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 .
Claims 1-2 are pending.
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.
The following title is suggested: Connector Having a Lid Body for Detecting Incomplete Terminal Insertion.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito (JP 07022107A), in view of Fukamachi (US 6,264,507) and further in view of Humphrey et al. (US 10,855,024), hereinafter Humphrey.
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Regarding claim 1, Ito discloses a connector (terminal connector structure for shielded wire 32, Fig. 1) comprising: a connector housing (connector housing 23, Fig. 1); and a cable assembly (shield terminal portion 22 and shield wire 14, Fig. 1 and 3) inserted into the connector housing, wherein the cable assembly includes an outer housing (shield terminal 1, Fig. 1), an inner housing (terminal housing member 2A, Fig. 4) which has a terminal accommodating chamber (front part of terminal accommodating member 2, Fig. 2) extending in a front-rear direction and which is accommodated in the outer housing (see Fig. 2), and an inner terminal (signal terminals 10 and 11, Fig. 1-2) which is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the inner housing from a rear side toward a front side in a state of being connected to an end of an electric wire (see Fig. 1 and 3), the inner housing includes an opening portion (opening portion 30a, see Fig. 5 above) which is opened toward a side of an insertion path of the inner terminal (Fig. 5), and an openable and closable lid body (lid member 34, Fig. 5) which closes the opening portion.
However, Ito fails to disclose the inner terminal includes a protrusion facing the opening portion when the inner terminal is inserted into the inner housing, and an inner face of the lid body in the inner housing is provided with a housing recessed portion which receives the protrusion of the inner terminal when the inner terminal is inserted into a normal position of the terminal accommodating chamber to enable a closing operation of the lid body to a closed position, and wherein the interference wall portion which interferes with the protrusion of the inner terminal when the inner terminal is at a half-insertion position before the normal position of the terminal accommodating chamber to disable the closing operation of the lid body to the closed position.
Fukamachi teaches wherein the inner terminal (terminal fitting 30, Fig. 3) includes a protrusion (detecting protrusion 42, Fig. 3) facing the opening portion (opening 16, Fig. 3) when the inner terminal is inserted into the inner housing (Fig. 4-5) and wherein the inner housing is provided with a housing recessed portion (recess 40, Fig. 3) which receives the protrusion (42) of the inner terminal when the inner terminal is inserted into a normal position of the terminal accommodating chamber to enable a closing operation of the lid body to a closed position (Col. 5, line 8-13, “the stopping member 21, which was away from the cavity 11, enters the recess 40 of the terminal fitting 30, and the anterior face 23 of the stopping member 21 strikes against the stopping end face 41 of the terminal fitting 30 and the posterior end face 43 of the detecting protrusion 42.”, see Figs. 5, 10).
Humphrey teaches an interference wall portion (projections 74, Fig. 8) which interferes with the protrusion of the inner terminal when the inner terminal is at a half-insertion position before the normal position of the terminal accommodating chamber to disable the closing operation of the lid body to the closed position (Col. 5, line 58-62, “the engagement of the terminal position assurance members or projections 74 with the wire-termination portions 22 will prevent the continued movement of the cover portion 32 to the closed position, as illustrated in FIG. 8, thereby providing a visual indication that the electrical connector 10 is not properly terminated”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Fukamachi and Humphrey to modify the invention of Ito to provide a connector wherein the inner terminal includes a protrusion as taught by Fukamachi and an interference wall portion as taught by Humphrey to interfere with the protrusion before the normal position of the terminal being inserted to disable the closing operation of the lid body to the closed position. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to provide a discrete and repeatable function related to the terminal’s actual position thereby obtaining reliable and consistent half-insertion detection.
Regarding claim 2, Ito discloses the connector according to claim 1, wherein the lid body (lid member 34) is integrally and rotatably coupled to a front edge portion (front edge of shield terminal portion 22, Fig. 2) of the opening portion of a body of the inner housing via a hinge (hinge 33, Fig. 5).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Peng (US 9,774,138) discloses a connector module including a housing and adapter portion for holding a plurality of respective lead wires.
Takeuchi et al. (US 20190310428) discloses a connecter assembly including an adapter, housing, ferrule assembly and a sensor.
Sakurai et al. (US 6,257,931) discloses a shielded connector having a pressure contact portion and a lid member for securing the terminal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeffrey Mountain whose telephone number is (703)756-1939. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30am - 6:30pm ET.
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/JEFFREY MOUNTAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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