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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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)(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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Mase et al. (US. 2009/0191754 A1).
In Regards to Claim 1:
Mase teaches a connector (10), comprising a first housing (150) and a second housing (11), the first housing (150) including a receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1) and a protrusion (70) projecting into the receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1), the second housing (11) including a housing body (90) to be fit into the receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1), the housing body (90) including a small cavity portion (16B) for accommodating small-size second terminal fittings (130), a large cavity portion (16A) for accommodating large-size second terminal fittings (130) and a recess (17), the protrusion (70) being arranged in the recess (17), each of the small cavity portion (16A) and the large cavity portion (16A) having a front surface on a front side in a fitting direction into the receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1) and an end surface on one end side intersecting the fitting direction, the end surface of the small cavity portion (16B) being arranged to drop in a height direction from the end surface of the large cavity portion (16A), and the recess (17) being defined by a side surface in the height direction of the large cavity portion (16A) and the end surface of the small cavity portion (16B), the recess (17) being open toward the front side and the one end side.
In Regards to Claim 2:
Mase teaches the connector of claim 1, wherein:
the second housing (11) includes a front portion (See Reproduced Drawing 1) for covering the front surface of the small cavity portion (16B), the front portion (See Reproduced Drawing 1) includes a locking portion (101) and the housing body (90) includes a locked portion (101) to be locked by the locking portion (101), and the locked portion (101) is formed to be open in the end surface of the small cavity portion (16B).
In Regards to Claim 3:
Mase teaches the connector of claim 1, comprising a lever (110) to be supported on the housing body (90), wherein:
the receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1) includes a columnar lever shaft (112) for advancing fitting of the housing body (90) by being engaged with the lever (110), and the lever (110) shaft is bridged from the receptacle (See Reproduced Drawing 1) to the protrusion (70).
In Regards to Claim 4:
Mase teaches the connector of claim 1, wherein:
a plurality of the receptacles (See Reproduced Drawing 1) are provided in the first housing (150), and the protrusions (70) are formed to have different external dimensions in the plurality of respective receptacles (See Reproduced Drawing 1).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NADER J ALHAWAMDEH whose telephone number is (571)270-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9Am - 6Pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah A Riyami can be reached at (571)270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NADER J ALHAWAMDEH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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