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 Species A in the reply filed on 25 June 2026 is acknowledged. Claim 3 is withdrawn from consideration as a result of the election of Species A.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2022-197347, filed on 9 December 2022.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawai et al. (US 20130149918) in view of Lyon (US 20200227853).
As to claim 1 Kawai et al. discloses a vehicle (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a vehicle A in Par. 46, in Fig. 1A) comprising:
a vehicle body on which a battery is mountable (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a battery B1 for vehicle installation that is installed in a vehicle A in Par. 46, in Fig. 1A); and
the battery attachable (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a battery B2 for vehicle installation which has already been charged is loaded on the vehicle A in Par. 46, in Fig. 1A) to and detachable (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a battery B1 for vehicle installation that has been discharged is taken out from the vehicle A in Par. 46, in Fig. 1A) from the vehicle body, wherein
PNG
media_image1.png
336
643
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Instant Application, Figure 3
PNG
media_image2.png
270
562
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Kawai et al., Figure 5C
the battery includes a battery side connector (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a battery
side connector 20 in Par. 41, in Fig. 4A-4C),
the vehicle body includes a vehicle body side connector (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses vehicle side connector 11 in Par. 30, in Fig. 4A-4C) to be engaged with the battery side connector (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses inserting the battery side connector 20 into the vehicle side connector 11, the vehicle side connector 11 is brought down from right above the battery side connector 20 toward the battery side connector 20 in Par. 42, in Fig. 4A-5C).
Kawai et al. does not disclose the battery side connector is made of a material having a lower hardness than a material constituting the vehicle body side connector.
Lyon discloses a replaceable pin that is manufactured from a metal material, such as a copper material, and it is plated, such as with a silver plating in Par. 36. Lyon discloses it is desired to make the pin replaceable with a visual wear signaling from the silver-plating layer after many mating cycles (see e.g. the outer silver-plated surface at the front configured to be mated to the charging connector and pin needed replacement in the event or worn in Par. 36).
Silver is a softer material compared to copper leading to the silver wearing down before the copper. By comparison, the instant application also use copper for the vehicle side connector and silver for the battery side connector (see e.g. Par. 16 and 19).
Both Kawai et al. and Lyon are analogous in the field of charging connector assembly that is connected to vehicle receptive terminal connection for an electrical vehicle, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skills in the art to modify the battery side connector in Kawai et al. to be made of a material such as silver which having lower hardness than a material constituting the vehicle body connector such as copper as taught by Lyon in order to have the battery side connector replaceable with wear sign from silver plated materials after many mating cycles as taught by Lyon in Par. 26.
As to claim 2 Kawai et al. discloses the vehicle (see discussion of claim 1) according to claim 1, wherein
The vehicle side connector includes
a contact portion (see e.g. Kawai et al. discloses a terminal connection portion 12S in Par. 31, in Fig. 4C) that contacts the battery side connector (see e.g. Kawai discloses the battery side connector terminal 20T of the battery side connector 20 is inserted while rubbing the terminal connection portion 12S in Par. 42, in Fig 5C).
a component disposed inside the contact portion and insulated from the contact portion (see e.g. 12S in Fig 4C, terminal connection portion in Par. 31)
Kawai et al. does not disclose the component disposed inside the contact portion can comprise a wear detection terminal, wherein the wear detection terminal contacts the battery side connector when the contact portion is worn.
Lyon discloses a replaceable pin as discussed in claim 1. The silver plating on the replaceable pin visually wears down over repeated mating cycles acting as a wear detection terminal in Par. 26.
A replaceable pin can be disposed in the hollow portion (12V) of the vehicle side connector. So, when the contact portion (12S) wears down, the replaceable pin will be in contact with the battery side connector, with the loss of the silver-plating on the pin indicating a need for replacement.
Both Kawai et al. and Lyon are analogous in the field of charging connector assembly that is connected to vehicle receptive terminal connection for an electrical vehicle, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skills in the art to modify the vehicle side connector in Kawai et al. to include a wear detection terminal, disposed within the contact portion, insulated from the contact portion, wherein the wear detection terminal contacts the battery side connector when the contact portion is worn, as taught by Lyon in order to have an indicator for when to replace the vehicle side connector as taught by Lyon in Par. 26.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Suzuki et al. (US20090315359A1) discloses a vehicle including a detachable battery that is detachable from the vehicle.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COLIN M ZORIJ whose telephone number is (571)270-1658. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday from 8:00am to 3:00pm.
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, Tong Guo can be reached at (571)272-3066. 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.
/COLIN MICHAEL ZORIJ/Examiner, Art Unit 1723
/TONG GUO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
Prosecution Insights