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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blickenstorfer (US 2010/0071203 A1).
Re Claim 1, Blickenstorfer discloses a terminal reel unit (See Fig. 3) comprising: a reel holding portion 4 configured to detachably hold a terminal reel around which a strip-shaped terminal chain body 12 in which a plurality of terminals 5 is connected to each other is wound (See Fig. 2); a crimping portion 2 which is disposed at a position in a front side with respect to the terminal reel in a pull-out direction of the terminal chain body from the terminal reel when the terminal reel is held by the reel holding portion 4 (See figures 2 and 3), the crimping portion 2 forming at least a part of a crimping machine 1 configured to crimp the terminal 5 of the terminal chain body having been pulled out from the terminal reel, to an electric wire and to separate the terminal 5 from the terminal chain body 12; and a unit frame 34, 13 being a frame set detachably with respect to a device configured to supply the terminal 5 to the crimping machine 1, and to which the reel holding portion 4 and the crimping portion 2 are attached (Pars. 0078-0107, Figs. 1-7).
Re Claim 2, Blickenstorfer discloses the unit frame 34, 13 includes: a frame body formed in an elongated shape and attached to the crimping portion 2 at one end thereof (See figures 2-4), and a pivot arm 14 attached to another end of the frame body on an opposite side with respect to the crimping portion 2, and configured to support the reel holding portion in a rotatable manner between a first position where pull-out of the terminal chain body 12 from the terminal reel to the crimping portion 2 is allowed and a second position where attachment and detachment of the terminal reel are allowed, about a rotation shaft 42 intersecting with the another end of the frame body (Pars. 0078-0080, 0096-0099 and 0107-0115, Figs. 3 and 4).
Re Claim 3, Blickenstorfer discloses the unit frame 34, 13 is provided with a guide path (not labeled, see figure 3) configured to guide the terminal chain body 12 having been pulled out from the terminal reel, from the terminal reel held by the reel holding portion 4 to the crimping portion 2 (Pars. 0078-0080, and Figs. 2 and 3).
Re Claim 4, Blickenstorfer discloses electric wire processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of the terminal reel units 10 according to claim 1; a supply mechanism 27 in which the plurality of terminal reel units 10 is detachably set, the plurality of terminal reel units 10 having respective one of the terminal reels of different types, each of the terminal reels having a terminal type different from others, the supply mechanism 27 being configured to move, when a target terminal reel is selected out of the plurality of types of terminal reels, one terminal reel unit holding the target terminal reel among the plurality of terminal reel units to a crimping machine setting position where the crimping portion 2 is set in the crimping machine 1; and an apparatus body configured to cut out a segment electric wire or to manufacture a terminal-equipped electric wire by crimping the terminal in the terminal chain body pulled out from the target terminal reel held by the one terminal reel unit 10, to at least one end of the segment electric wire using the crimping machine 1 (Pars. 0003, 0077-0080 and 0155-0162, Figs. 1-4 and 18).
Re Claim 5, Blickenstorfer discloses in a state where the plurality of terminal reel units 10 is arranged adjacently along an arrangement direction intersecting the pull-out direction of the terminal chain body 12, the crimping portion 2 is set at a position away from the crimping machine setting position in the pull-out direction, and when the target terminal reel is selected, the supply mechanism 27 first slides the plurality of terminal reel units 10 in the arrangement direction until the crimping portion 2 for the one terminal reel unit is aligned with the crimping machine setting position in the pull-out direction, and then pushes the one terminal reel unit in the pull-out direction until the crimping portion 2 reaches the crimping machine setting position (Pars. 0003, 0077-0080 and 0155-0162, Figs. 1-4 and 18).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAYAN SALONE whose telephone number is (571)270-7739. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-60 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Bryant can be reached at (571)272-4526. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BAYAN SALONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
Prosecution Insights