1-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 .
35 USC 103 Rejections
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, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roese 6966790.
Regarding claim 1, Roese (Figure 6) discloses a connector locking mechanism comprising: a first connector 1 including a cantilevered locking member 4 extending in a first direction, and having a first locking shaped portion 6, and a first unlocking portion 8 having an inclined surface and formed between a fixed end of the locking member and the first locking shaped portion; and a second connector 21 mated with the first connector in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and including an unlocking member 24 held to be movable in the first direction and the second direction, a second locking shaped portion 27 to be engaged with the first locking shaped portion formed in the locking member, and a second unlocking portion 24 having a surface to be brought into contact with the inclined surface of the first unlocking portion when the second connector is mated with or withdrawn from the first connector, wherein the locking member and the unlocking member are located at positions overlapped in a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction in a locked state in which the first connector and the second connector are locked with each other. It would have been an obvious matter of design to provide the second unlocking portion with an inclined surface (similar to those of the first unlocking portion) to facilitate locking/unlocking.
Regarding claim 2, Roese discloses the first unlocking portion 8 and the first locking shaped portion 27 are arranged in parallel in the first direction.
Regarding claim 5, Roese discloses the first unlocking portion 8 of the locking member and the second unlocking portion 24 of the unlocking member respectively have the inclined surfaces to be brought into contact with each other when the unlocking member is moved in the second direction.
Regarding claim 7, Roese discloses a connector assembly comprising: the connector locking mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the first connector 1 and the second connector 21 are mated with each other.
Claims Defining Over Prior Art
Claims 3, 4 and 6 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art discloses or teaches the locking member being formed by cutting out a part of a metal shell; nor the restricting portion as recited; nor the elastic member for moving the unlocking member to return to an initial position; in combination with the rest of the subject matter of the independent claim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY F PAUMEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2013. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th.
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/GARY F PAUMEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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