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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4,7, 14, 15, 16, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gibeau US 10431933 B2.
In reference to claim 1, Gibeau teaches a connector assembly system (200; fig. 3) comprising: a first connector (202) having a feature (210; fig. 3); a second connector (204) configured to mate with the first connector and having a window (220); and a sensor system (col. 5, lines 30-34, 39-55 discuss an external device) configured to: capture a characteristic of the feature through the window; compare a value of the characteristic to a predetermined value of the characteristic; and determine a status of the first connector relative to the second connector based on the comparison of the value of the characteristic to the predetermined value (col. 5, lines 30-34, 39-55 discuss an external device that reads the feature 210).
In reference to claim 2, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 1 wherein the status of the first connector relative to the second connector is fully mated (col. 5, lines 30-34, 39-55 discuss an external device that reads the feature 210 and determines if the connectors are engaged).
In reference to claim 4, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 1 wherein: the first connector includes a body having a first color (i.e. the color of 212) that is associated with a first pixel value; and the feature (210) is connected with the body and includes a second color (i.e. the color of 210) that is associated with a second pixel value that is different than the first pixel value.
In reference to claim 5, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 4 wherein: the window is associated with a pixel count (i.e. 220 is relevant to the size of 210); the sensor system is configured to determine a quantity of pixels of the pixel count that includes the second pixel value; the status of the first connector relative to the second connector is fully mated when the quantity of pixels exceeds a threshold amount; and the status of the first connector relative to the second connector is not fully mated when the quantity of pixels is less than the threshold amount (i.e. the external device can determine if 210 is present in the window 220 when the connectors 202, 204 are mated).
In reference to claim 6, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 1 wherein the window includes a shape that corresponds to a shape of the feature (see fig. 5).
In reference to claim 7, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 1 wherein: the second connector (204) includes a plurality of walls that define a cavity (see fig. 2a); the first connector (202) includes a body and the feature is connected to the body; and the cavity receives at least a portion of the body.
In reference to claim 14, Gibeau teaches a connector assembly system (fig. 2a, 3) comprising: a first connector (204) including a body having a first color and a feature (210) connected to the body and having a second color that is different than the first color (i.e. 210 is a different color than the body of 204 in order for 210 to be readable to the external device. See col. 5, lines 35-40 which mentions QR code and bar code. These are known to be a different color than the surrounding surface in order for an external device to read them. Further, lines 37-40 state “Other forms for the mark 210 are available which may include digitally identifiable items.” This is seen to encompass colors.); a second connector (204) including a plurality of walls that define a cavity (see fig. 2a), wherein: the cavity receives at least a portion of the body of the first connector, and a wall of the plurality of walls defines a window (220); and a sensor system configured to: capture at least one of the first color or the second color through the window; and determine a status of the first connector relative to the second connector based on the captured at least one of the first color and the second color(col. 5, lines 30-34, 39-55 discuss an external device that reads the feature 210).
In reference to claim 15, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 14 wherein: the first color is associated with a first pixel value; the second color is associated with a second pixel value; and the window is associated with a pixel count (i.e. the window is the size of the area of 210).
In reference to claim 16, Gibeau teaches the connector assembly system of claim 15 wherein: the sensor system is configured to determine a quantity of pixels of the pixel count that includes the second pixel value; the status of the first connector relative to the second connector is fully mated when the quantity of pixels exceeds a threshold amount; and the status of the first connector relative to the second connector is not fully mated when the quantity of pixels is less than the threshold amount (i.e. the external device can determine if 210 is present in the window 220 when the connectors 202, 204 are mated).
In reference to claim 20, Gibeau teaches a method comprising: connecting a first connector (202) with a second connector (204), wherein: the first connector includes a feature (210), and the second connector includes a window (220); capturing, via a sensor system (see col. 5, lines 30-34, 39-55 which discusses an external device that reads 210), a characteristic of the feature through the window; comparing, via the sensor system, a value of the characteristic to a predetermined value of the characteristic; and determining, via the sensor system, a status of the first connector relative to the second connector based on the comparison of the value of the characteristic to the predetermined value (i.e. the external device can determine if 210 is present in the window 220 when the connectors 202, 204 are mated).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 8-13, 17-19 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 TRAVIS SLOAN CHAMBERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6813. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m..
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/TRAVIS S CHAMBERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 06/24/2026
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