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 .
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 (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 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication to Yi 20140161398US in view of the US Patent to Ohtsuka 6,095,695US.
In terms of Claim 1, Yi teaches An alignment frame (Figure 5: 20)) for facilitating a mating of a first ferrule (Figure 5: body of 44 and 42) to a second ferrule (Figure 9: body of 22) along a mating direction (Figure 9: along Z axis), comprising: a base (Figure 9: 44); opposing first and second arms (Figure 5: left and right arms of 50) extending forwardly from opposing ends of the base (Figure 5: left and right arms of 50); spaced apart first and second flexible features (Figure 5: protrusion on the inner sidewall of 50 closest to front face of 44) disposed on an inner surface of the first arm and facing the second arm (Figure 5: inner protrusion of 50); and spaced apart third and fourth flexible features disposed on an inner surface of the second arm (Figure 5: 52) and facing the first arm, such that when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 9), the opposing first and third flexible features are flexed and in contact with the first ferrule (Figure 5: inner protrusion on the inner surface of 50 comes in contact with 22), and the opposing second and fourth flexible features are flexed and in contact with the second ferrule (Figure 5: 52 are flexed away and comes in contact with the body of 44 via the rear end of 50).
PNG
media_image1.png
326
452
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Yi does not teach wherein the alignment frame is “a standalone component that is not integrally formed with either 1st or 2nd ferrule”.
Ohtsuka does teach an alignment frame (Figure 2a: 3 or Figure 14: 101), that houses or holds a 1st and 2nd ferrule device (Figure 2a: 2 and 5 or Figure 14: 107 and 110) containing fibers (Figure 2a: 4 or Figure 14: 108 or 110c). The alignment frame (Figure 2a: 3 or Figure 14: 101) is “a standalone component that is not integrally formed with either ferrule” (See Figure 2a: 3 is standalone from 2 and 5; Figure 14: 101 is standalone from 107 and 110) for the purpose of aligning the two ferrules together (Figure 2a: 2 and 5; Figure 14: 107 and 110). The alignment frame (3 or 101) contains a base (101 or back portion of 3 that is contact with the spring 6), having 1st and 2nd features on the arms (See Figure 3: 3a and 3e or Figure 14: 105a and 105b that are capable of flexing (Column 14, lines 1-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Yi to include a standalone housing frame that enhances alignment of the two ferrules incase the two ferrules are dislodge from each other (Column 6, lines 35-55). The frame acts as an additional alignment structures the ensure the two ferrules are not dislodge or decoupled if the device made forceable contact with something else or if the device was dropped onto the ground. Further one of ordinary skill can replace ferrules with latch arms for ones without latch arms and used a standalone alignment frame for purpose of making the device easier to maintain in situation wherein the arms break or gets damage the entire ferrule must be replace, while having a standalone alignment frame allows for only the alignment frame to be replace. This reduces the need of terminating and realigning fibers to a new ferrule connector.
As for Claim 2, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule (Figure 9: wherein ferrule on 44 and ferrule on 22 mates) resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 3), the first and second flexible features are flexed in a same first direction (Figure 5), and the second and fourth flexible features are flexed in a same second direction opposite the first direction (Figure 5).
As for Claim 3, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule, the first and second ferrules are disposed, at least partially, between the first and second arms (See Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 4, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches such that when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 9), the opposing first and third flexible features are each flexed outwardly by the first ferrule a first distance and the opposing second and fourth flexible features are each flexed outwardly by the second ferrule a second distance greater than the first distance (See Figure 5 above: 1st distance and 2nd distance, 1st-4th flexible features).
As for Claim 5, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first, second, third and fourth flexible features lie substantially in a same plane (Figure 5).
As for Claim 6, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches such that when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule along a mating direction resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 9), a plane perpendicular to the mating direction and connecting the second and fourth flexible features intersects both the first and second ferrules (Figure 5: see distance between 2nd and fourth flexible feature), and a plane perpendicular to the mating direction and connecting the first and third flexible features intersects only the first ferrule (Figure 5 above: see plane of 1st and 2nd distance and 1st-4th flexible features).
As for Claim 7, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first and second flexible features have different flexing properties (See Figure 5: above wherein the features flex away at different distances).
As for Claim 8, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the third and fourth flexible features have different flexing properties (See Figures 3-5 above).
As for Claim 9, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first flexible feature is disposed on a first portion of the first arm closer to the base (See Figure 5 above: wherein flexible features on the inside protrusion are closer to 44) and the second flexible feature is disposed on a second portion of the first arm farther from the base, the first and second portions of the first arm having different flexing properties (See Figure 5: 52 above).
