DETAILED ACTION
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE 102019133033A1 (“Burghard”).
Regarding claim 1, Burghard discloses a housing 10 for an electrical lamella spring contact (i.e., capable of being used with an electrical lamella spring contact) configured to be mated with a pin contact, the housing comprising:
a lamella spring contact receptacle 102 into which the lamella spring contact can be inserted along a longitudinal direction of the housing;
two side walls (labeled sw1 and sw2 in annotated figure 3 below) delimiting the lamella spring contact receptacle on adjacent sides, the side walls extending along the longitudinal direction, the side walls oriented such that one side wall of the two side walls is at an angle to an other side wall of the two side walls; and
a support spring (labeled ss1 below) for supporting (i.e., capable of supporting) a spring portion of the lamella spring contact (the support spring is separate from a lamella spring contact which is not part of the claimed invention; the housing support spring is capable of pressing against a lamella spring contact that could be held within the claimed housing) the support spring extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
PNG
media_image1.png
980
974
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Per claim 2, the support spring is formed from the material of the side walls.
Per claim 3, the support spring is configured as a spring tongue.
Per claim 4 the side walls abut to form an edge (labeled ED above) of the housing, the support spring extends around the edge and also forms an edge of the support spring.
Per claim 5 the support spring is connected to one side wall via a base (labeled BS above), and a free end (labeled FE above) of the support spring lies in the plane of the other side wall.
Per claim 7, the support spring has a knee (labeled KN above) and between the knee and the free end has a support section (224) curving and projecting toward the lamella spring contact receptacle.
Per claim 8 the support spring has a notch (labeled NOT above) and/or a slot at the knee to reduce the spring stiffness of the support spring.
Per claim 10, the housing has a further support spring (see figures 5, 6, 15, 16).
Per claim 11, the length of the further support spring is shorter than the length of the support spring (see figures 15, 16).
Per claim 13, the free ends of the two support springs are offset from each other along a transverse direction to the longitudinal direction, or wherein the free ends of the support springs are positioned behind each other in the longitudinal direction (see blank in figure 16).
Per claim 15, the two side walls of the housing includes a first side wall (labeled sw1 above) and a second side wall (labeled sw2 above), the support spring includes a first portion stamped from and generally in the plane of the first side wall and a second portion stamped from and generally in the plane of the second side wall.
Claims 1, 5, and 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. US 10297941 (“Huang”)
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a housing 11 for an electrical lamella spring contact (i.e., capable of being used with an electrical lamella spring contact) configured to be mated with a pin contact, the housing comprising:
a lamella spring contact receptacle (the interior of 11) into which the lamella spring contact can be inserted along a longitudinal direction of the housing;
two side walls (labeled sw1 and sw2 in annotated figure 2 below) delimiting the lamella spring contact receptacle on adjacent sides, the side walls extending along the longitudinal direction, the side walls oriented such that one side wall of the two side walls is at an angle to an other side wall of the two side walls; and
a support spring (labeled ss1 below) for supporting (i.e., capable of supporting) a spring portion of the lamella spring contact (the support spring is separate from a lamella spring contact which is not part of the claimed invention; the housing support spring is capable of pressing against a lamella spring contact that could be held within the claimed housing), the support spring extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
PNG
media_image2.png
1248
1018
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Per claim 5 the support spring is connected to one side wall via a base (labeled BS above), and a free end (labeled FE above) of the support spring lies in the plane of the other side wall (see figure 4).
Per claim 6 the support spring tapers toward the free end.
Claims 1, 10, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Childs US 5681190.
Regarding claim 1, Childs discloses a housing 10 for an electrical lamella spring contact (i.e., capable of being used with an electrical lamella spring contact) configured to be mated with a pin contact, the housing comprising:
a lamella spring contact receptacle (interior of the housing) into which the lamella spring contact can be inserted along a longitudinal direction of the housing;
two side walls (labeled sw1 and osw in annotated figure 4 below) delimiting the lamella spring contact receptacle on adjacent sides, the side walls extending along the longitudinal direction, the side walls oriented such that one side wall of the two side walls is at an angle to an other side wall of the two side walls; and
a support spring (labeled ss1 below) for supporting (i.e., capable of supporting) a spring portion of the lamella spring contact (the support spring is separate from a lamella spring contact which is not part of the claimed invention; the housing support spring is capable of pressing against a lamella spring contact that could be held within the claimed housing), the support spring extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
PNG
media_image3.png
1124
1016
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Per claim 10, the housing has a further support spring (labeled ss2 above).
Per claim 12 the housing has a third side wall (labeled 3sw above) opposite to the one side wall, wherein the further support spring extends from the third side wall to the other side wall.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered. Regarding claim 1, applicant argues that prior art does not disclose a support spring separate from a lamella spring contact. No lamella spring contact is claimed. Only the housing is claimed, the housing being disclosed in the prior art. The prior art does not need to disclose a lamella spring contact because no lamella spring contact is claimed. The prior art housings, as set out in the rejections above, are each capable of being used with a separate lamella spring contact. This is clearly appreciated by applicant given that claim 16 explicitly claims a contact assembly including both the housing and a separate lamella spring contact.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowable. Claims 9 and 14 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.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ROSS GUSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2005. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30 - 5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached on 571-272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights