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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claim 1, line 13, --the male frame member-- should be inserted before “including a tubular frame housing”;
Claim 1, line 18, --the tubular hood member-- should be inserted before “including a plate”;
Claim 1, line 20, “a lever member” should be --the lever member--;
Claim 1, line 32, “plate locking bodies” should be --a plate locking body--;
Claim 2, line 10, “an end portion” should be --the end portion--;
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-4 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 18, “a tube” is confusing. Is that same as “a tube” in claim 1, line 13?
Claim 2, line 13, “a tube” is confusing. Is that same as “a tube” in 13 or “a tube” in line 18 of claim 1?
Claim 2, line 15, “a tube” is confusing. Is that same as “a tube” in 13 or “a tube” in line 18 of claim 1?
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mamiya et al. (10,535,952) in view of Jozwiak et al. (8,926,344).
Regarding claim 1, Mamiya et al. disclose a fitting connector comprising:
a male connector (10, 12 and 13, Fig. 1) and a female connector (14) that relatively move an interconnector between an insertable and removable position and a fitting completed position according to a turning operation of a lever member (11),
wherein the male connector includes a male terminal metal fitting (30, Fig. 7), a male frame member (10, Fig. 1) that houses the male terminal metal fitting while keeping a male terminal connecting portion (31, Fig. 8) protruded, a tubular hood member (13, Fig. 1) including a tubular hood portion that relatively moves the female connector in a tube axis direction between the insertable and removable position and the fitting completed position in a tube,
the male frame member (10) including a tubular frame housing portion that relatively moves the female connector in the tube axis direction between a first hood position in the insertable and removable position and a second hood position in the fitting completed position with respect to the male frame member housed in a tube, and
the tubular hood member including a plate (47, Fig. 2) disposed in a boundary between the hood portion and the frame housing portion, and
the lever member (60, Fig. 1) that is capable of turning around an axis of a rotating shaft between the lever member and the male frame member (Fig. 2) and causes a connector fitting force or a connector removal force involved in the turning to act between the lever member and the female connector (Fig. 9),
the plate includes a terminal insertion hole (49, Fig. 8) that allows a distal end of the male terminal connecting portion to enter the hood portion in the first hood position (Fig. 7) and increases a protrusion amount of the male terminal connecting portion in the hood portion to be larger in the second hood position (Fig. 8) than in the first hood position,
the lever member is turned in one direction around the axis of the rotating shaft with respect to the male frame member from a first lever position (Fig. 9) in the insertable and removable position toward a second lever position (Fig. 10) in the fitting completed position to cause the connector fitting force to act between the male frame member and the female connector, and push and relatively move the hood member in the first hood position toward the second hood position with the input from the female connector, and, on the other hand, is turned in another direction from the second lever position toward the first lever position around the axis of the rotating shaft with respect to the male frame member to cause the connector removal force to act between the male frame member and the female connector and relatively move the hood member in the second hood position toward the first hood position with the input from the female connector.
Mamiya et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the male frame member is provided with a plate locking body having flexibility for locking the plate in the first hood position, the plate locking body includes a first plate locking protrusion and a second plate locking protrusion that sandwich an end portion of the plate in a plate thickness direction thereof when the hood member is in the first hood position.
Jozwiak et al. disclose a male frame member (12, Fig. 3) is provided with a plate locking body (50) having flexibility for locking a plate (40) in the first hood position, the plate locking body includes a first plate locking protrusion (an upper wall of a groove (60)) and a second plate locking protrusion (a lower wall of the groove (60)) that sandwich an end portion (44) of the plate in a plate thickness direction thereof when the hood member is in the first hood position (Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to modify Mamiya et al. to have the male frame member is provided with a plate locking body having flexibility for locking the plate in the first hood position, the plate locking body includes a first plate locking protrusion and a second plate locking protrusion that sandwich an end portion of the plate in a plate thickness direction thereof when the hood member is in the first hood position, as taught by Jozwiak et al. for better connection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The claims are allowable over the prior art of record for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest the female frame member includes a plate unlocking portion for releasing a locked state of an end portion of the plate by the plate locking body, when the hood member is in the first hood position, the first plate locking protrusion is disposed in a tube of the hood portion and the second plate locking protrusion is disposed in a tube of the frame housing portion, and when the lever member is turned from the first lever position toward the second lever position, the plate unlocking portion flexurally deforms the plate locking body while pushing an inclined surface of the first plate locking protrusion with the connector fitting force received via the guide shaft to thereby cause the plate unlocking portion to climb over the first plate locking protrusion and climb over the second plate locking protrusion together with the plate while pushing the plate to relatively move the hood member from the first hood position to the second hood position, as set forth in the claimed combination.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 2-4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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 THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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, 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.
/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 06/09/26
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights