DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the final limitation of “thus reducing the height of the insulator wiring space” is indefinite. “Reducing the height” relative to what? The limitation inherently presupposes a hypothetical comparative insulator wiring space that has a larger height. This is confusing and ambiguous. The limitation is given little weight.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the anticipatory rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 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 1-3 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cosmos et al. US 4421376 (“Cosmos”).
Regarding claim 1, Cosmos discloses an electrical connector, equipped with a conductive component and a conductive cable assembly, wherein the conductive cable assembly includes an upper left conductive cable (inherently above cable labeled LRC below), an upper right conductive cable (labeled URC below), a lower left conductive cable (labeled LLC below, and a lower right conductive cable (labeled LRC below), and the electrical connector comprises:
an insulator (insulator portion of connector 10, including insulators 30 and 32) comprising an insulator body (insulator portion of connector 10, including insulators 30 and 32), an insulator joining structure (labeled JSTR below), and an insulator outlet structure (labeled OSTR below);
the insulator body includes an insulator wiring space (labeled WS below),
an insulator joining side ( at 18, labeled JS below) and an insulator outlet side (labeled OS below), and
the insulator joining structure is located on the insulator joining side, while the
insulator outlet structure is situated on the insulator outlet side; and
a conductive terminal assembly, inserted into the insulator joining structure on the insulator joining side, and the conductive terminal assembly consists of a plurality of conductive terminals 16, wherein the plurality of conductive terminals respectively connect to the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable, wherein
the plurality of conductive terminals are arranged in a terminal arrangement
area (the portion of the connectors where the terminals 16 are located) to facilitate to join with the conductive component; wherein
the conductive cable assembly can be wired within the insulator wiring space to extend to the insulator outlet side, wherein
the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable are arranged in a cable outlet area (labeled COA), allowing the conductive cable assembly to extend outward through the insulator outlet structure;
the terminal arrangement area is located on the insulator joining side,
wherein the length of the terminal arrangement area (labeled TAAL is equal to the length
of a terminal arrangement area;
the cable outlet area is situated on the insulator outlet side, wherein the
length of the cable outlet area (labeled COAL) is equal to the length of a cable outlet area;
and
the length of the terminal arrangement area and the length of the cable
outlet area respectively are the length and width of the insulator wiring space, ensuring that the dimension of length and width of the insulator wiring space are sufficient to allow the conductive cable assembly to wire, reducing the stacking height of the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right
conductive cable within the insulator wiring space, thus inherently reducing the height
of the insulator wiring space compared to an arbitrarily sized wiring space.
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Per claim 2 Cosmos discloses a cable clamping cover 34, which can be joined with the insulator, and the cable clamping cover comprises a cover cable clamping structure (labeled COSMOSS above), when the cable clamping cover is joined with the insulator, the cover cable clamping structure is able to apply pressure to the upper left conductive cable, the
upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, or the lower right conductive cable, ensuring that the adjacent ones of the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, or the lower right conductive cable get closed tightly, thereby inherently reducing the stacking height of the upper left conductive cable, the
upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable within the insulator wiring space.
Per claim 3 the insulator body further includes an insulator wiring guide structure (e.g., walls of portions 30 and 32), wherein the insulator wiring guide structure guides the wiring of the conductive cable assembly within the insulator wiring space; and
the cable clamping cover further includes a cover wiring guide structure (the walls of portion 34), wherein the cover wiring guide structure guides the wiring of the conductive cable assembly within the insulator wiring space.
Per claim 7 the cable clamping cover further comprises a cover fastening structure (64, 66, 70), when the cable clamping cover is joined with the insulator, the cover fastening structure fastens the insulator, allowing the cable clamping cover and the insulator to form a unified structural body.
Per claim 8, the cable clamping cover further includes a cover wiring space (labeled CWS above), and the conductive cable assembly can wire in the cover wiring space and extends to the insulator outlet side.
Per claim 9 the cable clamping cover further includes a cover outlet structure (labeled COUS above), wherein the cover outlet structure is connected to the insulator outlet structure, allowing the conductive cable assembly to extend outward through the cover outlet structure.
Per claim 10 the cover outlet structure and the insulator outlet structure are through-hole structures.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Polgar US 5211706.
