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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following problems.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the clamping edge and the actuating element must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Before Paragraph [0001], the examiner suggests the applicant to add the section heading -- CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS --.
Paragraph [00021], line 6, the first occurring abbreviation “SMD” should be written with a full terminology with the abbreviation enclosed within a parenthesis.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1, 8 and 36 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 2, it seems that “the circuit board comprising:” should be -- the circuit board connecting terminal -- because claim 1, line 1 recites, “A circuit board connecting terminal” and line 1 of all the dependent claims depended on claim 1 recite, “The circuit board connecting terminal”.
Claim 1, line 10, the examiner suggests the applicant to change “the conductor” to -- the electrical conductor” because line 1 recites, “electrical conductors”.
Claim 8, line 2, the examiner suggests the applicant to change “contact part plane” to -- a contact part plane -- (see “a contact part plane” recited in claim 7, line 2).
Claim 36, lines 2-3, it seems that “onto which edge an electrical conductor” should be -- on to which an edge of an electrical conductor --.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 1 recites, “electrical conductors”, which is in plural form. However, lines 3-4 recite, “an electrical conductor” and line 10 recites, “the conductor”. First, it is not clear whether, “an electrical conductor”, “the conductor” and “electrical conductors” are the same element or three different elements. Second, if “the conductor” is one of the “electrical conductors”, it is not clear which one of the electrical conductors is the conductor. Third, the preamble in lines 1-2 recite, “A circuit board connecting terminal to connect electrical conductors to a printed circuit board”. However, the body of claims in lines 3-9 recite only one electrical conductor being used. Therefore, it is not clear how the plurality of electrical conductors is connected to the printed circuit board by the circuit board connecting terminal.
Claim 1, lines 1-2 recite, “A circuit board connecting terminal to connect electrical conductors to a printed circuit board”. It is not clear how the electrical conductors are connected, electrically or mechanically, to printed circuit board by the circuit board connecting terminal. If the electrical conductors are electrically connected to the printed circuit board, it is not clear how electrical connection is made between the electrical conductors and the printed circuit board since while an electrical conductor is clamped against the opening edge of the through opening the contact part via the clamping spring, the circuit board connecting terminal is joined the printed circuit board by the connection element, wherein claim 1 does not recite how the contact part and the clamping spring are structurally and electrically connected to the connection element.
Claim 1, lines 3-4 recite, “an electrical conductor inserted into the circuit board connecting terminal”. It is not clear how the electrical conductor is inserted into the circuit board connecting terminal because in order for the electrical conductor to be inserted into the circuit board connecting terminal, the circuit board connecting terminal must have some kind of a solid outer structure with an opening for the electrical conductor to be allowed to insert into the circuit board connecting terminal. However, claim 1 does not recite any outer structure with opening.
Claim 1, line 6 recites, “a connection element”, but claim 1 does not recite how the connection element is structurally related with the contact part and the clamping spring of the contact insert.
Claim 1, line 8 recites, “the contact part has a through opening”. In order for the contact part to have a through opening, the contact part must have a solid body since the through opening is an empty space. The contact part cannot just made of the empty space. Therefore, it is not clear through what body that the through opening is formed.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the edge collar" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It seems that claim 4 should be depended on claim 2 instead of claim 1 because while claim 2 introduces “an edge collar” for the first time, claim 1 does not recite, “an edge collar”.
Claim 7, line 2 recite, “a contact part plane”, but claim 7 does not recite the exact location of the contact part plane. It is clear that the contact part plane is space apart form the connection, but it is not clear exactly where the contact part plane is.
Claim 7, line 3 recites, “an edge collar”, but again claim 7 does not recite the exact location of the contact part plane. It is clear that the edge collar is a part of the contact part, but claim 1, line 8 recites that the contact part has a through opening. Therefore, it is not clear exactly where the edge collar is since claim 7 does not recite how the edge collar is structurally related with the through opening.
Claim 8, lines 2 and 3 also recite, “contact part plane” and “an edge collar”, which are same as claim 7, lines 2-3. Therefore, the same rejections applied to claim 7, lines 2-3 also applies to claim 8, lines 2-3.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the circuit board plane" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9, line 2, it is not clear what “sections of it” refers to. Also, the examiner suggests the applicant to replace the pronoun “it” with a proper noun for clear understanding.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the contact part plane" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It seems that claim 16 should be depended on claim 7 instead of claim 1 because while claim 1 does not recite, “a contact part plane”, claim 7 recites, “a contact part plane” for the first time.
Claim 18, lines 2-3 recite, “an outer contour of the contact part”. However, claim 18 just lists “an outer contour” without reciting how this outer contour is structurally related with the through opening of the contact part.
Claim 21, lines 2-3 also recite, “outer contour sides of the contact part”, wherein “outer contour sides” are just listed in claim 21 without reciting how his outer contour sides are structurally related with the through opening of the contact part.
Claim 26, lines 1-2 recite, “a clamping edge”, but because the specification does not describe with an assigned reference number and the drawings do not point out with a line and the assigned reference number, it is not clear what this clamping edge is.
Claim 26, line 3 recites, “an electrical conductor”. Since claim 1 already recites, “electrical conductors” in line 1, “an electrical conductor” in lines 3-4, and “the conductor” in line 10, it is not clear whether the electrical conductors of claims 1 and 26 are the same conductor or different conductors from each other.
Claim 30, line 2 recites, “an insulating housing”. It is not clear how this insulating housing is structurally related with all the elements recited in claim 1 because claim 30 simply lists “an insulating housing”.
Claim 33 recites, “a conductor stop”. It is not how this conductor stop is structurally related with all the elements recited in claim 1 because claim 33 simply lists “a conductor stop”. Also, it is not clear where this conductor stop is located.
Claim 34, line 2 recites, “a conductor insertion passage”. Like the through opening recited in claim 1, the conductor insertion passage is also an empty space. Therefore, the circuit board connecting terminal must have some kind of solid body in order to have the conductor insertion passage. Therefore, it is not clear what kind of body that the circuit board connecting terminal has to formed with the conductor insertion passage.
Claim 35 recites, “an actuating element”. First, it is not clear what this actuating element is because the specification does not describe this actuating element with an assigned reference number and the drawings do not point out this actuating element with a line and the assigned reference number. Therefore, this actuating element cannot be located. Second, because claim 35 is simply listing the actuating element, it is not clear how this actuating element is structurally related with all the elements recited in claim 1.
Claim 36, line 2 also recites, “a through opening”, which has the same problem as “a through opening” recited in claim 1, line 8. Therefore, the same rejection stated above for claim 1 also applies to claim 36.
Claim 37, line 1 recites that the claimed invention is “A printed circuit board”. However, the body of claim 37 only recites the structure of “a circuit board connecting terminal”, but not the structure of the printed circuit board. Therefore, it is not clear what the claimed invention is. Also, the body of claim 37 recites the same limitations as the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, all the rejections stated above for claim 1 also apply to claim 37.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 10-19, 30-31 and 33-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu (CN-105449384 A).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses a circuit board connecting terminal 1 to connect electrical conductors (not shown) to a printed circuit board (not shown), the circuit board connecting terminal 1 comprising: a contact insert 10, 20 that has a contact part 10 and a clamping spring 20, wherein an electrical conductor inserted into the circuit board connecting terminal 1 is adapted to be clamped against the contact part 10 with the clamping spring 20; and a connection element 17 to join the circuit board connecting terminal 1 to the printed circuit board (not shown), wherein the contact part 10 has a through opening 12 that is delimited by an opening edge (not labeled, see Figs. 1 and 2), and wherein the conductor is adapted to be clamped to the opening edge 13 of the through opening 12 via the clamping spring 20.
Regarding claims 2-7, 10-19, and 30-37, Wu discloses
(claim 2), the opening edge (not labeled, see Figs. 1 and 2) has an edge collar 13.
(claim 3), the edge collar 13 surrounds the through opening 12 in sections.
(claim 4), the edge collar 13 is formed as one piece with the contact part 10.
(claim 5), the through opening 12 is produced as a plunged feature.
(claim 6), the connection element 17 has a connection (not labeled, see the free end portion of the connection element 17) to join the connection element 17 to the printed circuit board.
(claim 7), the connection is spaced apart from a contact part plane (see Fig. 2) such that the through opening 12 and/or an edge collar 13 of the contact part 10 is spaced apart from the printed circuit board when the circuit board connecting terminal 1 is connected to the printed circuit board via the connection.
