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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Marlin et al, WO2022123159 (with reference to the text of US 20230395344 for an English Translation) [Marlin].
Regarding claim 1, Marlin discloses (figs.1-4) a fast circuit cutoff device (100), comprising a housing (10), an igniter (20), a piston (30), at least one arc extinguishing component (60) and a conductor (40), the igniter (20), the piston (30) and the at least one arc extinguishing component (60) are provided in the housing (10), the conductor (40) penetrates through the housing (10), the igniter (20) and the piston (30) are located on a first side of the conductor (40), and the at least one arc extinguishing component (60) is provided on a second side of the conductor (40); the igniter (20) is configured to drive the piston (30) to move towards the arc extinguishing component (60) to a blocking state, so as to cut a part (44) of the conductor into fragments (44) by the piston (30); and under the blocking state, ends of the fragments (44) are inserted into the at least one arc extinguishing component (60) under a compression of the piston (30).
Regarding claim 2, Marlin further discloses where the housing (10) comprises an arc extinguish chamber (12), the at least one arc extinguishing component (60) is disposed in the arc extinguish chamber (12), the arc extinguish chamber (12) comprises a guiding surface inclined relative to a movement direction of the piston (30), and the fragments (44) are deflected by abutting against the guiding surface (65).
Regarding claim 3, Marlin further discloses where an accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, below) is defined on a side of the piston (30) towards the conductor (40), and the fragments (44) are accommodated in the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, below); and under the blocking state, the arc extinguishing component (60) abuts against the piston (30) to block the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, below).
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Regarding claim 4, Marlin further discloses where the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above) comprises a blocking surface (labeled in fig.1, above), and under the blocking state, the blocking surface (labeled in fig.1, above) abuts against one of fracture surfaces of the fragments (44) along the movement direction of the piston (30).
Regarding claim 5, Marlin further discloses where an end of the piston (30) towards the arc extinguishing component (60) comprises a columnar portion (labeled in fig.1, above).
Regarding claim 6, Marlin further discloses where a protrusion portion (65) is fixedly provided in the arc extinguish chamber (12), the guiding surface is a sidewall of the protrusion portion (65), the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above) comprises a fitting cavity (labeled in fig.1, above) corresponding to the protrusion portion (65), and under the blocking state, the protrusion portion (65) is inserted into the fitting cavity (labeled in fig.1, above) and abuts against an inner wall (labeled in fig.1, above) of the fitting cavity (labeled in fig.1, above).
Regarding claim 7, Marlin further discloses where the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above) further comprises a fragment-holding cavity defined on the inner wall (labeled in fig.1, above) of the fitting cavity (labeled in fig.1, above), the blocking surface (labeled in fig.1, above) is an inner wall of the fragment-holding cavity towards the igniter (20), and under the blocking state, the fragments (44) are accommodated in the fragment-holding cavity.
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 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marlin in view of Li et al, CN217387062 [Li].
Regarding claim 8, Marlin further discloses where at least one protrusion portion (tip, 65) capable of inserting into the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above) is fixedly provided in the arc extinguish chamber (12), but fails to disclose the at least one protrusion portion comprises a dividing edge, and the dividing edge of the at least one protrusion portion is configured to further cut the part of the conductor cut by the piston into a plurality of fragments when the piston moves towards the arc extinguishing component.
Li discloses (figs.1-2) a cut-off device (100) comprising at least one protrusion portion (141) comprises a dividing edge, and the dividing edge of the at least one protrusion portion (141) is configured to further cut a part (22, 23) of a conductor (20) cut by a piston (50) into a plurality of fragments (21) when the piston (50) moves towards an arc extinguishing component (12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the conductor of Marlin with the inclusion of the conductor of Li, thereby ensuring the cut-off pieces are isolated sufficiently from each other and the main conductor, thus reducing the risk of arcing between each cut part and the main conductor.
Regarding claim 9, Marlin and Li further disclose where one protrusion portion (Li, 141) is fixedly provided in an arc extinguish chamber (12), and configured to further cut the part (21) of the conductor (20) cut by the piston (50) into two fragments (21).
Regarding claim 10, Marlin and Li further disclose where, under the blocking state, the at least one protrusion portion (65) abuts against an inner wall of the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above), so as to divide the accommodating chamber (labeled in fig.1, above), into a plurality of fragment-holding cavities (opposite sides of Z-axis) separated from each other, and each of the plurality of fragment-holding cavities (opposite sides of Z-axis) is configured to accommodate one of the plurality of fragments (Li, 21).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Burkett et al, Nakahashi, Nakatani et al, Fukuda et al, Gaudinat et al, Volkmann et al, Goldman et al and Fukuyama et al are examples of cut-off devices configured similar to the present invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A BOLTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5887. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30AM - 5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee S Luebke can be reached at 571-272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM A BOLTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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