Regarding claim 1, Polgar discloses an electrical connector, equipped with a conductive component and a conductive cable assembly, wherein the conductive cable assembly includes an upper left conductive cable, an upper right conductive cable (labeled URC below), a lower left conductive cable (labeled LLC below, and a lower right conductive cable (labeled LRC below), and the electrical connector comprises:
an insulator (the housing body) comprising an insulator body, an insulator joining structure (labeled JSTR below), and an insulator outlet structure (labeled OSTR below);
the insulator body includes an insulator wiring space (labeled WS below),
an insulator joining side (labeled JS) and an insulator outlet side (labeled OS below), and
the insulator joining structure is located on the insulator joining side, while the
insulator outlet structure is situated on the insulator outlet side; and
a conductive terminal assembly, inserted into the insulator joining structure on the insulator joining side, and the conductive terminal assembly consists of a plurality of conductive terminals (col. 3, lines 35-40), wherein the plurality of conductive terminals respectively connect to the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable, wherein
the plurality of conductive terminals are arranged in a terminal arrangement
area (the portion of the connectors where the terminals are located) to facilitate to join with the conductive component; wherein
the conductive cable assembly can be wired within the insulator wiring space to extend to the insulator outlet side, wherein
the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable are arranged in a cable outlet area (labeled COA), allowing the conductive cable assembly to extend outward through the insulator outlet structure;
the terminal arrangement area is located on the insulator joining side,
wherein the length of the terminal arrangement area is equal to the length
of a terminal arrangement area;
the cable outlet area is situated on the insulator outlet side, wherein the
length of the cable outlet area is equal to the length of a cable outlet area;
and
the length of the terminal arrangement area and the length of the cable
outlet area respectively are the length and width of the insulator wiring space, ensuring that the dimension of length and width of the insulator wiring space are sufficient to allow the conductive cable assembly to wire, reducing the stacking height of the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right
conductive cable within the insulator wiring space, thus inherently reducing the height
of the insulator wiring space compared to an arbitrarily sized wiring space.
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Claim Rejections - and 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Cosmos.
Per claim 4 the cable outlet area inherently includes a cable upper outlet sub-area and a cable lower outlet sub-area, wherein the upper left conductive cable and the upper right conductive cable are capable of being arranged in the cable upper outlet sub-area,
while the lower left conductive cable and the lower right conductive cable are capable of being arranged in the cable lower outlet sub-area, and the cover cable clamping structure can press down (at least indirectly) on either the upper left conductive cable or the upper right conductive cable, allowing a portion of either the upper left conductive cable or the upper right conductive cable to enter the space of the cable lower outlet sub-area and snugly fit against the lower left conductive cable or the lower right conductive cable, allowing the portions of the cable upper outlet sub-area and the cable lower outlet sub-area to overlap, thereby inherently reducing the dimension of height of the cable outlet area.
To the extent that Cosmos does not explicitly show the particular location of each to the conductor cables, any suitable rearrangement of the cables relative to each other in the cable outlet area would have been a rearrangement of parts without patentable significance. Such a modification would have been a matter of engineering design choice, being a rearrangement of parts without patentable significance. See In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) (Rearrangement of parts where operation of device not modified is not patentably significant).
Regarding claim 5, to the extent that Cosmos does not clearly show that the cable outlet area has a substantially parallelogram shape, the surface at 60 is flat (Figure1), the structures 74 are implicitly flat, and the interior lateral walls of 34 are implicitly substantially flat, resulting implicitly in a substantially parallelogram shape. To the extent that such parallelogram shape is not inherent, it would have been obvious as a matter of engineering design choice. See In re In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966)( The court held that the configuration of the claimed disposable plastic nursing container was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant.)
Claim 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Polgar US 5211706.
Per claim 2 Polgar discloses a cable clamping cover 20, which can be joined with the insulator, and the cable clamping cover comprises a cover cable clamping structure (at 32), when the cable clamping cover is joined with the insulator, the cover cable clamping structure is implicitly able to apply pressure to the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, or the lower right conductive cable, ensuring that the adjacent ones of the upper left conductive cable, the upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, or the lower right conductive cable get closed tightly, thereby inherently reducing the stacking height of the upper left conductive cable, the
upper right conductive cable, the lower left conductive cable, and the lower right conductive cable within the insulator wiring space.
To the extent that Polgar does not explicitly state that the cables are tightly held in the cable outlet, it would have been obvious to select the relative size of the cables and outlet area such that the cables are held tightly. Such a selection of relative sizes would have been a matter of engineering design choice. The reason would have been for example to prevent contaminants from entering the connector and to provide further strain relief on the terminals as was known in the art.
Per claim 6 the cable clamping cover further includes a cover cable management hole 54, and the cover cable management hole is in communication with the insulator wiring space, providing a means to organize the wiring of the conductive cable assembly within the insulator wiring space.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROSS GUSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2005. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30 - 5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached on 571-272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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