DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim 1-6, 8, 12-15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mason et al. US 10276958 (“Mason”).
Regarding claim 1, Mason discloses a socket connector comprising:
a substrate 128 having an upper surface and a lower surface, the substrate
including contact channels 502a between the upper and lower surfaces,
the substrate including pockets 502b between the upper and lower surfaces, the pockets located between corresponding contact channels;
socket contacts 210 received in corresponding contact channels, each socket
contact including a contact body 402, an upper mating element 212, and a lower mating element 302, the upper mating element extending to the upper surface to interface with a first electrical component, the lower mating element extending to the lower surface to interface with a second electrical component; and
lossy inserts (208, col. 8, lines 20-40) received in the pockets, the lossy inserts being manufactured from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the substrate, the lossy inserts being discrete from the substrate and being located in the pockets of the substrate in proximity to the socket contacts.
Per claim 2, the substrate separates the pockets from the contact channels.
Per claim 3, the lossy inserts are coplanar with the upper and lower surfaces or recessed interior of the upper and lower surfaces, in particular at the faces of the insert abutting the substrate, labeled F1 and F2 in annotated figure 6 below.
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Per claim 4 the lossy inserts are manufactured from lossy material.
Per claim 5, the lossy inserts include lossy material inherently providing electric and/or magnetic loss through a portion of the substrate.
Per claim 6 the lossy inserts include a dielectric binder material and conductive fillers dispersed within the dielectric binder material (col. 8, lines 50-67).
Per claim 8, the socket contacts include signal socket contacts and ground socket contacts (in particular, the lossy inserts 208 function as ground contacts), the signal socket contacts being arranged in pairs (at 704 in figure 7), the ground socket contacts surrounding the pairs of signal socket contacts.
Per claim 12, the socket contacts are arranged in rows, the lossy inserts being arranged between corresponding rows of the socket contacts (see figure 2).
Per claim 13 the socket contacts are arranged in columns, the lossy inserts being arranged between corresponding columns of the socket contacts (see figure 2).
Per claim 14, the upper mating elements are deflectable and define a separable mating interface with the first electrical component. “In an embodiment in which the signal conductor 210 is compressible, the signal conductor 210 may be a lossy material or a conductive polymer. In another embodiment in which the signal conductor 210 is a deflectable beam or a pin, the signal conductor 210 may be a metal or metal alloy.” Col. 8, lines 14-28.
Per claim 15, the lower mating elements are deflectable and define a separable mating interface with the second electrical component. “In an embodiment in which the signal conductor 210 is compressible, the signal conductor 210 may be a lossy material or a conductive polymer. In another embodiment in which the signal conductor 210 is a deflectable beam or a pin, the signal conductor 210 may be a metal or metal alloy.” Col. 8, lines 14-28.
Per claim 19, Mason discloses a socket connector comprising:
a substrate 128 having an upper surface and a lower surface, the substrate having
a molded body molded from a low loss dielectric material, the substrate including contact
channels 502a between the upper and lower surfaces, the substrate including pockets 502b between the upper and lower surfaces, the pockets located between corresponding contact channels;
socket contacts 210 received in corresponding contact channels, each socket
contact including a contact body, an upper mating element, and a lower mating element,
the upper mating element extending to the upper surface to interface with a first electrical
component, the lower mating element extending to the lower surface to interface with a
second electrical component; and
lossy inserts 208 molded in place (Col. 8, lines 20-40) in the corresponding pockets of the substrate,
the lossy inserts being manufactured from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical
resonance propagating through the substrate, the lossy inserts located in proximity to the
socket contacts.
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mason in view of Hou et al. US 12537344 (“Hou”). Regarding claim 7, Mason does not disclose that the lossy material includes the filler material at an amount up to 50% by volume. Hou discloses such a lossy material (“Preferably, the fillers will be present in a sufficient volume percentage to allow conducting paths to be created from particle to particle. For example, when metal fiber is used, the fiber may be present in about 3% to 40% by volume. The amount of filler may impact the conducting properties of the material. Col. 14, lines 25-35). It would have been obvious to form the Mason lossy material with properties such as taught in Hou, including filler material at an amount up to 50% by volume as taught in Hou, as a matter of routine experimentation. The reason would have been to provide a desirable conducting property as taught in Hou. See In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955)(Where general conditions of the claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover optimal or workable ranges by routine experimentation).
