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 . Claims 1-6 are pending in the current application.
Drawings
FIG. 6 is objected to because all views must be clearly separated from one another. 37 C.F.R. 1.84(h). Furthermore, the sheets must not contain frames around the sight. 37 C.F.R. 1.84(g).
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, 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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Poeltl et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2025/0385060 A1, hereinafter “Poeltl”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Poeltl discloses an electric circuit breaker device (Abstract) comprising a housing (8, 10) serving as an outer shell member and including an accommodation space (7, 9) extending in one direction (¶ [0020]), an igniter (13) provided in the housing (8, 10; ¶ [0032]), a projectile (2) disposed in the housing (8, 10; ¶ [0032]), and configured to be projected from an end side of the accommodation space (7, 9) by energy received from the igniter (13) and move along an extending direction of the accommodation space (7, 9; FIGS. 1 and 2), and a conductor piece (3) held by the housing (8, 10) and forming a part of an electric circuit (FIGS. 1 and 2), the conductor piece (3) including a cutoff portion (5) disposed crossing the accommodation space (7, 9) between a first connection end portion (6a) as one connection end portion (FIG. 2) and a second connection end portion (6b) as the other connection end portion and configured to be cut off by movement of the projectile (2; FIG. 2), wherein, in the housing (8, 10), a region defined by an inner wall of the housing (8, 10) holding the conductor piece (3) in the accommodation space (7, 9) serves as a holding region (FIG. 2), and the projectile (2) includes a rod portion extending along the extending direction of the accommodation space (7, 9; the rod portion corresponds to part of the projectile between the recess 22 and the cutting face 23) and inserted into the holding region (the holding region corresponds to the region defined by the inner walls of the upper housing 8 and lower housing 10), and an elastic portion (18) being a member having elasticity and provided on an outer periphery of the rod portion facing the inner wall of the holding region after the projectile (2) is projected (elastic portion 18 corresponds to silicon member inserted in the recess 17, and ¶ [0025]. As disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, this elastic member is provided on an outer periphery of the rod portion and is facing the inner wall of the holding region after the projectile, after and before the projectile 2 is projected), the elastic portion (18) coming into contact with the inner wall of the holding region when the projectile (2) is projected, and being compressed between the inner wall of the holding region and the rod portion (when the projectile is projected, the elastic portion contacts the inner wall of the holding region and is compressed between the inner wall and the rod portion; FIGS. 1-2).
Regarding Claim 2, Poeltl discloses that in the first connection end portion (6a) of the conductor piece (3) held by the housing (8, 10), a boundary portion with the cutoff portion (5) from which the cutoff portion (5) is cut off is defined as a first cutting edge portion (4a), in the second connection end portion (6b), a boundary portion with the cutoff portion (5) from which the cutoff portion (5) is cut off is defined as a second cutting edge portion (4b), and the elastic portion (18) is provided at a position where the elastic portion (18) covers at least the first cutting edge portion (4a) and the second cutting edge portion (4b) after the projectile (2) is projected (FIG. 2, ¶ [0023]).
Regarding Claim 3, Poeltl discloses that the elastic portion (18) is a tubular member externally fitted to the rod portion (¶¶ [0015], [0030]).
Regarding Claim 4, Poeltl discloses that the elastic portion (18) is fitted into a recess (17) formed in an outer circumferential surface of the rod portion, and an outer end surface of the elastic portion (18) is provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface (FIGS. 1-2).
Regarding each of Claims 5 and 6, Poeltl discloses that the elastic portion (18) is fitted into a recess (17) formed in an outer circumferential surface of the rod portion (FIG. 2), and an outer end surface of the elastic portion (18) is provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface (the language “this O-ring 20 prevents the extinguishing agent 18 from escaping toward the conductor” implies at least a portion of 18 protrudes from an outer circumferential surface of the rod portion; see, e.g., ¶ [0031]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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, Renee 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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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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