(claim 10), the connection element 17 transitions into the connection at a free end of the connection element without angling or bending (see Fig. 6).
(claim 11), the connection is bent down from the connection element 17 (see Fig. 1).
(claim 12), the connection is a soldered connection or a plug-in connection.
(claim 13), the connection element 17 is formed to be integral with the contact part 10.
(claim 14), the connection element 17 is a contact pin (see Fig. 1).
(claim 15), the connection element 17 is bent down from the contact part 1 (see Fig. 1).
(claim 16), the connection element 17 projects from the contact part 10 in a contact part plane (see Fig. 6).
(claim 17), at least sections of the edge collar 13 of the contact part 10 extend essentially parallel to the connection element 17 (see Fig. 1).
(claim 18), the connection element 17 is bent down or projects from an outer contour of the contact part 10 (see Fig. 1).
(claim 19), the connection element 17 is arranged on a corner region (see Figs. 1-6) of the contact part 10 or between two corner regions (see Fig. 7) of the contact part 10.
(claim 30), the circuit board connecting terminal 1 has an insulating housing 30.
(claim 31), the insulating housing has a conductor receiving space (not labeled, see Fig. 4) for the conductor end of a conductor clamped onto the contact part 10.
(claim 33), the circuit board connecting terminal 1 further comprising a conductor stop 16.
(claim 34), the circuit board connecting terminal 1 has a conductor insertion passage 31.
(claim 35), the circuit board connecting terminal 1 has an actuating element (not shown).
(claim 36), Wu discloses a contact part 10 for a circuit board connecting terminal 1, the contact part 10 comprising: a through opening 12 with an opening edge (not labeled, see Fig. 2 ) delimiting the same, onto which edge of an electrical conductor is adapted to be clamped via a clamping spring 20; and a connection element 17 to join the contact part 10 to a printed circuit board (not shown).
(claim 37), Wu discloses a printed circuit board (not shown) comprising: a circuit board connecting terminal 1 to connect electrical conductors (not shown) to the printed circuit board, the circuit board connecting terminal 1 comprising: a contact insert that has a contact part 10 and a clamping spring 20, wherein an electrical conductor (not shown) inserted into the circuit board connecting terminal 1 is adapted to be clamped against the contact part 10 with the clamping spring 20, and wherein the circuit board connecting terminal 10 is joined to the printed circuit board via a connection element 17; and a through opening 12 formed in the contact part 10, the through opening 12 being delimited by an opening edge, wherein the conductor is adapted to be clamped to the opening edge of the through opening 12 via the clamping spring 20.
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.
Claim(s) 8-9 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN-105449384 A) in view of Stromiedel et al (US 10,389,049 B2).
Wu discloses the connection being spaced apart from contact part plane and the circuit board connecting terminal 1 being connected to the printed circuit board via the connection.
However, Wu does not disclose (claim 8) the through opening and/or an edge collar of the contact part 5 lies in the circuit board plane and (claims 9 and 38) the contact part is configured for sections of it to project into a recess in the printed circuit board when the circuit board connecting terminal is connected to the printed circuit board via the connection.
On the other hand, Stromiedel discloses a circuit board connecting terminal 1 to connect electrical conductors (not shown, see column 6, lines 39-46) to a printed circuit board 14, the circuit board connecting terminal 1 comprising: a contact part 3 having a through opening (a conductor receiving channel formed by a lateral wall portion 9 and a base portion 8, see Fig. 2) lying in a circuit board plane (see Fig. 3) and the contact part 3 is configured for sections of it to project into a recess 15 in the printed circuit board when the circuit board connecting terminal 1 is connected to the printed circuit board 14 via the connection 4.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit board connecting terminal taught by Wu such that it would a through opening of a contact part lying in a circuit board plane and a section of the contact part projecting into a recess in a printed circuit board when the circuit board connecting terminal is connected to the printed circuit board via the connection as taught by Stromiedel because it only deals with rearranging the circuit board connecting terminal related with the printed circuit board, which does not affect or change the functions of the circuit board connecting terminal and the printed circuit board. Also, placing the circuit board connecting terminal in the recess of the printed circuit board reduces overall height of the circuit board connecting terminal with the printed circuit board. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Claim(s) 20-24 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN-105449384 A) in view of Wu et al (US 9,240,650 B2) or Schafmeister (US 8,475,191 B2).
