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 1, 3-5, 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shindo (US 7,147,503).
Regarding claim 1: Shindo teaches a power receptacle assembly 1 (Fig. 1) comprising: a receptacle housing 12 having housing walls forming a cavity 20 (see Fig. 5), the receptacle housing 12 extending between a front and a rear (see Figs. 4-5), the receptacle housing 12 having a front opening 18 at the front configured to receive a mating power contact 4 (see Fig. 11), the receptacle housing 12 having a rear opening (at 20; Fig. 5) at the rear (see Fig. 5), the receptacle housing 12 including a power cable exit 28; a power cable 10 extending from the power cable exit (see Fig. 4); a power terminal 11 received in the cavity through the rear opening and entirely positioned forward of the rear of the receptacle housing (see Figs. 10b-10c), the power terminal 11 having a socket 11b at a mating end configured to be mated with the mating power contact 4 (see Fig. 11), the power terminal 11 including a crimp barrel 11a crimped to the power cable 10 (see Fig. 4); and a rear cover 13 including a cover panel 32 coupled to the rear of the receptacle housing 12 to cover the rear opening (see Figs. 10b-10d), the rear cover 13 including a terminal position assurance (TPA) element 38 protruding forward of the cover panel (see Fig. 9), the TPA element 38 received in the cavity to interface with the power terminal 11 and assure proper positioning of the power terminal in the cavity (see Fig. 11 and Col. 6, lines 42-53).
Regarding claim 3: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 includes an inner surface and an outer surface (see Figs. 8-9), the TPA element 38 extending from the inner surface (see Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 4: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 includes an inner surface and an outer surface (see Figs. 8-9), the outer surface being generally planar (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 5: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the receptacle housing 12 includes a latching element 29, the rear cover 13 including a latch 40, the latch interfacing with the latching element to secure the rear cover to the receptacle housing (see Col. 6, lines 59-67).
Regarding claim 8: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the crimp barrel 11a extends along a cable axis (see Fig. 4), the socket 11b configured to receive the mating power contact 4 along a mating axis perpendicular to the cable axis (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 9: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 extends between a first side and a second side (see Figs. 8-9), the rear cover 13 including a first portion at the first side and a second portion at the second side, the first portion being shorter than the second portion (see Fig. 8 for left side being shorter/smaller than right side portions of cover 13).
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 2, 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shindo (US 7,147,503), in view of Chien (US 2006/0128172).
Regarding claim 2: Shindo teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Shindo does not explicitly teach wherein the rear cover is fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the rear covers, the rear cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the rear cover from the carrier strip for coupling to the rear of the receptacle housing.
Chien teaches a cover fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the covers, the cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the cover from the carrier strip for coupling to a housing (see Figs. 1-6 for assembly of a cover and housing and components formed on a carrier strip).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to modify the invention with the rear cover fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the rear covers, the rear cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the rear cover from the carrier strip for coupling to the rear of the receptacle housing as taught by Chien into the power receptacle assembly of Shindo in order to achieve the advantage of a plurality of finished products can be accomplished in a faster manner.
Regarding claim 10: Shindo teaches a power receptacle assembly 1 (Fig. 1) comprising: a receptacle housing 12 having housing walls forming a cavity 20 (see Fig. 5), the receptacle housing 12 extending between a front and a rear (see Figs. 5-6), the receptacle housing 12 having a front opening 18 at the front configured to receive a mating power contact 4 (Fig. 11), the receptacle housing 12 having a rear opening at the rear (at 16; Fig. 5), the receptacle housing including a power cable exit 28; a power cable 10 extending from the power cable exit (see Fig. 4); a power terminal 11 received in the cavity through the rear opening and entirely positioned forward of the rear of the receptacle housing (see Figs. 10b-10d), the power terminal 11 having a socket 11b at a mating end configured to be mated with the mating power contact 4 (see Fig. 11), the power terminal 11 including a crimp barrel 11a crimped to the power cable 10 (see Fig. 4); and a rear cover 13 including a cover panel 32 and a protrusion 37 protruding forward of the cover panel (see Fig. 9), the cover panel configured to be coupled to the rear of the receptacle housing to cover the rear opening (see Figs. 10c-10d), the protrusion 37 extending into the cavity to interface with the power terminal in the cavity (see Fig. 11).
