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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karasawa et al. (US 20180076053 A1) hereafter referred to as Karasawa in view of Ihara (JP 2003148435 A)
In regard to claim 1 Karasawa teaches a semiconductor device [see Figs. 1-4, “FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a semiconductor module 1 of a first embodiment”] comprising:
a semiconductor element [“semiconductor element 40”];
a main terminal [“external terminal 10 is a metal terminal electrically connecting an internal circuit, such as a semiconductor element, housed in the resin case 20 to an electronic component outside the resin case 20”] that includes:
a fastening portion including [see Fig. 1 “A terminal hole 12 is formed in the tip portion of the external terminal 10. By inserting a screw such as a bolt into the terminal hole 12, the semiconductor module 1 is fixed to an external bus bar and the like”] a fastening hole, through which the main terminal is fastenable to an external conductor [i.e. “external bus bar and the like”] by a screw and a nut, and
an extending portion [“A base end portion of the external terminal 10 penetrates inside the wall portion 21 of the resin case 20 and extends to the space where the internal circuit is provided”] extending from a first side [i.e. left side in Fig. 2 ] of the fastening portion toward the semiconductor element, the extending portion being electrically connected [“external terminal 10 may be electrically connected to the semiconductor element 40 via the connection layer 35 or the circuit layer 34”] to the semiconductor element; and
a case [“resin case 20 houses a semiconductor element”] that houses the semiconductor element, wherein the case has a recess [“the through hole 26 is formed in the terminal placement portion 22 of the resin case 20” “nut 50 functions as the fastening portion provided inside the through hole 26. The supporting portion 60 is provided inside the through hole 26 to support the nut 50”] configured to accommodate the nut fastening [“When joining a bolt to the nut 50, the concave portion 61 houses a tip of the bolt. In this way, the supporting portion 60 functions as a receiver of a screw such as a bolt”] the main terminal through the fastening hole, and
but does not teach: the main terminal further includes a bent portion that is bent from a peripheral edge of the fastening portion at a second side thereof different from the first side, and that is disposed between a wall surface of the recess in the case and the nut fastening the main terminal through the fastening hole.
See Karasawa teaches bending “In the pressing process (Step S101), the bent portion 14 may be formed in the external terminal 10, and in the bending process (Step S102), the internal bent portion 15 may be formed in the external terminal 10. Conversely, in the pressing process (Step S101), the internal bent portion 15 may be formed in the external terminal 10, and in the bending process (Step S102), the bent portion 14 may be formed in the external terminal 10” “According to the plating step (Step S103) in the manufacturing method of the present example, the plating process is performed on the external terminal 10 in a state that the external terminal 10 is not fixed to the resin case 20” “after loading the plated external terminal 10 in a mold, melt resin is injected into the mold. Resin case 20 is molded by solidifying the resin in the mold (Step S104)” “In the resin molding step (Step S104), the through hole 26 is formed in the resin case 20 in a position opposite to the external terminal 10. Therefore, in the resin molding step (Step S104), an alignment between the through hole 26 of the resin case 20 and the terminal hole 12 in the tip portion of the external terminal 10 is completed” see “As shown in FIG. 8B, the concave portion 612 has a cross section corresponding to the contour of the nut 50. Since the shape of the concave portion 612 corresponds to the nut 50, the nut 50 is fixed inside the concave portion 612, and accordingly, an idling of the nut 50 when bolt fastening is suppressed”.
See Ihara teaches see Fig. 12, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, Fig. 15 see “As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 13, the nut member N .sub.2 has a specific position (namely, each apex portion of the nut member N .sub.2 corresponds to each apex portion of the first bolt insertion hole 8). Position), the first bolt insertion hole 8 Is inserted into” “Since the inner wall surface of the first member P is overlapped and locked, the nut member N .sub.2 does not come off from the first bolt insertion hole 8” “As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a nut member N .sub.3 that constitutes the bolt fastener A .sub.3 of this embodiment. Has a square (square) front shape, and the first member P has a first shape” “In the case of the bolt fastener A .sub.3 of this embodiment, the four apex portions of the nut member N .sub.3 are brought into contact with and locked by the inner wall surface of the first member P”.
See that in Ihara the nut is held by bent portion of metal instead of by resin when tightening the screw.
If teaching of Ihara is applied to Karasawa, then external terminal 10 can be shaped to hold the nut prior to the “melt resin is injected into the mold”.
Thus, it 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 to modify Karasawa to include the main terminal further includes a bent portion that is bent from a peripheral edge of the fastening portion at a second side thereof different from the first side, and that is disposed between a wall surface of the recess in the case and the nut fastening the main terminal through the fastening hole.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is to use bent portion of metal to hold the nut for good firm grip of the nut when tightening the screw.
In regard to claim 2 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the bent portion is bent from the peripheral edge of the fastening portion at both the second side [see combination Ihara, see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut i.e. see that the nut can be any shape and have any number of sides, and each side will have a bent portion to hold it] and a third side thereof, the second and third sides being opposite to each other in a width direction of the main terminal perpendicular to an extending direction of the extending portion.
In regard to claim 3 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the extending portion is bent and is configured to abut on the nut [see combination Ihara, see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut i.e. see that the nut can be any shape and have any number of sides, and each side will have a bent portion to hold it] fastening the main terminal through the fastening hole, and the second side is opposite to the first side.
In regard to claim 4 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the bent portion is configured to abut on a side surface of the nut fastening the main terminal [see combination Ihara, see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut i.e. see that the nut can be any shape and have any number of sides, and each side will have a bent portion to hold it] through the fastening hole, and is formed to be larger [see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15] than the side surface of the nut.
In regard to claim 5 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the bent portion has an opening through which [see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut, thus corners are exposed] a corner of the nut fastening the main terminal through the fastening hole is exposed.
In regard to claim 6 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the extending portion has an opening through which [see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut, thus corners are exposed] a corner of the nut fastening the main terminal through the fastening hole is exposed.
In regard to claim 7 Karasawa and Ihara as combined teaches wherein the bent portion abuts [see Ihara Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 see that the “anti-rotation protrusions 11” “four rotation preventing protrusions 14” are on the flat faces of the nut, then see combination the “melt resin is injected into the mold”] on the wall surface of the recess.
Conclusion
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/SITARAMARAO S YECHURI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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