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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 9, 11 and 15 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.
With respect to claim 3, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “wherein the at least two test connectors are physically arranged within the connector testing module with an elongate axis of each conductive bar being substantially parallel with respect to an elongate axis of another test connector of the at least two test connectors.”
With respect to claim 9, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “a current adjustment module for adjusting a current output by the power module;
a power cutoff module for halting the delivery of the output of the power module to one or more of the connector testing module and the measurement module;
a power switch to activate the control module; and
a voltage limit module for limiting a voltage applied to the connector testing module by the power module to a preset value.”
With respect to claim 11, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “wherein the outer casing comprises a front panel, wherein the front panel is removable from the outer casing to expose the inner cavity of the outer casing, and
wherein, in response to the front panel being removed from the outer casing, one or more of the power module, the connector testing module, and the measurement module are exposed from the inner cavity and accessible by a user.”
With respect to claim 15, the prior art fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations in the claim: “wherein the outer casing comprises a rear panel, located at an opposing face to the front panel of the outer casing, wherein the rear panel is removable from the outer casing to expose the inner cavity of the outer casing, and
wherein, in response to the rear panel being removed from the outer casing, one or more of the power module, the connector testing module, and the measurement module are exposed from the inner cavity and accessible by the user.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 2, 4-8, 10 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donahue (U.S. Patent No. 4,837,488) in view of Huang (U.S. Publication No. 2012/0146681 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Donahue discloses a portable connector testing device comprising:
a connector testing module comprising at least two test connectors (see Abstract, lines 3-6, Donahue teaches a connector testing arrangement including connected configured to receive respective connectors of a cable to be tested), wherein at least one test connector of the at least two test connectors is configured to receive a connector to be tested, the connector being electrically connected between the at least two test connectors (see Figs. 1-3; describing connectors 6, 7, 11 and 13; Donahue further teaches electrically testing the cables and connectors, including testing continuity through the cable lines and connectors);
a measurement module for testing an electrical property of the received connector (power supply 12 and battery 18 shown in Fig. 1);
a power module for outputting an electrical power to the connector testing module and the measurement module (see housing 31 and connector structurally integrated and positioned at the housing for connection to the cable under test see Figs. 5-6).
Donahue does not disclose an outer casing comprising an inner cavity for accommodating the power module, connector testing module, and measurement module, at respective
positions within the inner cavity with said connector testing module accessible through an opening of the outer casing.
Huang discloses an outer casing comprising an inner cavity for accommodating the power module, connector testing module, and measurement module, at respective
positions within the inner cavity with said connector testing module accessible through an opening of the outer casing (para 0016, lines 1-7; para 0017, lines 1-7; the test system includes a motherboard 20; a number of adapters 60 and a number of testers 80 see Fig. 8).
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 device of Donahue to include an outer casing comprising an inner cavity for accommodating the power module, connector testing module, and measurement module, at respective positions within the inner cavity with said connector testing module accessible through an opening of the outer casing as taught by Huang to provide measurement of electrical properties of the connector being tested and thereby facilitate electrical evaluation of the connector using known electrical test instrumentation.
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, wherein the at least two test connectors each comprise a conductive bar (see Donahue Figs. 1-3; describing connectors 6, 7, 11 and 13; Donahue further teaches electrically testing the cables and connectors, including testing continuity through the cable lines and connectors).
With respect to claim 4, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two test connectors comprises one or more connector connection points for receiving the connector (see Donahue Figs. 1-3; describing connectors 6, 7, 11 and 13; Donahue further teaches electrically testing the cables and connectors, including testing continuity through the cable lines and connectors).
With respect to claim 5, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 4, wherein each of the one or more connection points are for receiving a respective connector type (Huang para 0015, lines 1-19).
With respect to claim 6, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, wherein the connector testing module comprises a fixing plate and the at least two test connectors are affixed to the fixing plate (see Donahue Figs. 1-3; describing connectors 6, 7, 11 and 13; Donahue further teaches electrically testing the cables and connectors, including testing continuity through the cable lines and connectors).
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, comprising a drawer arrangement, the drawer arrangement being retractable with respect to the outer case, wherein the connector testing module is accommodated on the drawer arrangement (Huang para 0015, lines 1-19).
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, comprising a control module configured to control the output of the power module that is delivered to the connector testing module, during use (see Donahue power supply 12 and battery 18 shown in Fig. 1).
With respect to claim 10, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 8, wherein the control module is configured to be removable from the portable connector testing device during use (see Donahue col. 4, lines 17-31).
With respect to claim 13, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 11, wherein one or more of the front panel and the rear panel are fastened to the outer casing using at least one quick release fastener (see Donahue col. 6, lines 13-20).
With respect to claim 14, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing device of claim 1, wherein the power module is configured to receive power from one or more of: a power supply external to the portable connector testing device; and a power supply internal to the portable connector testing device (see Donahue col. 6, lines 50-60).
With respect to claim 15, the combination of Donahue and Huang discloses the portable connector testing system, comprising:
a portable connector testing device according to claim 1; and a testing device external to the portable connector testing device (see Donahue col. 6, lines 50-60).
wherein, one or more of an outer casing of the portable connector testing device and an outer casing of the testing device external to the portable connector testing device is configured to support the other device of the portable connector (see Donahue col. 6, lines 35-45) testing system so as to stack with the other device of the portable connector testing system (see Donahue Figs. 1-3; describing connectors 6, 7, 11 and 13; Donahue further teaches electrically testing the cables and connectors, including testing continuity through the cable lines and connectors).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHANA AKHTER HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7543. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eman A Alkafawi can be reached at 571-272-4448. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FARHANA A HOQUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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