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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 05/21/2024 have been considered by the Examiner.
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 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 of this title, 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(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winkelstein et al. (US 20250314687; hereinafter Winkelstein) in view of Gul et al. (US 20170207931).
Regarding claim 1, Winkelstein teaches in figure(s) 1-3 a digital multimeter device (DMM) (para. 26 - digital multimeter (DMM); para. 5 - detecting such faults high resistance Ohmmeters, insulation testers) and comprising:
a front panel including three triaxial terminals (triaxial terminals 118, 122, 152; fig. 1; or connection pins 220; fig. 2) aligned along a length of the front panel (periphery of 104; fig. 1);
a fuse holder (106) accessible from the front panel (para. 25 - current drawn by the fault may be insufficient to activate circuit protection devices such as fuses or circuit breakers); and
trigger input and output terminals located on the front panel (para. 73 - configured to transmit a message to another system, alert a user, trigger an alarm).
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly PXIe form factor.
However, Gul teaches in figure(s) 1-9 PXIe form factor (10 fig. 1A; para. 20 - a PXIe backplane).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having PXIe form factor as taught by Gul in order to provide combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results of scalable and modular design as evidenced by "plug into a backplane of computing device" (para. 20).
Regarding claim 2, Winkelstein teaches in figure(s) 1-3 the DMM of claim 1, wherein each of the three triaxial terminals comprises a center core wire, an inner conductor surrounding the center core wire, and an outer conductor (inherent feature of triaxial terminal is that A triaxial (triax) terminal is a specialized connector and cable system featuring three conductors (center, inner shield, outer shield) for superior noise isolation, essential for sensitive measurements).
Regarding claim 3, Winkelstein teaches in figure(s) 1-3 the DMM of claim 2, wherein a chassis ground (para. 15 - triaxial cable grounding network, hull, chassis) is assigned to the outer conductor of each of the three triaxial terminals.
Claim(s) 9 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Titus et al. (US 7841898; hereinafter Titus) in view of Winkelstein.
Regarding claim 9, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 a device, comprising:
a front panel (20’; fig. 7) including an upper triaxial terminal (12’),
a middle triaxial terminal (12a’), and
a lower triaxial terminal (12b’),
each triaxial terminal including a center core wire (14’), an inner conductor (16’) surrounding the center core wire, and an outer conductor (18’) assigned as a chassis ground terminal,
wherein center core wires (14’,14a’, 14b’; fig. 7) of the upper, middle and lower triaxial terminals respectively constitute a high (HI) terminal, a high sense (HIS) terminal, and a current (I) terminal, and
wherein inner conductors (42e’; fig. 7) of the upper, middle and lower triaxial terminals respectively constitute a low (LO) terminal, a low sense (LOS) terminal, another LO terminal,
wherein the LO terminal of the upper triaxial terminal (12’; fig. 7) and the other LO terminal of the lower triaxial terminal (12b’) are connected together within the device.
Titus does not teach explicitly digital multimeter device (DMM)
However, Winkelstein teaches in figure(s) 1-3 digital multimeter device (DMM) (para. 26 - digital multimeter (DMM); para. 5 - detecting such faults high resistance Ohmmeters, insulation testers).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Titus by having digital multimeter device (DMM) as taught by Winkelstein in order to provide some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention as evidenced by "detecting such faults high resistance Ohmmeters, insulation testers" (para. 5).
Regarding claim 11, Titus in view of Winkelstein teaches the DMM of claim 9, wherein the front panel is 105mm in length, and 20mm in width (inherent feature of PXIe form factor is that A single-slot 3U PXI Express (PXIe) module typically measures approximately 100 mm (height) by 160 mm (depth) by 20 mm (width/thickness)).
Regarding claim 12, Titus in view of Winkelstein teaches the DMM of claim 9,
Winkelstein additionally teaches in figure(s) 1-3 further comprising trigger input and output terminals (152) located on the front panel.
Regarding claim 13, Titus in view of Winkelstein teaches the DMM of claim 12,
Winkelstein additionally teaches in figure(s) 1-3 further comprising a fuse holder (106) accessible from the front panel (para. 25 - current drawn by the fault may be insufficient to activate circuit protection devices such as fuses or circuit breakers).
Regarding claim 14, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the DMM of claim 9, further comprising a triaxial-to-banana adapter having a back panel configured for attachment to the upper, middle and lower triaxial terminals and a front panel having five banana terminals (clm. 12 - adapter configured to couple to the triaxial cable and to the electronic device such that the center conductor of the triaxial cable is in electrical communication with the first banana jack terminal of the electronic device via the first banana plug; figs. 7,11).