Claims 9, 10, and 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mason. Regarding claim 9, Mason discloses that the socket contacts include signal socket contacts (figure 7, 704) and ground socket contacts (figure 7, 208), the socket contacts being arranged in pair groups, each pair group having a pair of the signal socket contacts surrounded by ground socket contacts forming a shield box around the pair of signal socket contacts (figure 7).
Mason discloses that contact sets are set out in a grid array as shown in figure 2, where each set of contacts (see contact groups labeled CG1 and CG2 below) are aligned in rows and/or columns. See annotated figure 2 below. As shown in figure 2, the lossy inserts (labeled Lossy Insert in annotated figure 2 below) are arranged between corresponding contact groups.
It would have been obvious to provide the contact group as shown in figure 7, including pairs of signal contacts, in an array of contact groups arranged in rows and/or columns, as shown in figure 2. The result would be that contact groups such as those labeled CG1 and CG2 below would have a lossy insert (labeled Lossy Insert below) located between the contact groups. The reason for providing contact groups as shown in figure 7 in such an array would be to provide multiple signal channels between a first component and second component just as is provided in the configuration of figure 2.
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Per claim 10, lossy inserts are aligned with the pairs of signal socket contacts.
Regarding claim 16, Mason discloses a socket connector comprising:
a substrate 128 having an upper surface and a lower surface, the substrate
including contact channels 502a between the upper and lower surfaces, the substrate including
pockets 502b between the upper and lower surfaces, the pockets located between corresponding contact channels;
socket contacts (704, 208, in figure 7) received in corresponding contact channels, each socket contact including a contact body, an upper mating element, and a lower mating element, the upper mating element extending to the upper surface to interface with a first electrical component, the lower mating element extending to the lower surface to interface with a second electrical component, wherein
the socket contacts include signal socket contacts 704 and ground socket contacts 208, the socket contacts being arranged in pair groups (figure 7), each pair group having a pair of the signal socket contacts surrounded by ground socket contacts forming a shield box around the pair of signal socket contacts.
Mason further discloses lossy inserts (elements 208 labeled “lossy insert” annotated figure 2 above) received in the pockets, the lossy inserts being manufactured
from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the
substrate, the lossy inserts being separate and discrete from the substrate and being attached
to the substrate in the pockets in proximity to the socket contacts, wherein the lossy inserts
are in proximity to each pair group.
It would have been obvious to provide the contact group as shown in figure 7, including pairs of signal contacts, in an array of contact groups arranged in rows and/or columns, as shown in figure 2. The result would be that contact groups such as those labeled CG1 and CG2 below would have a lossy insert (labeled Lossy Insert above) located between the contact groups. The reason for providing contact groups as shown in figure 7 in such an array would be to provide multiple signal channels between a first component and second component just as is provided in the configuration of figure 2.
Per claim 17 the lossy inserts are arranged between rows of the pair groups.
Per claim 18 the lossy inserts are arranged between columns of the pair groups.
Regarding claim 20, Mason discloses socket contacts (704, 208, in figure 7) received in corresponding contact channels, each socket contact including a contact body, an upper mating element, and a lower mating element, the upper mating element extending to the upper surface to interface with a first electrical component, the lower mating element extending to the lower surface to interface with a second electrical component, wherein
the socket contacts include signal socket contacts 704 and ground socket contacts 208, the socket contacts being arranged in pair groups (figure 7), each pair group having a pair of the signal socket contacts surrounded by ground socket contacts forming a shield box around the pair of signal socket contacts.
Mason further discloses lossy inserts (elements 208 labeled “lossy insert” annotated figure 2 above) received in the pockets, the lossy inserts being manufactured
from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the
substrate, the lossy inserts being separate and discrete from the substrate and being attached
to the substrate in the pockets in proximity to the socket contacts, wherein the lossy inserts
are in proximity to each pair group.
It would have been obvious to provide the contact group as shown in figure 7, including pairs of signal contacts, in an array of contact groups arranged in rows and/or columns, as shown in figure 2. The result would be that contact groups such as those labeled CG1 and CG2 below would have a lossy insert (labeled Lossy Insert above) located between the contact groups. The reason for providing contact groups as shown in figure 7 in such an array would be to provide multiple signal channels between a first component and second component just as is provided in the configuration of figure 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11 is 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 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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