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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because on line 5, “the position” lacks antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 4–15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2002-270286 A (“Shiga”).
Regarding claim 1, Shiga discloses a connector housing assembly comprising:
a connector housing (6) for receiving at least one electrical terminal (14);
a lever (4) for mating said connector housing with a mating connector (1) along a mating direction, wherein said lever is at least one of pivotable and displaceable in relation to said connector housing depending on a position of the lever (in the position of Fig. 3a the lever is displaceable leftward and in the position of Fig. 4a the lever is pivotable); wherein
said lever is first displaceable from an initial position to a rotation start position before it is pivotable (13 moves along the insertion direction from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 3 before being able to rotate), and
said connector housing assembly furthermore comprises a displacement start blocking structure (44) which is configured to block a displacement from the initial position to the rotation start position (44 engages an edge of 40 at the position of Fig. 4a and the lever cannot move to the rotation position) and which is releasable when said connector housing is mated with said mating connector (mating moves the lever along direction 70 and places element 44 within recess 42, releasing the lever and allowing pivoting movement).
Regarding claim 4, Shiga discloses a displacement end blocking structure (22) configured to define the rotation start position.
Regarding claim 5, Shiga discloses said lever is slidable during the displacement motion along an axis formation section that forms the axis of the pivoting motion (the lever slides along portion 16 which defines the pivoting axis).
Regarding claim 6, Shiga discloses a rotation guiding structure (32) that is configured to guide the rotational motion of said lever.
Regarding claim 7, Shiga discloses wherein said rotation guiding structure comprises a slideway along which a peripheral section of said lever is slidable (see Figs. 3a and 4a).
Regarding claim 8, Shiga discloses a rotation blocking structure (24 and 108 that is configured to block a rotational motion before the rotation start position has been reached (upper cam portion 24 aligns the lever with blocking face 108 and prevents rotation before the arm is shifted into the rotation start position).
Regarding claim 9, Shiga discloses a rotation guiding structure (16) that is configured to guide the rotational motion of said lever; and
a rotation blocking structure (24) that is configured to block a rotational motion before the rotation start position has been reached, wherein at least part of said rotation guiding structure adjoins at least part of said rotation blocking structure (16 and 22 are a part of the housing).
Regarding claim 10, Shiga discloses a maximum lever arm length of said lever in the rotation start position is greater than in the initial position (measured from the pivot axis of member 16, a maximum lever length from the pivot axis to an end of a lever tooth 26 of the gear section increases because of the leftward movement of 4, compare the positions and corresponding max lengths in Figures 3a and 4a where 26 shifts position to reach into recess 126).
Regarding claim 11, Shiga discloses wherein said lever comprises an eccentric control section (26) that is engageable with said mating connector for mating (26 engages 126).
Regarding claim 12, Shiga discloses wherein said eccentric control section is formed to be tooth-like (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 13, Shiga discloses a retaining structure configured to retain said lever in the rotation start position (the pivot portion 16 and the camming portion 22 retain the lever at the rotation start position after engaging the mating connector as seen in Fig. 4a).
Regarding claim 14, Shiga discloses a connector housing assembly according to claim 1, wherein said connector housing (6) comprises a guiding section (64) that is configured to guide said mating connector (1) parallel to the mating direction.
Regarding claim 15, Shiga discloses a connector comprising:
a terminal (14); and
a connector housing assembly (2) including a connector housing (6) holding the terminal and a lever (4) coupled to the connector housing for mating said connector housing with a mating connector along a mating direction, wherein said lever is at least one of pivotable and displaceable in relation to said connector housing depending on the position of the lever (in the position of Fig. 3a the lever is displaceable leftward and in the position of Fig. 4a the lever is pivotable);
wherein said lever is first displaceable from an initial position to a rotation start position before it is pivotable (13 moves along the insertion direction from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 3 before being able to rotate), and
said connector housing assembly furthermore comprises a displacement start blocking structure (44) which is configured to block a displacement from the initial position to the rotation start position (44 engages an edge of 40 at the position of Fig. 4a and the lever cannot move to the rotation position) and which is releasable when said connector housing is mated with said mating connector (mating moves the lever along direction 70 and places element 44 within recess 42, releasing the lever and allowing pivoting movement).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 3 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 2, the prior art does not disclose or suggest the claimed connector housing assembly including wherein said displacement start blocking structure comprises a housing-side engagement section which is provided on a resilient arm section of said connector housing, along with the remaining elements of the claim.
The blocking structure of Shiga is not a resilient arm on the housing. Yildiz discloses a housing with resilient portion 220 latching to a section 120 of a lever, but the lever is not displaced into a pivoting position, and Yildiz does not teach how to integrate a resilient locking portion 220 into a lever which is both blocked at a first position and then displaced into a second position while utilizing such a resilient locking portion. Nozaki disclose a lever with a resilient arm which holds the lever in a first position, but does not disclose displacement of the lever or the housing having the resilient portion.
The prior art, when taken alone, or in combination, cannot be construed as reasonably teaching or suggesting all of the elements of the claimed invention as arranged, disposed, or provided in the manner as claimed by the Applicant.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D BAILLARGEON whose telephone number is (571)272-0676. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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/PAUL D BAILLARGEON/Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/renee s luebke/Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2831
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