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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the features of claim 7 related to the position of the vertex (as described in par. 0052 of the publication, in relation to Fig. 6) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). They are not adequately depicted in Fig. 6. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takeda (US 6396381 B1).
As to claim 1, Takeda discloses: A thermal protector (Fig. 1-11) comprising a thermally actuated element (Fig. 4) having:
a substantially quadrangular non-fixed region (generally left side of vertical line below);
a fixed region 45 (generally right side of vertical line below) that is connected to the non-fixed region along a longitudinal direction of the non-fixed region and is fixed to a stationary body 20 (in Fig. 3); and
a processed portion 42, 46 a center (center region of these combined portions) of which is positioned inside (at least partially) a triangular region formed by a center of the non-fixed region and both end portions of a boundary portion (vertical line below) between the non-fixed region and the fixed region.
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As to claim 2, Takeda discloses:
wherein the thermally actuated element includes a constriction portion (between 44 and 44) that is adjacent to the boundary at both end portions of the non-fixed region in a width direction, and a dimension of the constriction portion in the width direction decreases (e.g., to narrowest dimension from 44 to 44), and
the processed portion is a hole portion 42, 46 (both are holes/cuts).
As to claim 4, Takeda discloses:
wherein a number of the processed portion is two 42, 46,
one of the processed portions 42 (alternatively, 46; each of the portions overlaps with both sides of the triangular region) is positioned so as to overlap with one of two sides of the triangular region that extend from the center of the non-fixed region, and
the other of the processed portions 46 (alternatively, 42; each of the portions overlaps with both sides of the triangular region) is positioned so as to overlap with the other of the two sides.
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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeda (US 6396381 B1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Korczynski (US 5684447 A).
As to claim 6, Takeda does not disclose:
wherein a portion except for the processed portion out of the non-fixed region, and the processed portion, are curved, and have curving directions different from each other.
However, Korczynski discloses:
wherein a portion 10 (Fig. 1, 4) except for the processed portion 42 (in Fig. 1) out of the non-fixed region, and the processed portion, are curved, and have curving directions different from each other (see curve of 10 in Fig. 4, and opposite curve beneath 10 which corresponds to 42; col. 2, lines 61-67);
in order to return the reed/thermally actuated element to its shape when the overload condition and temperature is corrected (col. 2, lines 61-67).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 7 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:
As to claims 3, 5, and 7, the allowability resides in the overall structure and functionality of the apparatus as recited in the dependent claims 3, 5, and 7, including all of the limitations of their base claims and intervening claims, and at least in part, because they recite the following limitations:
3. The thermal protector according to claim 1, wherein the processed portion has an oval shape that is long in the longitudinal direction of the non-fixed region.
5. The thermal protector according to claim 1, wherein the thermally actuated element has a further processed portion at a symmetric position with the processed portion with respect to a line that passes through the center of the non-fixed region and extends in a width direction.
7. The thermal protector according to claim 1, wherein the non-fixed region has a curved shape, and a vertex of the non-fixed region is positioned between the center of the non-fixed region and a tip portion of the non-fixed region in the longitudinal direction.
Chung (US 20110102126 A1), Shimada (US 5497286 A), Tanaka (US 20170062167 A1), and Takeda (US 20050174211 A1) disclose conventional thermally actuated elements.
None of the prior art, either alone or in combination, can be reasonably construed as adequately teaching the above claimed elements, in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Further, Examiner has not identified any double patenting issues.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB R CRUM whose telephone number is (571)270-7665. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at (571) 270-1985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB R CRUM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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