DETAILED ACTION
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Karstens (US 2023/0062847).
Regarding claim 1, Karstens discloses a connection sleeve, comprising:
a main body (14, fig. 6), at least partially formed in a column shape (see fig. 1);
a conductive rod (12, fig. 6), extending through the main body in an axial direction (para. 29);
a first electrical interface (see exposed top of 12 in fig. 6), located at one end of the conductive rod;
a second electrical interface (see exposed bottom of 12 in fig. 6), located at the other end of the conductive rod;
a first shield piece (A, fig. 6) and a second shield piece (B, fig. 6), which are independent of each other (see fig. 2), are formed in ring shapes (see fig. 2 and fig. 5) and are respectively arranged around a part of the conductive rod in the main body (see fig. 2, fig. 5) and spaced apart from the conductive rod (see fig. 6);
a first output interface (22, fig. 6), connected to the first shield piece (see fig. 6) and configured to output a first voltage signal (para. 29); and
a second output interface (24, fig. 6), connected to the second shield piece (see fig. 6) and configured to output a second voltage signal independent of the first voltage signal (para. 29).
Regarding claim 2, Karstens discloses wherein the first shield piece and the second shield piece are spaced apart from each other in a radial direction (see A and B in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Karstens discloses wherein the first shield piece and the second shield piece are partially overlapped with each other in an axial direction (see A and B in fig. 5c).
Regarding claim 9, Karstens discloses wherein the main body is made of epoxy resin (see 14 in para. 29), the conductive rod, the first shield piece and the second shield piece are embedded in the main body (see fig. 6 and para. 29).
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) 4-5, 7-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karstens in view of Ferraro (US 2021/0356499).
Regarding claim 4, Karstens discloses further comprising and installation part (see widest part of 14 in fig. 6, located at the bottom of fig. 6).
Karstens fails to disclose wherein the installation part is a polygon shape.
Ferraro discloses an installation part formed in a polygonal shape (see area of 104 above L1-L3 in fig. 1) and protruding around a part of the main body (see fig. 1A-1B), wherein installation holes (see 109 and 107 in fig. 1B) are formed in the installation part.
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Ferraro in the device of Karstens. The motivation for doing so would have been to have a mountable bushing for creating an electrical connection (Ferraro; para. 37, 34)
Regarding claim 5, Karstens discloses wherein the first shield piece and/or the second shield comprise reinforcing protrusions (see ends of B in fig. 5b-c) protruding in a radial direction (see fig. 5), and the reinforcing protrusions are arranged at parts of the first shield piece and/or the second shield that are away from the first output interface/the second output interface in the axial direction (see fig. 2 and fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, Karstens fails to disclose an electrical cable and bus.
Ferraro discloses wherein the first electrical interface (103, fig. 2A) is configured to be connected to a cable (para. 45) and the second electrical interface (105, fig. 2A) is configured to be connected to a bus (see bus bar in para. 34 and see para. 32).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Ferraro in the device of Karstens. The motivation for doing so would have been to establish electric connection between electronic components (Ferraro; para. 34, 32, including a bus bar and cable).
Regarding claim 8, Ferraro discloses wherein the first electrical interface is a B- type (103, fig. 2A) interface or a C-type interface (105, fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 10, Karstens discloses the connection sleeve according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Karstens fails to disclose an electrical cable and bus.
Ferraro discloses a cabinet wall (see fig. 1A; wherein e.g. threads are used to mount the bushing into wall/cabinet); a bus located in the switch cabinet (see bus bar in para. 34) and wherein the second electrical interface (204, fig. 2A) is configured to be connected to a bus (see bus bar in para. 34 and see para. 32), the first electrical interface (107, fig. 2A) is configured to be connected to a cable (para. 45) located outside the switch cabinet (see fig. 1A; wherein e.g. threads 103 are screwed into a device/cabinet), the first output interface and the second output interface are configured to be able to be accessed from outside the switch cabinet (see fig. 1A; wherein threads 103 are used for mounting the bushing into a structure/cabinet, further wherein interfaces 204 and 107 are located outside the structure).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Ferraro in the device of Karstens. The motivation for doing so would have been to establish electric connection between electronic components (Ferraro; para. 34, 32, including a bus bar and cable).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jadhav (US 2020/0082691) disclose mounting a bushing into a switch cabinet (para. 41).
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
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