DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-15 of U.S. Application 18/654599 filed on May 3, 2024 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 3, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nurtsch (DE 102021126905, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Nurtsch teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 below) a connecting system for an electrical connection of an electric drive unit (102) with an electric battery (101) in an electric vehicle (Abstract; page 4),
wherein the electric drive unit (102) is supported in the electric vehicle with bearings (these are the rubber mounts that support drive unit 102 to the body of the vehicle, see page 2) that are configured to facilitate a driving-situation-dependent movement of the electric drive unit (102) (page 2),
wherein the connecting system comprises: a double busbar (1) configured to transmit energy between the electric battery (101) and the electric drive unit (102) (pages 4-5);
a battery-side electrical contact connector (2) configured to electrically connect the double busbar (2) with the electric battery (101) (pages 4-5);
a drive-side electrical contact connector (3) configured to electrically connect the double busbar (1) with the electric drive unit (102) (pages 4-5); and
at least one fixing element (10) configured to secure the double busbar (1) (page 5);
wherein the double busbar (1) is configured to compensate for a relative movement, due to the driving-situation-dependent movement of the electric drive unit, between the drive-side electrical contact connector (3) and the battery-side electrical contact connector (2) (pages 2, 5 and 6).
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Regarding claim 2/1, Nurtsch teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the double busbar (1) comprises two electrically conductive busbars (4), extending longitudinally and parallel to each other, wherein each electrically conductive busbar (4) of the two electrically conductive busbars (4) includes a flat cross-section, wherein each electrically conductive busbar (4) of the two electrically conductive busbars (4) is covered by an insulation (6) and are stacked one-atop-the-other, flat side on flat side, into a busbar stack (fig. 2; pages 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 3/1, Nurtsch teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the double busbar (1) has at least one bend and at least one torsion that confers additional elasticity to the double busbar (1) (page 5).
Regarding claim 4/1, Nurtsch teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the double busbar (1) has at least one bend that confers additional elasticity to the double busbar (fig. 1; page 5).
Regarding claim 5/1, Nurtsch teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the double busbar (1) has at least one torsion that confers additional elasticity to the double busbar (page 5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nurtsch in view of Hammerl (DE 102021127187, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 6/1, Nurtsch teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach the double busbar comprises at least two parts that are connected with one another via a respective electrical connector.
However, Hammerl teaches (see fig. 3 below) the double busbar (100) comprises at least two parts (parts 101, 102 that sandwich conductor 104) that are connected with one another via a respective electrical connector (104, 106) (Abstract; page 5) in order to compensate for vibration (Hammerl, page 2).
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Therefore, 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 device Nurtsch and provide the double busbar comprises at least two parts that are connected with one another via a respective electrical connector as taught by Hammerl in order to compensate for vibration (Hammerl, page 2).
9. Claims 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nurtsch in view of Wagener (US 20100025078).
Regarding claim 13/1, Wagener teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach at least one fixing element surrounds the double busbar around a longitudinal direction, and secures the double busbar in a friction-fit manner.
However, Wagener teaches (see fig. 3 and 4 below) at least one fixing element (10) surrounds the triple busbar (2) around a longitudinal direction, and secures the triple busbar (2) in a friction-fit manner (¶ 32 to ¶ 35) in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
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Therefore, 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 device Nurtsch and provide at least one fixing element surrounds the double busbar around a longitudinal direction, and secures the double busbar in a friction-fit manner as taught by Wagener in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
Regarding claim 14/1, Wagener teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach the at least one fixing element is configured to open, and be placed around the double busbar in an opened state.
However, Wagener teaches (see fig. 3 and 4 above) the at least one fixing element (10) is configured to open, and be placed around the triple busbar (2) in an opened state (¶ 32 to ¶ 35) in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
Therefore, 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 device Nurtsch and provide at least one fixing element is configured to open, and be placed around the double busbar in an opened state as taught by Wagener in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
Regarding claim 15/14/1, Wagener teaches the device of claim 14 but does not explicitly teach the at least one fixing element in the opened state includes two housing halves, which are configured to each include a part of the double busbar; and wherein the at least one fixing element includes a closure element that is configured to close the two housing halves with each other in a closed state.
However, Wagener teaches (see fig. 3 and 4 above) the at least one fixing element (10) in the opened state includes two housing halves (11, 12), which are configured to each include a part of the triple busbar (2); and wherein the at least one fixing element (10) includes a closure element (11) that is configured to close the two housing halves with each other in a closed state (¶ 32 to ¶ 35) in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
Therefore, 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 device Nurtsch and provide the at least one fixing element in the opened state includes two housing halves, which are configured to each include a part of the double busbar; and wherein the at least one fixing element includes a closure element that is configured to close the two housing halves with each other in a closed state as taught by Wagener in order to provide stability and simplify assembly (Wagener, ¶ 38; ¶ 35).
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 7-12 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.
Conclusion
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834