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 following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the anticipatory rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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 extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
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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 extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
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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 extending from the one side wall to the other side wall.
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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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi et al. US 10403998 (“Hayashi”). Regarding claim 16, Hayashi discloses a contact assembly comprising: a housing 200 including a lamella spring contact receptacle (the interior of the housing) extending along a longitudinal direction of the housing and configured to receive a pin contact,
the lamella spring contact receptacle delimited by a first side wall (labeled sw1 below) and a second side wall (labeled sw2 below) on adjacent sides of the lamella spring contact receptacle, the first and second side walls extending along the longitudinal direction, the first side wall oriented at an angle to the second side wall,
the housing including a support spring (500, labeled SS below, note the attached base of the support spring in figure 3 at lead line 397) extending from the first side wall to the second side wall; and
a lamella spring contact 400 located in the lamella spring contact receptacle to interface with the pin contact, the lamella spring contact including a lamella spring supported by the support spring (see figure 2A).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9, 14, and 17-20 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
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.
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/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834