DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claims 1-17 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 7, 10-13, 15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Someya et al. US 2021/0166861.
As per claims 1, 3-5, 7, 10-13, 15, and 17, Someya et al. discloses in Figs. 4a-5 a coil device (e.g. coil device 110) comprising:
as per claim 1, a coil (e.g. coil unit 40) including: a winding portion (e.g. wire 41); and a lead portion (e.g. lead end 42a) led out from the winding portion; a core (e.g. winding core 22) including: a winding core portion (e.g. portion between flanges 24 and 26) provided with the winding portion (Wire 41 is wrapped around the portion between flanges 24 and 26.); and a flange portion (e.g. flange 24) formed at an end in a first direction (e.g. left end in an X horizontal direction) parallel to an axis of the winding core portion (The X horizontal direction is parallel to a horizontal axis in which the portion between flanges 24 and 26 is disposed.); and a terminal fitting (e.g. terminals 151/152) provided with an engagement portion (e.g. lateral contact portions 151a4 and 152a4) for engaging with the flange portion (Paragraph 81; Contact portions 151a4 and 152a4 contact with lateral surfaces 24e of the flange 24.), wherein the flange portion includes: a first side surface (Fig. 4a, left lateral surface 24e) located on one side in a second direction (e.g. left side in Y direction) parallel to a mounting surface of the flange portion (e.g. mounting surfaces 151a3 and 152a3); and a second side surface (Fig. 4a, right lateral surface 24e) located on the other side in the second direction (e.g. right side in the Y direction), and the engagement portion is disposed from the first side surface to the second side surface and connected to the lead portion (The lateral contact portions 151a4 and 152a4 are disposed between the left and right lateral surfaces 24e and are connected to the lead end 42a.);
as per claim 3, wherein the engagement portion includes a first side portion (e.g. portion 152a4) opposing to the first side surface, the first side surface is provided with a first notch portion, and the first side portion is disposed in the first notch portion (Fig. 4a; As shown, there exists a notch towards a bottom end of flange 24 where a bottom part of the left lateral surface 24e is disposed therein.);
as per claim 4, wherein the engagement portion includes a second side portion (e.g. portion 151a4) opposing to the second side surface, the second side surface is provided with a second notch portion, and the second side portion is disposed in the second notch portion (Fig. 4a; As shown, there exists a notch towards a bottom end of flange 24 where a bottom part of the right lateral surface 24e is disposed therein.);
as per claim 5, wherein the first notch portion is located on one side of the first side surface (e.g. bottom side of the left lateral surface 24e), which is a side close to the mounting surface, and the second notch portion is located on one side of the second side surface (e.g. bottom side of the right lateral surface 24e), which is a side close to the mounting surface;
as per claim 7, wherein the engagement portion is engaged with the flange portion at a position closer to the mounting surface than to a mounting opposite surface opposite to the mounting surface of the flange portion (The lateral contact portions 151a4 and 152a4 are engaged with flange 24 at a bottom end thereof which is closer to the surfaces 151a3 and 152a3 than to a surface 24b which is a “mounting opposite surface”.);
as per claim 10, wherein the engagement portion includes a first side portion (e.g. portion 152a4) opposing to the first side surface, and a protrusion (e.g. outer-end-surface contact portion 152a1) protruding toward the first side surface is formed on an inner surface of the first side surface facing inward in the second direction (The portion 152a1 is formed on an inner surface of the portion 152a4 and faces inward in the Y direction.);
as per claim 11, wherein the first side surface is provided with a concave portion for engaging with the protrusion (The portion 152a4 is concaved towards an inner side for engaging with the portion 152a1.);
as per claim 12, wherein the terminal fitting includes a mounting portion (e.g. base parts 151c and 152c) for being disposed on the mounting surface, the mounting portion includes a first section and a second section (e.g. base parts 151c and 152c respectively), and the first section and the second section are separated with a gap in the second direction (e.g. spacing in between the parts 151c and 152c);
as per claim 13, wherein the terminal fitting includes a mounting portion (e.g. base part 152c) for being disposed on the mounting surface, and the mounting portion is offset from a center of the mounting surface in the second direction to the other side in the second direction (The base part 152c is offset from a center of the surfaces 151a3 and 152a3 in the right side of the Y direction.);
as per claim 15, wherein the engagement portion includes a main body portion (e.g. terminal body 151a) and an extended portion (e.g. portion 151a4) arranged on an outer end surface of the flange portion, the main body portion is located between the first side portion and the second side portion, and the extended portion extends from the main body portion toward the opposite side to the mounting surface along a third direction (e.g. Z direction) perpendicular to the mounting surface; and
as per claim 17, a plate core (related Fig. 1a, plate-like member 30) for being attached to a mounting opposite surface (e.g. surface 24b) opposite to the mounting surface of the flange portion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 6, 8, 9, 14, and 16 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 RAKESH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0961. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/RAKESH B PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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