DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Romak (US 4,550,972) in view of Hoyack et al. (US 10,992,087) hereafter Hoyack and Bihrer et al. (US 8,632,356) hereafter Bihrer.
Regarding claim 21, Romak discloses a connector terminal 2, comprising: a terminal body having a hollow cylindrical part 8, a terminal sheath 38 that is sheathed on the hollow cylindrical part 8 of the terminal body, the terminal sheath 3 including: an elastic locking piece 40 formed on a circumferential wall and adapted to engage with a connector housing (see column 3, lines 31-33) to lock the connector terminal in the connector housing.
Romak does not disclose, a plurality of axial grooves formed in a wall of the hollow cylindrical part, the axial grooves spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction and dividing the wall of the hollow cylindrical part into a plurality of elastic cantilevers adapted to electrically contact a mating terminal inserted into the hollow cylindrical part; and a plurality of elastic arms formed on the circumferential wall at a front end of the terminal sheath, the elastic arms are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction of the terminal sheath and abut against the elastic cantilevers to provide an auxiliary contact force to the elastic cantilevers.
Bihrer, discloses a plurality of axial grooves 30 (fig. 2A) are formed in the wall of the hollow cylindrical part 12, the axial grooves 30 are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction of the hollow cylindrical part and extend to a front end face of the hollow cylindrical part, a plurality of elastic arms formed on the circumferential wall at a front end of the terminal sheath, the elastic arms are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction of the terminal sheath and abut against the elastic cantilevers to provide an auxiliary contact force to the elastic cantilevers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a plurality of axial grooves are formed in the wall of the hollow cylindrical part, the axial grooves are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction of the hollow cylindrical part and extend to a front end face of the hollow cylindrical part in order to have ease of assembly and have increased elasticity.
Thus, Romak as modified by Bihrer, discloses all the claimed limitations except for a plurality of elastic arms formed on the circumferential wall at a front end of the terminal sheath, the elastic arms are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction of the terminal sheath and abut against the elastic cantilevers to provide an auxiliary contact force to the elastic cantilevers.
Hoyack discloses a plurality of auxiliary elastic cantilevers (tines) 118 are formed on the circumferential wall at the front end, that electrically contact the inserted mating terminal 300 (see column 3, lines 26-30); and the auxiliary elastic cantilevers are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a plurality of elastic arms formed on the circumferential wall at a front end of the terminal sheath, the elastic arms are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction of the terminal sheath and abut against the elastic cantilevers to provide an auxiliary contact force to the elastic cantilevers in order to have ease of assembly and have increased elasticity.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 and 20 are allowed, as an objected allowable subject matter of claim 18, as discussed in previous office action, mailed on 04/02/2026, is incorporated in independent claims 1 and 20.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 21 have been considered but are not persuasive. New claim 21 is rejected as stated above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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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.
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/HARSHAD C PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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