As for Claim 10, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the third flexible feature is disposed on a first portion of the second arm closer to the base and the fourth flexible feature is disposed on a second portion of the second arm farther from the base, the first and second portions of the second arm having different flexing properties (See Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 11, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first and second flexible features lie on a first straight line substantially parallel to the mating direction (See Figure 5 above wherein the arms are parallel to z axis), and the third and fourth flexible features lie on a second straight line different than and substantially parallel to the first straight line (See Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 12, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first and third flexible features lie on a first straight line substantially perpendicular to the mating direction (See Figure 5: wherein horizontal distances are perpendicular to mating direction), and the second and fourth flexible features lie on a second straight line different than and substantially parallel to the first straight line (See Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 13, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches the first and third flexible features have substantially same first flexing properties, and the second and fourth flexible features have substantially same second flexing properties (See Figure 5 above: 1st-4th flexible features and their location on arms 50 of left and right side).
As for Claim 14, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 13, wherein Yi teaches the second flexing properties are different than the first flexing properties (See Figure 3-5).
As for Claim 15, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches such that when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 9), the opposing first and third flexible features are flexed and in contact with corresponding inflexible features on the first ferrule (Figure 3 or 4: wherein arms 50 are flexed and contact with sidewalls of 22), and the opposing second and fourth flexible features are flexed and in contact with corresponding inflexible features on the second ferrule (Figure 4).
As for Claim 16, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches each of the first and second flexible features is flexible, at least in part, by virtue of the first arm being flexible, and each of the third and fourth flexible features is flexible, at least in part, by virtue of the second arm being flexible (Figure 5).
As for Claim 17, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches a front portion of each arm splits into upper and lower beams, such that each of the first and second flexile features is disposed on an inner surface of a different flexible beam of the first flexible arm, and each of the third and fourth flexile features is disposed on an inner surface of a different flexible beam of the second flexible arm (See Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 18, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 17, wherein Yi teaches each of the first and second flexible features is flexible, at least in part, by virtue of the upper and lower beams of the first arm being flexible, and each of the third and fourth flexible features is flexible, at least in part, by virtue of the upper and lower beams of the second arm being flexible (Figure 5 above).
As for Claim 19, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 18, wherein Yi teaches such that when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figure 9 or Figure 4), the upper beams of the first and second flexible arms are flexed and in contact with corresponding inflexible features on the first ferrule, and the lower beams of the first and second flexible arms are flexed and in contact with corresponding inflexible features on the second ferrule (Figure 5: the protrusion on the inner wall of the arms form a beam ledge structure on the inside while the 52 is located on arms without a ledge thus form a separate beams structure of 50).
As for Claim 20, Yi / Ohtsuka teaches the device of Claim 1, wherein Yi teaches when the alignment frame facilitates a mating of a first ferrule to a second ferrule along a mating direction in a mating plane resulting in the first ferrule being mated to the second ferrule (Figures 9 and 3), and the first and second ferrules are misaligned relative to each other in the mating plane (See Figure 9 wherein the structures are not fully aligned until 52 is attached to grooves of 62), the first, second, third and fourth flexible features cooperatively guide the first and second ferrules into alignment with each other (See Figure 9).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any of the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The examiner has established new ground rejection in view of newly cited prior art to Ohtsuka.
Ohtsuka does teach an alignment frame (Figure 2a: 3 or Figure 14: 101), that houses or holds a 1st and 2nd ferrule device (Figure 2a: 2 and 5 or Figure 14: 107 and 110) containing fibers (Figure 2a: 4 or Figure 14: 108 or 110c). The alignment frame (Figure 2a: 3 or Figure 14: 101) is “a standalone component that is not integrally formed with either ferrule” (See Figure 2a: 3 is standalone from 2 and 5; Figure 14: 101 is standalone from 107 and 110) for the purpose of aligning the two ferrules together (Figure 2a: 2 and 5; Figure 14: 107 and 110). The alignment frame (3 or 101) contains a base (101 or back portion of 3 that is contact with the spring 6), having 1st and 2nd features on the arms (See Figure 3: 3a and 3e or Figure 14: 105a and 105b that are capable of flexing (Column 14, lines 1-20).
PNG
media_image2.png
312
558
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent to Lee 5,838,856 teaches using alignment frame for aligning two ferrules together.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOANG Q TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5049. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 am - 5:30pm Monday - Friday.
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, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 5712722397. 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.
/HOANG Q TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/UYEN CHAU N LE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights