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 disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0004], lines 2-3, “immediately stepped up to high higher transmission voltages” appears to have mistakenly included “high” when comparing the range of transmission voltages to the range of voltage generated. Thus, “immediately stepped up to high higher transmission voltages” should be written as “immediately stepped up to higher transmission voltages.”
The drawings include number 2, 8, and 12 in Fig. 1 although they are not defined in the specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference characters not mentioned in the description:
2, 8, and 12 in Fig. 1.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
In order to avoid abandonment of this application, correction is required in reply to the Office action. The correction will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, “crossarm” is recited in line 3, which contradicts with the previous recitation of “cross arm” in line 1. For clarity, the examiner suggests that “crossarm” be written as “cross arm.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, “said nonconductive material” is recited in line 1, although a “nonconductive material” was never recited in claim 1, which is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for indefiniteness under lack of antecedent basis. However, since “nonconductive material” appears to be strongly associated with “a nonconductive shaft” recited in claim 1, line 4 as well as in paragraph [0043], the examiner suggests that claim 3 be written as “The hot arm and base assembly of claim 1, wherein said nonconductive shaft comprises a nonconductive material, wherein said nonconductive material is fiberglass.”
Regarding claim 5, “said conductor” is recited in line 1, although a “conductor” was never recited in claims 1 or 2, which is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for indefiniteness under lack of antecedent basis. The examiner suggests that claim 5 be written a “The hot arm and base assembly of claim 2, wherein said connector comprises a socket” in light of the part of the specification that discusses it (please refer to [0032] of instant application).
Regarding claim 6, “said worm gear assembly” is recited in line 2, although “a worm gear assembly” was never recited in claim 1, which is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for indefiniteness under lack of antecedent basis. However, since “worm gear assembly” appears to be strongly associated with “a worm drive assembly” in claim 1, line 6, the examiner suggests that claim 6 be written as “The hot arm and base assembly of claim 1 further comprising a rotational locking pin configured to lock rotation of said worm drive assembly.”
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (CN 114843981 A), hereinafter Zhu, in view of Williams (US 8046888 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu teaches A hot arm and base assembly for mounting the hot arm to an electrical pole or cross arm of the electrical pole, wherein said assembly comprising: a base (fixing box 3) configured for mounting on a utility electrical pole or crossarm (as shown in annotated Fig. 4 below); a hot arm comprising a shaft (supporting rod 8) and a head (as shown in annotated Fig. 2 below) configured for manipulation of a conductor line of a power distribution system (“through the moving mechanism 6 can be convenient to adjust the angle of the supporting rod 8, convenient supporting rod 8 to support the fixing box 3, the fixing box 3 keeps horizontal, avoiding the fixing box at two sides 3 are not on the same level,” pg. 7, lines 21-24, Zhu.; “each group of wire clamping piece comprises fixed on the fixed box 3 of the fixed clamping seat 4, and the fixed clamping seat 4 is connected with the movable clamping seat 5,” pg. 5, lines 21-23, Zhu); and a worm drive assembly (moving mechanism 6) comprising a ratchet wheel (worm wheel 63) and a worm (worm 61) configured to drive rotation of said ratchet wheel (“the worm drives the worm wheel to rotate,” pg. 8, line 13, Zhu), wherein said worm is connected to said base (“the moving mechanism comprises a worm rotatably mounted in the fixed box,” pg. 3, line 20, Zhu), wherein said hot arm is connected to said ratchet wheel such that rotation of said ratchet wheel causes pivotal rotation of said hot arm relative to said base (“then rotating plate drives the worm to rotate, at the same time, the worm drives the worm wheel [63] to rotate, then the worm wheel [63] drives the rack plate [65] to move left and right, at the same time, the rack plate [65] drives the movable block 7 to move left and right, then the movable block 7 drives the supporting rod 8 to move, at the same time supporting rod 8 angle adjustment,” pg. 8, lines 12-16, Zhu; as shown in annotated Figs. 2 and 4 below).
Zhu does not teach a hot arm comprising a nonconductive shaft.
However, Williams does teach a hot arm comprising a nonconductive shaft (“The pole connector assembly 345 is connectable to an arm or pole 350, preferably made of a lightweight material, such as fiberglass. In a preferred embodiment, the pole 350 comprises non-conductive, or insulative, properties,” col. 6, lines 12-16, Williams).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu to incorporate the teachings of Williams to enable the hot arm to comprise of a lightweight material to ease strain caused by maneuvering the hot arms in addition to providing insulation through a nonconductive material to protect the user from electrical shock when performing electrical maintenance (col. 6, lines 12-16, Williams).
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Regarding claim 2, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 1.
Zhu, as modified, teaches the hot arm and base assembly of claim 1 further comprising a connector (movable block 7), wherein said hot arm is connected to said connector (“one end of the supporting rod 8 through the movable seat is rotatably connected with the movable block 7,” pg. 5, lines 33-34, Zhu; as shown in annotated Fig. 2 above), wherein said connector connects said hot arm to said ratchet wheel (“then rotating plate drives the worm to rotate, at the same time, the worm drives the worm wheel [63] to rotate, then the worm wheel [63] drives the rack plate [65] to move left and right, at the same time, the rack plate [65] drives the movable block 7 to move left and right, then the movable block 7 drives the supporting rod 8 to move, at the same time supporting rod 8 angle adjustment,” pg. 8, lines 12-16, Zhu; as shown in annotated Figs. 2 and 4 above).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 1.
Zhu, as modified, does not teach said nonconductive material is fiberglass.
However, Williams does teach said nonconductive material is fiberglass (“The pole connector assembly 345 is connectable to an arm or pole 350, preferably made of a lightweight material, such as fiberglass. In a preferred embodiment, the pole 350 comprises non-conductive, or insulative, properties,” col. 6, lines 12-16, Williams).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu, as modified, to incorporate the teachings of Williams to enable the hot arm to comprise of a lightweight material to ease strain caused by maneuvering the hot arms in addition to providing insulation through a nonconductive material to protect the user from electrical shock when performing electrical maintenance (col. 6, lines 12-16, Williams).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 1, wherein said worm comprises a shaft (as shown in annotated Fig. 4 above) having at least one end tab (rotating plate 62) configured for a user to grasp to rotate said worm (“when the maintenance personnel crawling to the telegraph pole 1, top part rotating plate, then rotating plate drives the worm to rotate,” pg. 8, lines 11-12, Zhu).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 2, wherein said conductor comprises a socket (movable block 7) configured to receive a first end of said shaft of said hot arm (“one end of the supporting rod 8 through the movable seat is rotatably connected with the movable block 7,” pg. 5, lines 33-34, Zhu; as shown in annotated Fig. 2 above).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (CN 114843981 A), hereinafter Zhu, in view of Williams (US 8046888 B2), and further in view of Orikawa et al. (WO 2017208917 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 1.
Zhu, as modified, does not teach the hot arm and base assembly of claim 1 further comprising a rotational locking pin configured to lock rotation of said worm gear assembly.
However, Orikawa does teach further comprising a rotational locking pin configured to lock rotation of said worm gear assembly (“The lock mechanism includes a bearing-like one-way clutch (not shown) that uses a roller (not shown) attached to a lever fulcrum position of the operation lever 26a, and an operation rotation shaft 26d that pivotally supports the one-way clutch. And a plurality of system stop mechanisms (not shown) for fixing and releasing the rotation of the operation rotation shaft 26d at an arbitrary position. Although not shown in the drawings, this locking mechanism is fixed to the operation rotation shaft 26d, a locking pin that locks the locking gear, and the locking pin is biased toward the locking gear,” pg. 7-8, lines 38-42 & lines 1-3, Orikawa).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu, as modified, to incorporate the teachings of Orikawa to allow for the rotational locking pin to lock and release the rotation of the hot arm, thus enabling the lock and release of the rotation of the worm gear assembly (pg. 7-8, lines 38-42 & lines 1-3, Orikawa).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (CN 114843981 A), hereinafter Zhu, in view of Williams (US 8046888 B2), and further in view of Wang (CN 111734114 A).
Regarding claim 7, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claims 1 and 2 further comprising a hot arm [locking] pin configured to secured said hot arm in said connector (as shown in annotated Figs. 2 below).
Zhu, as modified, does not specifically teach a locking pin configured to secure said hot arm in said connector.
However, Wang teaches further comprising a hot arm locking pin configured to secure said hot arm in said connector (“the locking pin cavity 57 is capable of sliding is provided with a locking pin 58. the locking pin 58 close to one end face of the centrifugal wheel shaft 53 and the locking pin cavity 57 close to one side wall of the centrifugal wheel shaft 53 is fixedly connected with a locking spring 59, the locking pin 58 upper end can extend to the front and back rotating shaft cavity 24,” pg. 8, lines 2-6, Wang).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu, as modified, to incorporate the teachings of Wang to allow for the hot arm locking pin to be capable of being slidingly adjusted within a cavity of said hot arm to lock or release the arm for engagement with ratchet wheel via the connector (pg. 4, lines 33-42, Wang).
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Claims 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (CN 114843981 A), hereinafter Zhu, in view of Williams (US 8046888 B2), and further in view of Lee (KR 101127175 B1).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu, as modified, teaches the claimed invention as rejected above in claim 5.
Zhu, as modified, does not teach the hot arm and base assembly of claim 5 wherein said socket comprises a cylindrical sleeve, wherein said shaft of said hot arm comprises a cylinder positioned within said cylindrical sleeve.
However, Lee does teach wherein said socket (socket 50) comprises a cylindrical sleeve (as shown in annotated Figs. 1 and 5 below), wherein said shaft of said hot arm comprises a cylinder positioned within said cylindrical sleeve (“the clamp arms 20a and 20b rotate in a state where the clamp arms 20a and 20b are tightly coupled to the socket 50,” pg. 9, lines 16-17, Lee).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu, as modified, to incorporate the teachings of Lee to position the cylindrical hot arm within the cylindrical socket to tightly secure the hot arm into the socket to restrict axial motion within the hot arm while providing freedom to rotate on the hot arm’s axis (pg. 9, lines 16-17, Lee).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Bai et al. (CN 108767736 A) teaches a substation electric operation lead repairing system and method.
Choi (CN 106463941 A) teaches a power distribution device electrified operation comprising a set of wire circuits between one pole to another.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ISHAQ M ISHAQ whose telephone number is (571)270-0696. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at 313-446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/I.M.I./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DAVID S POSIGIAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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