth herein and are made final.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: Article is missing in “…the funnel portion is configured to be at a first end of [sic] cavity.” For examination purposes, the examiner has interpreted the article to be “the,” referring to the cavity set forth in claim 2, of which claim 3 depends on. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Article is missing in “The tool of claim 8, wherein [sic] receiving portion comprises…” For examination purposes, the examiner has interpreted the article to be “the,” referring to the receiving portion set forth in claim 1, of which claim 10 depends on. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5, 7-10 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamura (US 10250001 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Kawamura discloses a wire insertion tool for inserting conductive wires of a cable into an electrical contact, (see FIGS. 17A-17B: wire crimping device 10 is a tool for inserting conductive wires 222 of insulated wire 200 into an electrical contact)
the tool comprising: a receiving portion configured to receive an electrical contact; (distal end portion 413 configured to receive conductor crimping section 122a of female crimp terminal 1000)
a funnel portion configured to guide free ends of conductive wires of a cable into the electrical contact when the electrical contact is located in the receiving portion; (guiding unit 410 configured to guide the free ends of insulated wire 200 into conductor crimping section 122a when conductor crimping section 122a is located in distal end portion 413)
and a securing member configured to secure the funnel portion relative to the electrical contact when the electrical contact is located in the receiving portion, (wire crimping unit 300 is configured to secure guiding unit 410 relative to conductor crimping section 122a when conductor crimping section 122a is located in distal end portion 413)
wherein the securing member, the funnel portion and the receiving portion are configured to be removed from the electrical contact after the conductive wires have been inserted into the electrical contact and while the conductive wires remain inserted in the electrical contact (the two halves of wire crimping unit 300, shown in FIG. 18 A, and guiding unit 410 and distal end portion 413, shown FIG. 18C, are capable of being removed from conductor crimping section 122a after wire 200 has been inserted into conductor crimping section 122a and while the conductive wires remain inserted in conductor crimping section 122a).
Kawamura does not explicitly teach that the wire insertion tool is a handheld wire insertion tool. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wire insertion tool of Kawamura to be handheld. The tool would be considered handheld if it were compact enough to be operated while being held in the hand. Such a modification is viewed as a change in size, which has been held to be of routine by one skilled in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). The larger the electrical contact and/or the wire, the larger the tool would need to be to accommodate both elements. Further, when looking to the specification, namely ¶[0060] of the instant application, there is no discussion of criticality or unexpected results concerning the size of the tool.
Regarding claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the receiving portion and the securing member are configured to inter-engage so as to form a cavity therebetween for receiving the contact (see FIG. 18A: distal end portion 413 and wire crimping unit 300 inter-engage to form insertion space 120a for receiving conductor crimping section 122a).
Regarding claim 3, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that when the receiving portion and the securing member are inter-engaged, the funnel portion is configured to be at a first end of the cavity (see FIG. 18A: when distal end portion 413 and wire crimping unit 300 are inter-engaged, guiding unit 410 is located at the right end of insertion space 120a).
Regarding claim 4, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the securing member (wire crimping unit 300) comprises a first opening (opening on the right in FIG. 18A) and a second opening (opening on the left in FIG. 18A) smaller than the first opening,
and wherein, when the receiving portion and the securing member are inter-engaged, the second opening is at a second end of the cavity opposite to the first end of cavity (see FIG. 18A: when distal end portion 413 and wire crimping unit 300 are inter-engaged, the opening on the left is at a second end of insertion space 120a opposite of the opening on the right).
Regarding claim 5, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the receiving portion is configured to be inserted inside the securing member (distal end portion 413 is configured to be inserted inside wire crimping unit 300).
Regarding claim 7, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the funnel portion is located within a flange that extends radially outward from the receiving portion (the guiding unit 410 is located within a flange that extends outward, including in the radial direction, from the distal end portion 413).
Regarding claim 8, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the funnel portion comprises an inner surface which tapers from a first aperture to a second aperture that is smaller than the first aperture, as a function of direction towards the receiving portion (see FIG. 17A: guiding unit 410 comprises taper portion 414 which tapers from the right aperture to the smaller left aperture located at portion 414a, as a function of direction towards distal end portion 413).
Regarding claim 9, the rejection of claim 8 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the inner surface linearly tapers from the first aperture to the second aperture (see tapered portion 414 in FIG. 17A).
Regarding claim 10, the rejection of claim 8 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the receiving portion comprises a through-hole for receiving an electrical contact therein, (distal end portion 413 comprises a through-hole for receiving an electrical contact therein)
wherein the diameter of the second aperture of the funnel portion is smaller than the diameter of the through-hole of the receiving member, for providing a shoulder to abut the electrical contact when received in the through-hole (see the annotated FIG. 17B below).
