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 . Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claim 3, line 2, the language “at least partially” should be deleted.
Regarding Claim 6, line 2, it appears that there are two blank spaces between the term “contact” and the term “configured.” A similar objection applies to Claim 15.
Regarding Claim 7, each of lines 3 and 4, it appears that each instance of the term “spaced” should be changed to “spaced pair of.” A similar objection applies to Claim 16.
Regarding Claim 10, line 1, the term “sufficiently” is unclear.
Regarding Claim 12, line 1, perhaps the acronym “MCC” should be changed to “motor control center (MCC).”
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Specifically, there is no antecedent basis for the language “the pipe contact” recited in line 2.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gollhardt et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0079436 A1, hereinafter “Gollhardt”) in view of Darr et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0158788 A1, hereinafter “Darr”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Gollhardt discloses a cell (unit 128; FIG. 3) for a motor control center (MCC; 12), the cell (128) comprising: an isolation switch (134) configured to receive power from a power source (¶ [0030]), and a contactor (e.g., an electrical contact or terminal within unit 124, hereinafter considered to be at least one of electrical components 138; ¶ [0030]) configured to receive power from the isolation switch (134) and to selectively provide power to a load (124). Gollhardt does not disclose (i) the remaining language of the claimed isolation switch and at least one insulating barrier, as recited in Claims 1, 2, 4, and 5, and contacts recited in Claims 6 and 7.
However, Darr discloses that the (i) isolation switch (280; FIG. 7) comprises a first contact (one of 176, 180; FIG. 7) and a second contact (172; FIG. 7) that are configured to engage and disengage from one another (inherently disclosed in FIG. 7) and at least one insulating barrier (226, 252; FIGS 5 and 7) surrounding the first and second contacts (172, 176, 180; FIGS. 5 and 7) and configured to maintain insulation around the first and second contacts when engaging and disengaging the first and second contacts (172, 176, 180), as recited in Claim 1, (ii) at least one insulating barrier (226, 252) comprises: a first insulating barrier (252; FIGS. 5-7) surrounding the first contact (176, 180), and a second insulating barrier (226; FIGS. 5-7) surrounding the second contact (172), as recited in Claim 2, (iii) that the first insulating barrier (252) continues to at least partially overlap the second insulating barrier (226) as the first and second contacts (172, 176, 180) are disengaged (the contacts being shown in FIG. 4; 252 overlapping 226 when unit 220 lays on a surface with 226 laying parallel to the surface, e.g., of a table), as recited in Claim 4, (iv) that the first contact (176, 180) and the first insulating barrier (252) are fixed (e.g., as shown in FIG. 7) and wherein the second contact (172) and the second insulating barrier (226) are configured to move to engage and disengage the first and second contacts (172, 176, 180; e.g., during a state of assembly by a device manufacturer), as recited in Claim 5, (v) that the first contact (176, 180) comprises a pair of spaced apart first contacts (176, 180; FIG. 7) and wherein the second contact (172) comprises a single second contact (172) configured to be inserted between the pair of spaced apart first contacts (172 is electrically inserted between 178 and 180 to establish an electrical connection between 178, 180), as recited in Claim 6, (vi) that the second contact (172) comprises a spring contact member (200) surrounding a central core contact member (176) and configured to be compressed between the core contact member and the spaced apart first contacts (176, 180) when the second contact (172) is inserted between the spaced apart first contacts (FIGS. 3 and 7), as recited in Claim 7.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Darr with those of Gollhardt to establish an electrical connection within an insulative casing for operator safety and ease of installation.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Gollhardt and Darr discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention and Darr further discloses that the second insulating barrier (226) is configured to be [coupled to] the first insulating barrier (252) such that the first insulating barrier (252) at least partially overlaps the second insulating barrier (226) when the first and second contacts are engaged (the contacts being shown in FIG. 7; 252 overlapping 226 when unit 220 lays on a surface with 226 laying parallel to the surface, e.g., of a table). The combination of Gollhardt and Darr does not disclose that the second insulating barrier is configured to be inserted into the first insulating barrier. However, it would have been obvious one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to insert the second insulating barrier into the first insulating barrier (e.g., via snap fit protrusions, mounting studs, etc.) to provide securely coupled housing insulating barriers. It has been concluded that absent any convincing showing of the criticality of the design, this particular design is nothing more than the inventor choice without departing from the scope of the invention. In re Dailey, 149 U.S.P.Q. 47 (C.C.P.A. 1976).
Regarding Claim 11, Gollhardt discloses a fuse connecting the isolation switch (134) to the contactor (¶ [0030]).
Claims 12-16 include language similar to that of Claims 2 and 4-7, respectively, and are rejected for reasons at least similar to those discussed above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, and 17-20, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Regarding Claim 8, Darr discloses that the at least one insulating barrier (226, 252) comprises a contact housing, wherein the first contact (176, 180) is positioned in the contact housing, and wherein the second contact (172) is configured to be inserted into the contact housing to engage the first contact (176, 180; FIG. 7). However, the prior art fails to teach, disclose, or suggest, either alone or in combination, altering the contact housing of Darr to include a barrel contact housing.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights