DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the application filed on August 13, 2024.
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 title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: "Electrical Plug-In Connection with Reliable Mating in a Tilted State" paraphrased from [0009]. The examiner reminds the applicant that this is merely a suggestion, and the applicant may provide an alternative title so long as it is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-20: remove all part numbers including the symbols for axes, angles, and directions.
Claim 1:
line 14: "that has plug-side end region" should be --that has a plug-side end region--;
line 19: "of the of the" should be --of the--;
lines 21-22: "the inner surface […], and the outer surface […], contact one another" should not be separated by commas;
Claim 2, line 4: "[…] contact element, and the external diameter […]" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 3:
line 4: "of the of the" should be --of the--;
line 9: "[…] corresponding mating plug-in connector, by a tilting angle […]" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 7, line 3: "the electrical plug-in connector, or the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector has" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 11, line 2: "claimed in Claim 8 further comprising" should be --claimed in Claim 8 and further comprising:--;
Claim 12, line 5: "at least one of, the internal conductor" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 13, lines 4-6: "an axial leadthrough having a round cross-sectional profile is defined in the electrical plug-in connector and defined in the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector" does not make it clear that there are multiple axial leadthroughs as suggested by line 7, therefore it should be --an axial leadthrough having a round cross-sectional profile is defined in the electrical plug-in connector, and another axial leadthrough is defined in the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector--, or written in some other way which makes it clear that there are distinct axial leadthroughs that are either defined in the electrical plug-in connector or in the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector;
Claim 15, line 4: "[…] contact element, and the outer surface […]" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 16, line 3: "a slope of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element, or a slope of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element" should not be separated by a comma;
Claim 18:
line 2: "wherein the sprung manner, is a compression spring" should not be separated by a comma;
line 4: "internal conductor contact element, and the mating internal conductor contact element" should not be separated by a comma.
Claim 19:
lines 2-3: "the internal diameter of the inner surface, and the external diameter of the outer surface, taper" should not be separated by commas;
line 3: "taper with a different curvature radii" should either be --taper with different curvature radii-- or --taper with a different curvature radius--; and
Claim 20, line 3: "external conductor contact element, and the outer surface of […]" should not be separated by a comma.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
The claim limitation that invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is: “axially acting clamping means” in claim 7.
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 1-6, 8-9, 12-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gray, et al. (US-6439906-B1).
With respect to Claim 1:
Gray discloses an electrical plug-in connection comprising:
an electrical plug-in connector 10 that defines a longitudinal axis, the electrical plug-in connector 10 having
an external conductor contact element 24 that has a plug-side end region that defines an inner surface (Figs. 1-2; abstract), and the inner surface is rotationally symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the electrical plug-in connector 10 (Figs. 1-2), and the inner surface has an internal diameter which tapers in a direction which is opposed to a plug-in direction of the electrical plug-in connector 10 (Figs. 1-2); and
a corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 that defines a longitudinal axis, the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 having
a mating external conductor contact element 106/108 that has a plug-side end region that defines an outer surface (Figs. 1-2), and the outer surface is rotationally symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 10 (Figs. 1-2) and the outer surface has an external diameter which tapers in a plug-in direction of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 (Figs. 1-2); and wherein
the inner surface of the electrical plug-in connector 10 and the outer surface of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 contact one another solely on a circular line (Figs. 1-2).
With respect to Claim 2:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses wherein the internal diameter of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element 24 and the external diameter of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 each taper in a manner which is linear, or single-stepped, or multiple-stepped, or curved (Fig. 3A).
With respect to Claim 3:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 2.
Gray also discloses the electrical plug-in connection further comprising: a contact plane C which is defined by the circular line on the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 (Fig. 3A); and a longitudinal axis 122 which runs through a center point of the circular line (Fig. 3A) and is oriented orthogonally with respect to the contact plane (Fig. 3A); and wherein the longitudinal axis 122 is tilted with respect to the longitudinal axis 110 of the corresponding mating plug-in connector 100 by a tilting angle A between the longitudinal axis 122 of the electrical plug-in connector 10 and the longitudinal axis 110 of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 (Fig. 3A); and wherein the external diameter of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 tapers in a linear manner, or tapers in a curved manner (Fig. 3A).
With respect to Claim 4:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 2.
Gray also discloses wherein a slope of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element 24, or a slope of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 tapers in a linear manner, or tapers in a curved manner, in a range of approximately between 35° and 75° (Fig. 3A).
With respect to Claim 5:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses wherein the circular line is positioned on a peripheral outer edge of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 (Fig. 3A), or on a peripheral outer edge of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element, or on a convex curvature of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 (Fig. 3A), or on a convex curvature of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element.
With respect to Claim 6:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses wherein the inner surface of the external conductor contact element 24 is axially spaced apart from a plug-side end of the external conductor contact element 24 (Figs. 1-3A); or the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 is axially spaced apart from a plug-side end of the mating external conductor contact element 108 (Figs. 1-3A).
With respect to Claim 8:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses the electrical plug-in connection further comprising: an internal conductor contact element 19 of the electrical plug-in connector 10 (Fig. 3A), and the internal conductor contact element 19 is arranged, at least in sections, within the external conductor contact element 24 (Figs. 1-3A); and a mating internal conductor contact element 102 of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100 is arranged, at least in sections, within the mating external conductor contact element 106 (Figs. 1-2); and wherein the internal conductor contact element 19 contacts the mating internal conductor contact element 102 within an axial portion of the mating external conductor contact element 106 (Figs. 1-3A).
With respect to Claim 9:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 8.
Gray also discloses wherein the internal conductor contact element 19 contacts the mating internal conductor contact element 102 within an axial portion of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 106 (Figs. 1-3A).
With respect to Claim 12:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 8.
Gray also discloses wherein in order to make contact between the internal conductor contact element 19 and the mating internal conductor contact element 102, at least one of the internal conductor contact element 19 and the mating internal conductor contact element 102 is mounted in a sprung manner (Fig. 2; col. 2, lines 60-64: the beam 18 is spring biased upward, which in turn biases the projection 19 upwards).
With respect to Claim 13:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 8.
Gray also discloses the electrical plug-in connection further comprising: an axial leadthrough having a round cross-sectional profile is defined in the electrical plug-in connector 10, and another axial leadthrough is defined in the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector 100; and the axial leadthroughs are for receiving the internal conductor contact element 19 and for receiving the mating internal conductor contact element 102, respectively (Figs. 2-3A).
With respect to Claim 14:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 2.
Gray also discloses wherein the internal diameter of the inner surface 24 and the external diameter of the outer surface 108 taper with a different slope (Fig. 2).
With respect to Claim 15:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses wherein the inner surface of the plug-side end region of the external conductor contact element 24 and the outer surface of the plug-side end region of the mating external conductor contact element 108 make contact with one another on the circular line in every possible plug-in state of the plug-in connection (Figs. 2-3A; col. 3, lines 48-54).
With respect to Claim 16:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 2.
Gray also discloses wherein a slope of the inner surface of the external conductor contact element 24 or a slope of the outer surface of the mating external conductor contact element 108 is 60° (Figs. 1-3A).
With respect to Claim 19:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 2.
Gray also discloses wherein the internal diameter of the inner surface 24 and the external diameter of the outer surface 108 taper with different curvature radii (Figs. 1-3A).
With respect to Claim 20:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray also discloses wherein the inner surface of the plug-side end region of the external conductor contact element 24 and the outer surface of the plug-side end region of the mating external conductor contact element 108 make contact with one another on the circular line even in a case of co-axial orientation of the longitudinal axes of the plug-in connector and the mating plug-in connector (Fig. 3A).
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 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gray, et al. (US-6439906-B1) in view of Blasick, et al. (US-20230216255-A1).
With respect to Claim 7:
Gray discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 1.
Gray does not explicitly disclose wherein the electrical plug-in connector or the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector has an axially acting clamping means for making contact with the inner surface of the external conductor contact element and for making contact with the external surface of the mating external conductor contact element.
However, Blasick teaches an electrical plug-in connection, wherein an electrical mating plug-in connector 30 has an axially acting clamping means 40 ([0018]) for making contact with the inner surface of the external conductor contact element 55 of a receiving plug-in connector (Figs. 3-5).
Thus, Gray and Blasick each disclose electrical plug-in connections. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the spring of Blasick could be combined with the mating plug-in connector of Gray because it would increase the contact force between the mating connectors. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the modification.
With respect to Claim 17:
Gray in view of Blasick discloses the electrical plug-in connection as claimed in Claim 7.
Blasick also discloses wherein the axially acting clamping means 40 is an axially acting clamping spring ([0018]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 and 18 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:
Regarding Claim 10, allowability resides, at least in part, with the prior art, taken alone or in combination not showing or fairly teaching or suggesting “an inner sheath surface defined in a plug-side end region of the internal conductor contact element, and the inner sheath surface defines an internal diameter which tapers in a direction opposite to the plug-in direction of the electrical plug-in connector; and an outer sheath surface defined in a plug-side end region of the mating internal conductor contact element, and the outer sheath surface defines an external diameter which tapers in the plug-in direction of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector; and wherein the inner sheath surface contacts the outer sheath surface solely on a circular line,” as recited in claim 10, in conjunction with all the remaining limitations of the base claims. The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest these limitations as substantially described in claim 10. These limitations, in combination with remaining limitations of claim 10, are neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record, before claim 1 is allowable.
Regarding Claim 11, allowability resides, at least in part, with the prior art, taken alone or in combination not showing or fairly teaching or suggesting “an outer sheath surface defined in a plug-side end region of the internal conductor contact element, and the outer sheath surface defines an external diameter, and the external diameter tapers in the plug-in direction of the electrical plug-in connector; and an inner sheath surface defined in a plug-side end region of the mating internal conductor contact element, and the inner sheath surface defines an internal diameter, and the internal diameter tapers in a direction opposite to the plug-in direction of the corresponding electrical mating plug-in connector; and wherein the inner sheath surface contacts the outer sheath surface solely on a circular line,” as recited in claim 11, in conjunction with all the remaining limitations of the base claims. The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest these limitations as substantially described in claim 11. These limitations, in combination with remaining limitations of claim 11, are neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record, before claim 1 is allowable.
Regarding Claim 18, allowability resides, at least in part, with the prior art, taken alone or in combination not showing or fairly teaching or suggesting “the sprung manner is a compression spring between two axially spaced-apart bodies of the internal conductor contact element and the mating internal conductor contact element,” as recited in claim 18, in conjunction with all the remaining limitations of the base claims. The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest these limitations as substantially described in claim 18. These limitations, in combination with remaining limitations of claim 18, are neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record, before claim 1 is allowable.
Conclusion
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/AMARA ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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