Claim(s) 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Titus in view of Moran et al. (US 20120185199).
Regarding claim 15, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 a adaptor configured to convert a front panel configuration of a device having less than five input terminals, the adapter comprising:
a back panel including rear terminals (triaxial terminals 12*; fig. 7) configured to connect to the corresponding input terminals;
a front panel having five separate input terminals (banana terminals 202-214; fig. 11); and
an adaptor housing electrically connecting each of the input terminals of the front panel to a respective one of the rear terminals of the back panel (clm. 12 - adapter configured to couple to the triaxial cable and to the electronic device such that the center conductor of the triaxial cable is in electrical communication with the first banana jack terminal of the electronic device via the first banana plug; figs. 7,11).
Titus does not teach explicitly a PXIe form factor digital multimeter (DMM) device; input terminals of the DMM.
However, Moran teaches in figure(s) 1-10 a PXIe form factor (para. 117 - modules may be configured for insertion into a chassis PXIe-1075, PXIe-1082, PXIe-1065 and PXIe-1062Q; fig. 1) digital multimeter (DMM) device (para. 217 - digital multi-meter DMM); input terminals of the DMM (310, 335; fig. 3B).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Titus by having a PXIe form factor digital multimeter (DMM) device; input terminals of the DMM as taught by Moran in order to provide some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention as evidenced by "A user obtains a set of modules, inserts them into slots of a chassis, and interconnects the modules to form a modular instrument" (abstract).
Regarding claim 16, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the adaptor of claim 15, wherein the rear terminals of the back panel (20’; fig. 7) include three triaxial terminals (triaxial terminals 12*; fig. 7).
Regarding claim 17, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the adaptor of claim 16, wherein each of the three triaxial terminals of the back panel include a center core wire (14’), an inner conductor (16’) surrounding the center core wire, and an outer conductor (18’).
Regarding claim 18, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the adaptor of claim 16, wherein the three triaxial terminals of the back panel include an upper triaxial terminal (12’; fig. 7), a middle triaxial terminal (12a’), and a lower triaxial terminal (12b’), wherein the center core wires (14’,14a’, 14b’; fig. 7) of the upper, middle and lower triaxial terminals respectively constitute a high (HI) DMM terminal, a high sense (HIS) DMM terminal, and a current (I) DMM terminal, and wherein inner conductors (42e’; fig. 7) of the upper, middle and lower triaxial terminals respectively constitute a low (LO) DMM terminal, a low sense (LOS) DMM terminal, another DMM LO terminal.
Regarding claim 19, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the adaptor of claim 18, wherein the five separate terminals on the front panel includes: an HI adaptor terminal electrically connected (42a’; fig. 7 ) to the HI DMM terminal; an LO adaptor terminal electrically connected (42i’) to the LO DMM terminal; an I adaptor terminal electrically connected (42g’) to the I DMM terminal; an HIS adaptor terminal electrically connected (42d’) to the HIS DMM terminal; and an LOS adaptor terminal electrically connected to the LOS DMM terminal.
Regarding claim 20, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 the adaptor of claim 19, wherein each of the HI adaptor terminal, the LO adaptor terminal, the I adaptor terminal, the HIS adaptor terminal (12*; figs. 4,12), and the LOS adaptor terminal is configured as a banana terminal (banana terminals 202-214; fig. 11).
Claim(s) 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winkelstein in view of Gul, and further in view of Titus.
Regarding claim 4, Winkelstein in view of Gul teaches the DMM of claim 2,
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly wherein a high (HI) terminal, a high sense (HIS) terminal, and a current (I) terminal are respectively assigned to the center core wires of the three triaxial terminals.
However, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 wherein a high (HI) terminal, a high sense (HIS) terminal, and a current (I) terminal are respectively assigned to the center core wires of the three triaxial terminals (HI, HIS, LS in fig. 7; col. 5 lines 15-20 :- a test current through center conductor 102 of triaxial cable 100).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having wherein a high (HI) terminal, a high sense (HIS) terminal, and a current (I) terminal are respectively assigned to the center core wires of the three triaxial terminals as taught by Titus in order to provide "electrical adapter that can be used with a triaxial cable having a center connector, a middle connector, and an outer connector" (abstract).
