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 .
Priority
Priority claim to DE10 2021 123 486.7 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/27/2024 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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
1. Claim 9 recites the limitation “the metal connector”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner is not entirely sure where the metal conductor is supposed to be, but for the purposes of examination, examiner will assume this reads “a metal conductor”.
Claims 17 and 18 recite “the cross-section”, which lacks antecedent basis. For the purposes of examination, examiner will assume this reads “a cross-section”.
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 rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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.
2. Claims 1, 3, 4, 7-10, 15, 17-19 and 29-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wenz (10,717,368).
As to claim 1: Wenz teaches a plug connector, comprising:
at least one plug-in pin (figure 3B, 30), wherein the plug-in pin has a first region extending from a first front face to a center region (20), and a second region extending from a second front face to the center region (32-31),
characterized in that wherein the plug-in pin has a recess tapering towards the center region on its first front face (figure 3B, wherein base 32 is flared as compared to 20, 21) and a blind hole (23) with a thread (claim 1, threaded sleeve having an internal thread) is arranged in the recess of at least one of the at least one plug-in pin.
As to claim 3: Wenz teaches that the at least one plug-in pin comprises at least two plug-in pins figure 5A, two elements 10).
As to claim 4: Wenz teaches that the second region of at least one of the plug-in pins has a smaller cross-section than the first region (as seen in figure 3B, 3A, wherein one section is smaller as compared to the second section).
As to claim 7: Wenz teaches that the center axis of the second region of at least one of the plug-in pins is arranged eccentrically with respect to the center axis of the first region of the at least one plug-in pin, so that the center axes of the second regions of the at least two plug-in pins are at a smaller distance from one another than the center axes of the first regions of the at least two plug-in pins (as seen in figure 5A, wherein the two pins are arranged offset with the center of element 100_1).
As to claim 8: Wenz teaches that at least one of the recesses is conical in shape (as seen in figure 3B, wherein element 23 is larger than the base section, near element 36).
As to claim 9: Wenz teaches that the recess of at least one of the plug-in pins is arranged eccentrically to the center axis of the first region of the at least one plug-in pin in the first front face of a metal connector (figure 5A and 5B show the recess of plug-in being askew from the center of the front face of the device in both X and Y dimensions).
As to claim 10: Wenz teaches that the second region of at least one plug-in pin is adjacent to a further front face of the first region of the plug-in pin which is different from the first front face and which faces the second region (as seen in figure 5B, 30 is closer to the front face of the housing on the left side, whereas 20 is closer to the housing directly above 20).
As to claim 15: Wenz teaches that the first region and/or the second region of at least one of the plug-in pins has at least one protrusion and/or indentation, in particular an at least partially circumferential groove (circumferential grooves lie upon elements 30, as seen in figures 3A and 3B).
As to claim 17: Wenz teaches a cross-section of the first region of at least one of the plug-in pins deviates at least partially from a round cross-section, in particular is elliptical, triangular, square, polygonal, star-shaped, or otherwise shaped, in particular such that the cross-section is not invariant to rotations about the longitudinal axis of the plug-in pin and/or is only invariant to rotations about a limited set of angles (explained is a screw-type element, wherein the threading prevents movement in a majority of angles).
As to claim 18: Wenz teaches a cross-section of the second region of at least one of the plug-in pins at the transition between the first and the second region is increased in relation to the remaining cross-section of the second region, in particular at least one indentation, in particular an at least partially circumferential groove, is arranged on the second region in the region of the transition (circumferential grooves lie in both first and second regions of the pin, figures 3A, 3B).
As to claim 19: Wenz teaches that a screw can be inserted through the recess into the blind hole and fastened there (26, figure 3B).
As to claim 29: Wenz teaches a charging socket with a front side and a rear side facing away (112, figure 1, figure 7 showing the rear side) from the front having comprising:
a receptacle for a charging plug arranged on the front,
a plug connector according to claim 1, which is arranged at least partially within the receptacle and extends from the front side to the rear side,
wherein the first region extends from the rear side in the direction of the receptacle and the second region extends into the receptacle (as seen in figures 5 and 6, the pin element lies halfway on the outside front section of the socket, 31, and half of the pin element lies on the back side of the housing buffered by 30 in figure 6B).
As to claim 30: Wenz teaches that the charging socket comprises retaining means for the plug connector (figure 1, housing).
As to claim 31: Wenz teaches that the plug connector is connected to the charging socket in a force-fit and/or form-fit manner, and/or the second region of at least one of the plug-in pins of the plug connector is arranged at least partially in the receptacle of the charging socket, and/or the first front face of at least one of the plug-in pins protrudes from the charging socket along the longitudinal direction of the plug-in pin (as seen in figures 5-7, where the elements lie snugly within the receptacle of the charging socket).
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.
3. Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wenz (10,717,368) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of . The teachings of Wenz are discussed above.
As to claims 13 and 14: Wenz teaches the limitations of claim 1, further including that the pins are made of any conductive material.
Wenz is silent as to that the connector is made of copper or aluminum, and that the connector is coated with silver, gold or nickel.
Beck teaches that the conductor is made of copper (claim 16) and that the galvanic coating of the pin is silver or gold (claim 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claims to combine the teachings of Wenz with the teachings of Beck so that commonly used conductive materials for plugs might be utilized, thereby improving conductivity while keeping costs down. Wenz already envisions using any conductive material, and Beck is directed toward the same field of endeavor, so no undue testing is required.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID P TARDIF whose telephone number is (571)270-7810. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 11AM-7:30PM. If the examiner cannot be reached by telephone, he can be reached through the following email address: david.tardif@uspto.gov
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone and email are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham can be reached on (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DAVID TARDIF
Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/DAVID TARDIF/
Examiner, Art Unit 2876
david.tardif@uspto.gov
/MATTHEW MIKELS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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