PNG
media_image1.png
815
839
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 12, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the funnel portion and the receiving portion are integrally connected (guiding unit 410 and distal end portion 413 are integrally connected).
Regarding claim 13, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further discloses that the funnel portion and the receiving portion are formed from annular segments that are separable from each other so that the annular segments may be removed from surrounding a cable (guiding unit 410 and distal end portion 413 are formed from upper guiding segment 411 and lower guiding segment 412 that are separable from each other so that the guiding segments 411 and 412 may be removed from surrounding wire 200).
Regarding claim 14, Kawamura further discloses a kit (Abstract) comprising: a tool as recited in claim 1; (see the discussion of claim 1 above) and said electrical contact (female crimp terminal 100).
Regarding claim 15, Kawamura further discloses a method of inserting conductive wires of a cable into an electrical contact, (Col. 13, Line 65-Col. 14, Line 44) the method comprising:
providing the handheld wire insertion tool of claim 1; (see the rejection of claim 1 above);
receiving an electrical contact within the receiving portion; (see FIGS. 17A-17B: receiving conductor crimping section 122a of female crimp terminal 1000 within the distal end portion 413)
securing the funnel portion relative to the electrical contact by engaging the securing member with the receiving portion; (see FIG. 18A: securing guiding unit 410 relative to the conductor crimping section 122a by engaging the wire crimping unit 300 with distal end portion 413) and
inserting the free ends of conductive wires of a cable through the funnel portion and into the electrical contact (inserting the free ends of wire 200 through guiding unit 410 and into conductor crimping section 122a).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamura in view of Gaidosch (US 7416448 B2).
Regarding claim 6, the rejection of claim 5 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura does not further teach that the receiving portion is configured to have a radial interference fit with the securing member when inserted inside the securing member.
Gaidosch, in the same or similar field of endeavor, related to tools for inserting conductive wires into an electrical contact, teaches of a wire insertion tool comprising:
a receiving portion configured to receive an electrical contact (wire holder 7 configured to receive contact element 13 as shown in Fig. 1a);
a funnel portion configured to guide free ends of conductive wires of a cable into the electrical contact when the contact is located in the receiving portion (wire seats 7.1 in Figs. 4a-b);
and a securing member configured to secure the funnel portion relative to the electrical contact when located in the receiving portion (contact holder 2 configured to secure the funnel portion relative to contact 1 when located in the contact element 13 as shown in Figs. 1a-b),
wherein the receiving portion and the securing member are configured to inter-engage so as to form a cavity therebetween for receiving the contact (contact element 13 and contact holder 2 are configured to inter-engage so as to form a cavity therebetween for receiving the contact 1 as shown in Fig. 1b),
wherein the receiving portion is configured to have a radial interference fit with the securing member when inserted inside the securing member (contact element 13 is configured to have a radial interference fit with the contact holder 2 when inserted inside the contact holder; Col. 7, Lines 52-59 and Fig. 1b).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the receiving portion of Kawamura with the radial interference fit that Gaidosch teaches to ensure that a solid connection is formed with a simple and inexpensive mechanism when the receiving portion is inserted inside the securing member (Col. 2, Lines 19-24).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamura in view of Holland (US 6536103 B1).
Regarding claim 11, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated in this rejection. Kawamura further teaches that the tool is elongated and has a longitudinal axis, (see FIG. 17B: the tool is elongated with the longitudinal axis horizontal in the figure).
Kawamura does not teach that the tool has a length of less than 10 cm along the longitudinal axis, and a radius of less than 10cm in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
However, as Holland discloses that cables used for CATV applications commonly have an outer diameter of less than 3/8 inch (Col. 2, Lines 1-2), have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kawamura to have a radius of less than 10 cm in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis in order to fit cables for CATV applications.
Additionally, changing the length and/or the radius of the tool are/is viewed as a change in size, which has been held to be of routine by one skilled in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). The larger the electrical contact and/or the wire, the larger the tool would need to be to accommodate both elements. Further, when looking to the specification, namely ¶[0019]-[0022] and [0060] of the instant application, there is no discussion of criticality or unexpected results concerning the dimensions of the tool.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-15 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CATHERINE JOH whose telephone number is (571)272-0410. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8a-5p.
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, David Posigian can be reached at (313) 446-6546. 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.
/C.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DAVID S POSIGIAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
Prosecution Insights