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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks (pages 6 - 8), filed September 8, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 - 6, 8 - 14 and 16 under 35 § USC 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of a combination of Faris, US 5,138,855 and Huang, US 5,410,785 below.
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(s) 1 - 6, 8 - 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Faris, US 5,138,855 in view of Huang, US 5,410,785.
Regarding claim 1, Faris discloses a connector assembly [for a lanyard loop], comprising: a female connector (14) formed with an insertion slot (inside an open end 20), said female connector (14) including an inner peripheral surface (of 16) that surrounds said insertion slot (see figure 6); and a male connector (12) including an insertion section (34) for insertion into said insertion slot of said female connector (14), said insertion section (34) having an outer peripheral surface (see figure 5) for facing said inner peripheral surface when said insertion section of said male connector (12) is inserted into said insertion slot (see figure 7) of said female connector (14); wherein one of said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14) and said outer peripheral surface of said male connector (12) is formed with an annular engaging groove (36); wherein said connector assembly further comprises an engaging member (26) disposed on the other one of said inner peripheral surface and said outer peripheral surface (see figure 7); and wherein when said insertion section (34) is inserted into said insertion slot (see figure 7), said engaging member (26) is engaged in said annular engaging groove (36) to fix said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot (see figure 7).
Faris does not explicitly disclose wherein said insertion slot has an opening (20); said female connector (14) includes a chamfered surface connected to said inner peripheral surface and adjacent to said opening (20); and said chamfered surface is disposed for contact with said insertion section (34) during the insertion of said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot to guide movement of said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot (see figures 6 and 7).
Huang teaches a connector assembly wherein said insertion slot has an opening (21); said female connector (20) includes a chamfered surface (see figure 6) connected to said inner peripheral surface and adjacent to said opening (21); and said chamfered surface is disposed for contact with said insertion section (of 11) during the insertion of said insertion section (figure 6) into said insertion slot to guide movement of said insertion section into said insertion slot (see figure 6). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the connector of Faris to include a chamfered surface as taught by Huang to improve insertion of the connector by reducing the insertion force required and improve assembly speed.
Claim language set in brackets [] set forth above and below in this office action are considered by the examiner to be intended use that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to that of the connector assembly, the prior art must only be capable of performing the functional recitations in order to be applicable, and in the instant case, the examiner maintains that the press-connected loop taught by the combination of Faris (US 5,138,855) and Huang (US 5,410,785), is indeed capable of the intended use statements. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 1. Faris further discloses wherein: said engaging member (26) is movably disposed (expanding and constricting) on said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14), and said outer peripheral surface of said male connector (12) is formed with said annular engaging groove (36) indented radially (figure 5); said insertion section (34) further has a frusto-conical surface (see figures 5 and 6) connected to said outer peripheral surface; and during insertion of said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot, said frusto-conical surface is configured to contact said engaging member (26) and expand said engaging member (26) until said annular engaging groove (36) is engaged (the tip element 34 is pressed into the socket 16, expanding the constriction element 26 until the groove portion 36 aligns with the constricting ring, at which point it snaps into place into the groove to provide a positive restraint) with said engaging member (26).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 2. Faris further discloses wherein: said engaging member (26) has an engaging section (its inner side of the ring) projecting from said inner peripheral surface and engageable with said annular engaging groove (36) when said insertion section (26) is inserted into said insertion slot (figure 6); and said engaging section has a semicircular arc surface (due to the section round shape) for contact with said frusto-conical surface during the insertion of said insertion section into said insertion slot (see figure 7).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 2. Faris further discloses wherein: said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14) is formed with an annular retaining groove (24) indented radially and outwardly and communicating with said insertion slot; and said engaging member (26) has a retaining section engaged within said annular retaining groove (24), and an engaging section (of 26) projecting from said inner peripheral surface and engageable with said annular engaging groove (24) when said insertion section is inserted into said insertion slot (see figure 6).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 2. Faris further discloses wherein: said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14) is formed with an annular retaining groove (24) indented radially and outwardly and communicating with said insertion slot (see figure 6); said engaging member (26) is a C-shaped elastic ring (figure 5); and a part of said engaging member (26) is engaged within said annular retaining groove (24), and another part of said engaging member (26) projects from said inner peripheral surface (see figure 6).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 5. Faris further discloses wherein said engaging member (26) is made of a metal material (such as brass, spring, or steel).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 1. Faris further discloses wherein said female connector (14) is further formed with a first wire mounting hole (that is opposite to an opening 20), and said male connector (12) is formed with a second wire mounting hole (32).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 1. Faris further discloses a lanyard loop (10), comprising: a connecting wire (stainless steel cable); wherein said female connector (14) and said male connector (12) are respectively connected to two ends of said connecting wire (10).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 9. Faris further discloses wherein: said engaging member (26) is movably disposed on said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14); said outer peripheral surface of said male connector (12) is formed with said annular engaging groove (36) indented radially; said insertion section (34) further has a frusto-conical surface (figure 5) connected to said outer peripheral surface; and during insertion of said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot (figure 7), said frusto-conical surface is configured to contact said engaging member (26) and expand said engaging member until said annular engaging groove (36) is engaged (figure 7) with said engaging member (26).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 10. Faris further discloses wherein: said engaging member (26) has an engaging section (on its inner side) projecting from said inner peripheral surface and engageable with said annular engaging groove (36) when said insertion section (34) is inserted into said insertion slot (figure 7); and said engaging section (26) has a semicircular arc surface (due to its round shape) for contact with said frusto-conical surface (figure 7) during the insertion of said insertion section (34) into said insertion slot (see figure 7).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 10. Faris further discloses wherein: said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14) is formed with an annular retaining groove (24) indented radially and outwardly and communicating with said insertion slot (see figure 6); said engaging member (26) is a C-shaped elastic ring (figure 5); and a part of said engaging member (26) is engaged within said annular retaining groove (24), and another part of said engaging member (26) projects from said inner peripheral surface (see figure 6).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 10. Faris further discloses wherein: said inner peripheral surface of said female connector (14) is formed with an annular retaining groove (24) indented radially and outwardly and communicating with said insertion slot (see figure 6); said engaging member (26) is a C-shaped elastic ring (figure 5); and a part of said engaging member (26) is engaged within said annular retaining groove (24), and another part of said engaging member (26) projects from said inner peripheral surface (see figure 6).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 13. Faris further discloses wherein said engaging member (26) is made of a metal material (such as brass, spring, or steel).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Faris and Huang teaches the connector assembly as claimed in claim 9. Faris further discloses wherein said female connector (14) is further formed with a first wire mounting hole (that is opposite to the opening 20) mounted with one of said two ends of said connecting wire (10), and said male connector (12) is formed with a second wire mounting hole (32) mounted with the other one of said two ends of said connecting wire (10).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWLAND DO whose telephone number is (571)270-5737. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30 - 7:00 PT.
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, Jason San can be reached at (571) 272-6531. 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.
/R.D./ Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677