Regarding claims 20-24, Wu discloses the circuit board connecting terminal having only one connection element 17 (claim 22) provided per outer contour side of the contact part 10.
However, Wu does not disclose the limitations recited in claims 20-21 and 23-24 such as (claim 20) the circuit board connecting terminal 1 having at least two connection elements (claim 21) arranged on at least two different outer contour sides of the contact part, (claim 23) extending essentially parallel to one another and (claim 24) a greater linear dimension than another connection element of the contact part.
On the other hand, Wu et al discloses a circuit board connecting terminal having one connection element 40 on each one of four corners of outer contour sides of a contact part (see Fig. 2). In addition, Schafmeister discloses a circuit board connecting terminal 1 having two connection elements 24 extending from outer contour sides of a contact part 3 between two corners of (see Fig. 1) the contact part 3. As can be seen by all three references taught by Wu, Wu et al and Schafmeister, the number of connection elements can be varied and extending from different positions of outer contour sides of the contact part depending on the design of the circuit board connecting terminals.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit board connecting terminal taught by Wu such that it would have numbers and arrangements of the connection elements as taught by Wu et al and Schafmeister because the number of connection elements can be varied and extending from different positions of outer contour sides of the contact part depending on the design of the circuit board connecting terminals.
Regarding claim 32, while Figure 4 of Wu shows the inside of the insulating housing 30 of the circuit board connecting terminal 1, Wu does not disclose whether the insulating housing 30 has a lateral installation opening for insertion of the contact part or contact insert transverse to a conductor insertion direction.
On the other hand, Wu et al discloses the circuit board connecting terminal comprising an insulating housing 10 having a lateral installation opening (see Fig. 2) for insertion of the contact part or contact insert transverse to a conductor insertion direction for easier installation of all the internal components of the circuit board connecting terminals.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit board connecting terminal taught by Wu such that it would have an insulating housing having a lateral installation opening as taught by Wu et al because the lateral installation opening would allow for easier installation of all the internal components of the circuit board connecting terminals.
Claim(s) 25-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN-105449384 A) in view of Koellmann et al (US 10,615,519 B2).
Wu discloses the circuit board connecting terminal 1 comprising the contact part 10 having a through opening 12 delimited by an opening edge having an edge collar 13; and the clamping spring 20 having a clamping leg 21 with a clamping edge 22; wherein the through opening 12 has narrow sides and longer sides longer than the narrow sides and wherein the connection element 17 is arranged on an outer contour side of the contact part 10 that extends essentially parallel to a narrow side.
However, Wu does not disclose (claim 25) at least one radially inward extending contact edge of the edge collar; (claim 26) the clamping edge being arranged opposite the contact edge when an electrical conductor is clamped to the edge collar; (claim 27) the edge collar having a lead-in chamfer as recited in; and (claim 28) the through opening having a quadrilateral passage contour, (claim 29) wherein the passage contour has narrow sides and long sides, wherein the long sides are longer than the narrow sides, and wherein the connection element is arranged on an outer contour side of the contact part that extends essentially parallel to a narrow side of the passage contour.
On the other hand, Koellmann discloses a connection terminal 1 comprising a clamping spring 11 having a clamping leg 15 with a clamping edge 17; and a contact part 8 having a through opening 9 with radially inwardly extending edge collar 10 having a contact edge 10c arranged opposite the clamping edge 17 and a lead-in chamfer 19; wherein the through opening 9 having a quadrilateral passage contour 10a, 10b, 10c with narrow sides 10b, 10c and long sides 10a longer than the narrow sides 10b, 10c for providing guide walls for an electrical conductor.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the contact part taught by Wu such that the contact part would have a through opening with radially inwardly extending edge collar, a contact edge, a lead-in chamfer and a quadrilateral passage contour as taught by Koellmann in order to properly guide and securely clamp an electrical conductor inserted through the through opening of the contact part.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAE MOON HYEON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2093. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:30 am - 6:00 pm.
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, Abdullah A Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. 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.
/hmh/
/Hae Moon Hyeon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831