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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on applications filed in the United Kingdom on 4/03/2023 & 8/23/2023, respectively. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the GB2304942.2 & GB2312863.0 applications as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/19/2024 & 7/30/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statements.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed
before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 & 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao et al. (Chinese Patent Application Publication # CN101340066B).
Regarding Claim 1, Zhao discloses an air-insulated switching apparatus (i.e. main switch 3) comprising:
an insulating housing (i.e. shell/housing 2), the insulating housing comprising a housing wall;
a disconnector (i.e. vacuum tube 18) disposed inside the insulating housing and at least partially surrounded by the housing wall, the disconnector having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the disconnector receives power from a power supply;
an insulated (i.e. silica gel/silicon(e) rubber layer 8) branch busbar (i.e. outer part of copper connection column 6) disposed outside the insulating housing, such that part of the housing wall is disposed between the disconnector and the insulated branch busbar;
an insulated connection element (i.e. inner part of copper connection column 6) passing through the housing wall and connecting the second end of the disconnector to the insulated branch busbar; and
an insulated phase busbar (i.e. bus bar 7) connected to the branch busbar (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Abstract; Paragraphs 0018-0021).
Regarding Claim 2, Zhao discloses that the insulated branch busbars (i.e. outer part of copper connection column 6) comprise conductive (i.e. copper) busbars that are entirely surrounded by an insulating material (i.e. silica gel/silicon(e) rubber layer 8) (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraph 0019).
Regarding Claim 3, Zhao discloses that the disconnector (i.e. vacuum tube 18) comprises a moveable conductive element (i.e. moving contact 29) that forms a conductive path between the first and second ends of the disconnector when the moveable conductive element is in a closed position and which disconnects the first and second ends of the disconnector when the moveable conductive element is in an open position (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraphs 0019-0020).
Regarding Claim 4, Zhao discloses a ground contact (i.e. grounding contact 16) disposed within the insulating housing and electrically connected to ground, wherein, when the disconnector is in the open position, the second end of the moveable conductive element is in contact with the ground contact (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraphs 0019-0020).
Regarding Claim 5, Zhao discloses a circuit breaking device (i.e. vacuum tube 18 of high voltage vacuum switch) disposed between the first end of the disconnector and the power supply (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraphs 0019-0020).
Regarding Claim 6, Zhao discloses that the circuit breaking device comprises a vacuum interrupter (i.e. vacuum tube 18 of high voltage vacuum switch) (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraphs 0019-0020).
Regarding Claim 8, Zhao discloses that the housing (i.e. shell/housing 2) is formed of a plastic material or epoxy (Paragraphs 0018, 0021).
Regarding Claim 9, Zhao discloses that the insulated connection element comprises a bushing (i.e. silica gel/silicon(e) rubber layer 8 where copper connection column 6 exits housing/shell 2) (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraph 0019).
Regarding Claim 10, Zhao discloses that the branch busbars (i.e. outer part of copper connection column 6) are surrounded by an insulating thermoplastic elastomer material (i.e. silica gel/silicon(e) rubber layer 8 around outer part of copper connection column 6) (Fig. 1, 4, 5; Paragraph 0019).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 7 & 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (Chinese Patent Application Publication # CN101340066B) in view of Lammers (US Patent Application Publlication # 2006/0034037).
Regarding Claim 7, Zhao does not explicitly disclose at least one shielding element disposed around an end of the disconnector.
Lammers teaches that at least one shielding element (i.e. shields 22) disposed around an end of the disconnector (i.e. disconnector 14) (Fig. 5; Paragraphs 0045-0048).
Lammers teaches that it is well known in the art of switching installations with circuit breakers to include at least one shielding element or shield around the end of the disconnector in order to provide electric field control and voltage shielding of conductive parts with respect to adjacent phase parts of the switching installation and with respect to the possibly open disconnector. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide at least one shielding element disposed around an end of the disconnector of Zhao, as taught by Lammers, in order to provide electric field control and voltage shielding of conductive parts with respect to adjacent phase parts of the switching installation and with respect to the possibly open disconnector.
Regarding Claim 11, Zhao does not explicitly disclose that the housing comprises an opening to allow air to flow into and out of the housing.
Lammers teaches that the housing comprises an opening (i.e. openings 24) to allow air to flow into and out of the housing (i.e. electrically insulating barrier 10) (Fig. 2-5; Paragraphs 0025, 0049; Claim 12).
Lammers teaches that it is well known in the art of housings for switching installations with circuit breakers to include an opening in order to enable an air flow through the housing to dissipate the heat that is generated inside. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to include an opening in the housing of Zhao, as taught by Lammers, in order to enable an air flow through the housing to dissipate the heat that is generated inside.
Regarding Claim 12, Zhao discloses a switching system comprising a plurality of apparatuses of any of claims 1-6 & 8-10 (Fig. 1 & 4). Zhao in view of Lammers discloses a switching system comprising a plurality of apparatuses of any of claims 7 & 11.
Regarding Claim 13, Zhao discloses that the insulating housings (i.e. shell/housing 2) of the respective switching apparatuses of the plurality of switching apparatuses all have the same shape (Fig. 1 & 4).
Regarding Claim 14, Zhao discloses that the branch busbars (i.e. outer parts of copper connection columns 6) of the respective switching apparatuses of the plurality of switching apparatuses all have a different shape to each other (Fig. 1 & 4).
Regarding Claim 15, Zhao discloses that the branch busbars (i.e. outer parts of copper connection columns 6) of the respective switching apparatuses of the plurality of switching apparatuses extend in mutually different directions (Fig. 1 & 4).
Relevant Cited Art
The cited art in PTO-892 was found during the examiner's search, but was not relied upon for this office action. However, it is still considered pertinent to the applicant's disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RHADAMES J ALONZO MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-7829. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10am-6pm PST.
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/RJA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847