Regarding claim 5, Winkelstein in view of Gul and Titus teaches the DMM of claim 4,
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly wherein the three triaxial terminals include an upper triaxial terminal, a lower triaxial terminal, and a middle triaxial terminal located between the upper and lower triaxial terminals, and wherein a low (LO) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of each upper and lower triaxial terminals, and wherein a low sense (LOS) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of the middle triaxial terminal.
However, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 wherein the three triaxial terminals include an upper triaxial terminal, a lower triaxial terminal, and a middle triaxial terminal located between the upper and lower triaxial terminals (12’, 12a’, 12b’; fig. 7) , and wherein a low (LO) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of each upper and lower triaxial terminals, and wherein a low sense (LOS) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of the middle triaxial terminal (12a’).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having wherein the three triaxial terminals include an upper triaxial terminal, a lower triaxial terminal, and a middle triaxial terminal located between the upper and lower triaxial terminals, and wherein a low (LO) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of each upper and lower triaxial terminals, and wherein a low sense (LOS) terminal is assigned to the inner conductor of the middle triaxial terminal as taught by Titus in order to provide "electrical adapter that can be used with a triaxial cable having a center connector, a middle connector, and an outer connector" (abstract).
Regarding claim 6, Winkelstein in view of Gul and Titus teaches the DMM of claim 5,
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly wherein the inner conductors of the upper and lower triaxial terminals are electrically connected inside the device.
However, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 wherein the inner conductors of the upper and lower triaxial terminals are electrically connected inside the device (12 and 12b’ in fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having wherein the inner conductors of the upper and lower triaxial terminals are electrically connected inside the device as taught by Titus in order to provide "electrical adapter that can be used with a triaxial cable having a center connector, a middle connector, and an outer connector" (abstract).
Regarding claim 7, Winkelstein in view of Gul teaches the DMM of claim 1,
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly further comprising a triaxial-to-banana adapter having a back panel configured for attachment to the three triaxial terminals and a front panel having five banana terminals.
However, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 further comprising a triaxial-to-banana adapter having a back panel configured for attachment to the three triaxial terminals (triaxial terminals 12*; fig. 7) and a front panel having five banana terminals (banana terminals 202-214; fig. 11).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having further comprising a triaxial-to-banana adapter having a back panel configured for attachment to the three triaxial terminals and a front panel having five banana terminals as taught by Titus in order to provide "maintaining the first and second banana terminals of the electronic device at the same voltage to maintain the center conductor and the middle conductor of the triaxial cable at the same voltage." (para. 24).
Regarding claim 8, Winkelstein in view of Gul teaches the DMM of claim 7,
Winkelstein does not teach explicitly wherein the adaptor is configured such that the trigger input and output terminals are accessible on the front panel when the triaxial-to-banana adapter is attached to the three triaxial terminals.
However, Titus teaches in figure(s) 1-12 wherein the adaptor is configured such that the trigger input and output terminals are accessible on the front panel when the triaxial-to-banana adapter is attached to the three triaxial terminals (clm. 12 - adapter configured to couple to the triaxial cable and to the electronic device such that the center conductor of the triaxial cable is in electrical communication with the first banana jack terminal of the electronic device via the first banana plug; figs. 7,11).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Winkelstein by having wherein the adaptor is configured such that the trigger input and output terminals are accessible on the front panel when the triaxial-to-banana adapter is attached to the three triaxial terminals as taught by Titus in order to provide "maintaining the first and second banana terminals of the electronic device at the same voltage to maintain the center conductor and the middle conductor of the triaxial cable at the same voltage." (para. 24).
Claim(s) 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Titus in view of Winkelstein, and further in view of Moran.
Regarding claim 10, Titus in view of Winkelstein teaches the DMM of claim 9,
Titus does not teach explicitly wherein the DMM has a PXIe form factor.
However, Moran teaches in figure(s) 1-10 wherein the DMM (para. 217 - digital multi-meter DMM) has a PXIe form factor (para. 117 - modules may be configured for insertion into a chassis PXIe-1075, PXIe-1082, PXIe-1065 and PXIe-1062Q; fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Titus by having PXIe form factor as taught by Moran in order to provide some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention as evidenced by "A user obtains a set of modules, inserts them into slots of a chassis, and interconnects the modules to form a modular instrument" (abstract).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See the List of References cited in the US PT0-892.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKM ZAKARIA whose telephone number is (571)270-0664. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-5 PM (PST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached on (571) 272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AKM ZAKARIA/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858