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 Objections
Claims 8 and 13-15 are objected to because:
Claim 8, line 11, “the rear of the arc extinguishing unit” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 13, line 9, “the front” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 14, lines 9-10, “the front” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 15, line 2, “the front” lack 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 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Cho, US 9406473.
Regarding claim 1, Cho discloses (figs.3-5) an air circuit breaker comprising:
an operation unit in which an arc is generated by an operation of a mover (30) with respect to a stator (40);
an arc extinguishing unit (24) that is installed on an upper portion (depends on orientation of the circuit breaker) of the operation unit and primarily extinguishes the arc; and
an insulation member (160) that is installed on one side of the arc extinguishing unit (24) and blocks a movement space of high-temperature gas between the arc extinguishing unit (24) and a terminal (42).
Regarding claim 2, Cho further discloses where the insulation member (160) is an insulating paper manufactured by compressing paper [col.4, lines 57-58].
Regarding claim 3, Cho further discloses where the arc extinguishing unit (24) comprises a frame (labeled in fig.5, below) and an upper cover panel (22) that covers an upper surface of the frame (labeled in fig.5, below), and one end (164) of the insulation member (160) is fixed between the frame (labeled in fig.5, below) and the upper cover pane (22).
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Regarding claim 4, Cho further discloses where another end (162b), a free end, of the insulation member (160) is bent toward the upper cover panel (22) where metal gas is exhausted.
Regarding claim 6, Cho further discloses where the insulation member (160) has elasticity [implicit quality of the insulating paper] to maintain a shape thereof even when the arc extinguishing unit (24) is drawn out and pushed in.
Regarding claim 7, Cho further discloses where the insulation member (160) is made of a flexible material [implicit quality of the insulating paper].
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 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo, US 10079478 in view of Cho, US 9406473.
Regarding claim 8, Seo discloses (figs.4-10) an air circuit breaker comprising:
a body portion ( 10) that has a plurality of terminals (11) exposed to outside; side panels (of 10) that are coupled to left and right surfaces of the body portion (10);
a main body (30) that is drawn forward out of or pushed backward into the body portion (10) and the side panels;
an operation unit [col.6, lines 8-10] that is disposed inside the main body (30), and comprises a stationary portion and a moving portion [col.6, lines 8-10] generating an arc when being in contact with or separated from the stationary portion;
an arc extinguishing unit (31) that is disposed on an upper portion of the operation unit and primarily extinguishes the arc.
Seo fails to disclose the air circuit breaker comprising an insulation member that is installed on the rear of the arc extinguishing unit to suppress the arc from moving toward the plurality of terminals.
Cho discloses (figs.3-5) an air circuit breaker comprising an insulation member (160) that is installed on a rear of an arc extinguishing unit (24) to suppress an arc from moving toward plurality of terminals (42).
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 circuit breaker of Seo with the inclusion of the insulation member of Cho, thereby suppressing dielectric breakdown caused by an arc conduction path formed between the lug-terminals and the arc extinguishing unit of the main body of the circuit breaker.
Regarding claim 9, Seo and Cho further disclose where an arc cover (Cho, 22) is mounted above (depends on orientation of the circuit breaker) the arc extinguishing unit (24) and exhausts the arc, and the insulation member (160) is accommodated inside the arc cover (22).
Regarding claim 10, Seo further discloses where sliding panels are disposed on left and right surfaces of the main body (10), respectively, and
the sliding panels are drawn forward or pushed backward with respect to the side panels together with the main body (10), and
the operation unit and the extinguishing unit (31) are provided in plurality, respectively, and disposed alongside between the sliding panels.
Regarding claim 11, Seo further discloses where a terminal portion (11) is disposed on a rear surface of the main body (10),
the body portion (30) is disposed to overlap the terminal portion (11) in a front-to-back direction, and
the plurality of terminals (42) is formed to protrude from the body portion (30) in a direction opposite to the terminal portion (11).
Regarding claim 12, Seo and Cho further disclose where the arc extinguishing unit (31) comprises:
a plurality of support plates (implicitly disclosed) that form left and right surfaces of the arc extinguishing unit (31);
a frame (implicitly disclosed) that is supported on upper portions of the plurality of support plates (implicitly disclosed); an upper cover panel (implicitly disclosed) that has a plurality of through holes (implicitly disclosed) and is mounted to cover an upper portion of the frame (implicitly disclosed); and
a plurality of grids (implicitly disclosed) that extend vertically between the plurality of support plates implicitly disclosed) and have both left and right sides supportedly coupled to the support plates (implicitly disclosed), to extinguish the arc, and
one end portion (162a) of the insulation member (Cho, 160) is disposed to be fastened to a rear end portion of the upper cover panel (22) and a rear end portion of the frame (labeled in fig.5, above).
Regarding claim 13, Seo and Cho further disclose where the arc extinguishing unit (31) comprises:
a frame (implicitly disclosed) that extends in a front-to-back direction; and
an upper cover panel (implicitly disclosed) that has a plurality of through holes (implicitly disclosed) and covers an upper portion of the frame (implicitly disclosed),
the insulation member (Cho, 160) comprises:
a fixed portion (162a) that is fixedly disposed between the frame (labeled in fig.5, above) and the upper cover panel (22); and
a blocking portion (162b) that extends from the fixed portion (162a) to be upwardly inclined toward the front of the upper cover panel (22).
Regarding claim 14, Seo and Cho further disclose where the arc extinguishing unit (31) comprises:
a frame (implicitly disclosed) that extends in a front-to-back direction; and
an upper cover panel (implicitly disclosed) that has a plurality of through holes (implicitly disclosed) and covers an upper portion of the frame (implicitly disclosed),
the insulation member (Cho, 160) comprises:
a fixed portion (162a) that is fixedly disposed between the frame (labeled in fig.5, above) and the upper cover panel (22);
a bent portion (labeled in fig.5, above) that is formed to be bent upward from the fixed portion (162a); and
a blocking portion (162b) that extends from the bent portion (labeled in fig.5, above) to be upwardly inclined toward the front of the upper cover panel (22).
Regarding claim 15, Seo and Cho further disclose where the insulation member (Cho, 160) comprises a blocking portion (162b) that is formed to be inclined toward the front where the arc is discharged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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 5, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed air circuit breaker, where the insulation member comprises a through hole formed therethrough such that a fastening member for fastening the frame and the upper cover panel passes.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yang, Lee, Rival et al, Arrighetti et al, Mary et al, Whitaker et al and Besana et al are examples of air circuit breakers 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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