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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites joining "the plurality of the conductors" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation since plurality of conductors has not been previously defined. For purpose of examination, the claim is taken to mean: ultrasonically joining the conductors to each other by applying ultrasonic vibration to the conductors exposed from the plurality of terminal-equipped electric wires. Appropriate correction is requested.
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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oishi et al. (US 2020/0331092, hereafter “Oishi”) in view of Washio et al. (US 10833468, hereafter “Washio”).
Regarding claim 1, Oishi discloses a method of manufacturing an electric wire bundle formed by joining a plurality of terminal-equipped electric wires to each other (figs. 1-3), the terminal-equipped electric wires being formed by connecting terminal fittings 12 to one end of electric wires having conductors 21 covered with insulator covers/jacket 22 [0039-0040], the method comprising: ultrasonically joining the conductors 21 to each other by applying ultrasonic vibration to the conductors exposed from the plurality of terminal-equipped electric wires using an ultrasonic joining device 60 (fig.3; [0049-0052]).
Oishi is silent with respect to heating of the insulator covers while joining. However, such step is known in the art. Analogous to Oishi, Washio (also drawn to manufacturing electrical connection assembly) discloses joining a plurality of conductors 12 exposed from wires 10 to a connector terminal, wherein the wiring material 10 includes conductors 12 and insulation coating/cover 14 (figs. 4-7). Washio teaches heating the insulation coating/cover 14 using a heater 50 (fig. 4; col. 6, lines 46-65) and the connection technique to be associated with the heating of the part comprises welding, including ultrasonic welding, resistance welding or the like, the effect obtained by removal of the insulation coating utilizing heat for welding (col. 9, lines 52-62). In this manner, the method provides manufacturing an electrical connection assembly with a wiring material including plural conductors and an insulation coating and a connector to enable reliable and efficient connection of the conductors and the connector while avoiding a short circuit (col. 10, lines 20-26); removing of the insulation coating/cover from surfaces by simultaneous heating encompasses expanding at least a portion of the insulation coating/cover, leading to improvement of manufacturing efficiency (col. 10, lines 50-65). Moreover, Washio discloses that pressing by the heater makes the electrical connection surfaces more reliable after the insulation coating/covering is removed by heating using the heater (col. 11, lines 15-23). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to perform simultaneous heating of the insulation covering while joining the conductors by ultrasonic vibration in the method of Oishi because doing so would expose the conductors to be connected, yield more reliable electrical connection and lead to improvement in manufacturing efficiency, as suggested by Washio. Thus, Oishi as modified by Washio discloses heating the insulator covers in the plurality of terminal-equipped electric wires during ultrasonically joining the plurality of conductors to each other by applying ultrasonic vibration.
As to claim 2, Oishi discloses that the conductor is made from conductive metal such as copper/copper alloy or aluminum/aluminum alloy and the insulator cover/jacket is made of a resin material [0039]. Consequently, a temperature of the insulator covers when the insulator covers are heated is equal to a temperature at which a conductor and an insulator cover in each terminal-equipped electric wire vibrate at different frequencies when the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the conductors due to different materials in the method of Oishi & Washio.
As to claim 3, Washio discloses that heating for the connection is not limited to heater arrangement 50 described and may be performed by heat transfer or heat radiation (col. 9 line 63 thru col. 10, line 9), which includes heated warm air. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to heat the insulator coating/covering by heated warm air in the combination of Oishi & Washio since such heating mechanism is well within common knowledge of one skilled in the art.
As to claim 4, Oishi as modified by Washio in claim 1 above discloses that one or more portions of an insulator cover in each terminal-equipped electric wire are heated during ultrasonic joining.
As to claim 5, there is only a finite number of predictable options for heating the insulator cover: 1) heating portions of the cover 2) heating the terminal fitting, or 3) heating portions of both the cover & the terminal fitting. In any scenario, the objective is to ensure adequate removal of the insulator covering and providing reliable connection with the plurality of conductors exposed from the wire. The claim would have been obvious because a person of ordinary skill has good reason (adequate removal of the insulator covering and reliable connection of the plurality of conductors) to pursue the known heating options within his or her technical grasp. If this leads to the anticipated success, it is likely the product not of innovation but of ordinary skill and common sense. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007) (MPEP 2143 - exemplary rationales).
Regarding claim 6, rejection of claim 1 above in incorporated herein. This claim merely differs in calling for an electric wire assembly formed by joining a conductive member to the terminal-equipped electric wire. Washio teaches it is known to manufacture an electric wire assembly, useful in automotive vehicle or the like, formed by joining a conductive member to the terminal-equipped electric wire (Background- col. 1, lines 8-20). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to manufacture an electric wire assembly by joining a conductive member to the terminal-equipped electric wire in the connection method of Oishi & Washio for the purpose of construction of desired automotive assembly.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/2/24 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVANG R PATEL whose telephone number is (571) 270-3636. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, EST.
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/DEVANG R PATEL/
Primary Examiner, AU 1735