Shindo does not explicitly teach wherein the rear cover being fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the rear covers, wherein the rear cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the rear cover from the carrier strip for coupling to the rear of the receptacle housing.
Chien teaches a rear cover being fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the rear covers, wherein the rear cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the rear cover from the carrier strip for coupling to a rear of a receptacle housing (see Figs. 1-6 for assembly of a cover and housing and components formed on a carrier strip).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to modify the invention with the rear cover being fed on a carrier strip with a plurality of the rear covers with connecting strips between the rear covers, wherein the rear cover is configured to be singulated from the connecting strips to separate the rear cover from the carrier strip for coupling to the rear of the receptacle housing as taught by Chien into the power receptacle assembly of Shindo in order to achieve the advantage of a plurality of finished products can be accomplished in a faster manner.
Regarding claim 11: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and Shindo further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 includes a terminal position assurance (TPA) element 38, the TPA element received in the cavity to interface with the power terminal and assure proper positioning of the power terminal in the cavity (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 12: Shindo, in view of Chien,teaches all the limitations of claim 11 and Shindo further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 includes an inner surface and an outer surface (see Figs. 8-9), the TPA element 38 extending from the inner surface (Fig. 9), the outer surface being generally planar (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 13: Shindo, in view of Chien,teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and further teaches wherein the rear cover extends between a first side and a second side, the connecting strips extending from the first side and the second side (e.g. see Fig. 6 of Chein for covers extending between a first and second side and strips in between).
Regarding claim 14: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and further teaches wherein the rear cover is integral with the connecting strips as a unitary, monolithic structure on the carrier strip prior to the rear cover being separated from the carrier strip (see Fig. 6 of Chien).
Regarding claim 15: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and further teaches wherein the connecting strips are narrower than the rear cover (see Fig. 6 of Chien).
Regarding claim 16: The rejection of method claim 16 mirror that of apparatus claim 10 respectively, given the apparatus is considered inseparable from the method of making/using the apparatus.
Regarding claim 17: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 16 and further teaches wherein the rear cover is singulated from the connecting strips and pressed onto the receptacle housing in a single step (see Figs. 1-6 and Para. 0017 of Chien).
Regarding claim 18: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 16 and Shindo further teaches wherein the rear cover 13 is coupled to the rear of the receptacle housing such that a terminal position assurance (TPA) element 38, extending from an inner surface of the rear cover, is loaded into the cavity to interface with the power terminal to assure proper positioning of the power terminal in the cavity (see Figs. 10a-11).
Regarding claim 19: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 16 and Shindo further teaches further comprising latching the rear cover 14 to the receptacle housing 12 to secure the rear cover to the receptacle housing (see Figs. 10a-10d).
Regarding claim 20: Shindo, in view of Chien, teaches all the limitations of claim 16 and further teaches wherein said singulating the rear cover from the carrier strip includes cutting the carrier strip between the rear cover and the connecting strips (see Figs. 1-6 and Para. 0017 of Chien).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 10, 16 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. Reference Shindo (US 7,147,503) teaches a power receptacle assembly 1 (Fig. 1), a power terminal 11 received in the cavity through the rear opening and entirely positioned forward of the rear of the receptacle housing (see Figs. 10b-10c), and a rear cover 13 including a cover panel 32 coupled to the rear of the receptacle housing 12 to cover the rear opening (see Figs. 10b-10d), the rear cover 13 including a terminal position assurance (TPA) element 38 protruding forward of the cover panel (see Fig. 9), the TPA element 38 received in the cavity to interface with the power terminal 11 and assure proper positioning of the power terminal in the cavity (see Fig. 11 and Col. 6, lines 42-53).
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 OSCAR C JIMENEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-0272. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/OSCAR C JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896