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
Claim 1 is objected to because:
Claim 1, the phrase, “a second projectile configured to be separated from the first projectile” is unclear, because the following claims disclose that “the second projectile is attached to the first projectile” which seems to contradict the claim limitations of claim 1.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Moszynski et al, US 10714276 [Moszynski].
Regarding claim 1, Moszynski discloses (figs.1-6) an electric circuit breaker device (2) comprising:
an igniter (8b) provided in a housing (14);
a projectile (12) formed in the housing (14) and disposed in an accommodating space (16) extending in one direction, the projectile (8b) being configured to be projected along the accommodating space (16) by energy received from the igniter (8b);
a conductor piece (4a-4b) provided in the housing (14) and forming a portion of an electric circuit, the conductor piece (4a-4b) including, in a part of the conductor piece (4a-4b), a cutoff portion (6) disposed crossing the accommodating space (16) and configured to be cut off by the projectile (12); and
an arc-extinguishing region (18) provided in the accommodating space (16) and provided with a coolant material (10), where
the projectile (8b) includes a first projectile (20a) configured to be projected by energy received from the igniter (8b) and reaches a stop position, and a second projectile (20b) configured to be separated from the first projectile (20a), cut off the cutoff portion (6) from the conductor piece (4a-4b), and press, into the coolant material (10) disposed in the arc-extinguishing region (18) the cutoff portion (6) having been cut off.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 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:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed electric circuit breaker device, where the second projectile is attached to the first projectile prior to actuation of the igniter and is projected together with the first projectile by energy received from the igniter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gaudinat et al, Fukuda et al, Marlin et al, Lell, Sakai et al, Ganthier et al, Goldman et al, Dariavach et al and Hori et al are examples of electric circuit breaker devices 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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