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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHIMIZU et al. (US 20190198847 A1, “847”) in view of SHIMIZU et al (US 20210218163 A1, “163”) and Sugiyama (US 20210006057 A1, “Sugiyama”).
Regarding claim 1, “847” discloses (Fig. 2) a conductor comprising: a pair of bus bars (21); and an exterior component (30) attached to the pair of bus bars (See abstract) “847” states “an insulating protector attached to one side of a unit cell group" that includes "two bus bar housing portions, in each of which a plurality of bus bars for connecting adjacent electrode terminals are aligned and housed”, wherein each of the pair of bus bars (21) includes a conductor portion, and at least partially includes an attached portion extending in a linear shape (See para [0034]) “847” states “each bus bar 21 has a substantially rectangular shape, and is formed by pressing, for example, an aluminum alloy plate”, the exterior component (30) includes a pair of groove portions extending in a linear shape so as to be capable of accommodating the attached portions of the pair of bus bars, and a pair of cover portions capable of opening and closing opening portions of the pair of groove portions (See Fig. 10, para [0039], [0055] – [0056]) “847” states “divided into two right and left parts via a partition portion” and further discloses “right and left bus bar covers 60L and 60R each have a flat plate shape… configured so as to be capable of covering a left bus bar housing portion 32L and a right bus bar housing portion 32R, respectively”.
“847” is silent on the bus bars having insulating sheath with which the conductor portion is covered and the pair of cover portions are arranged such that one and the other of the pair of cover portions overlap each other when the opening portions of both of the pair of groove portions are closed.
However, Sugiyama discloses a conductor portion (the busbar body) covered by an insulating sheath (the insulating coat over its outer circumferential surface). "flat wiring member 3" that is "a wiring member including a conductor extending in an axial direction, a sectional shape of a cross section of the wiring member orthogonal to the axial direction being a rectangular shape" (para [0023]), and further: "The flat wiring member 3 is, for example, a busbar or an extrusion wiring member. The flat wiring member 3 in this embodiment is a coated busbar, the outer circumferential surface of which is coated with an insulating coat" (para [0023])
“847” and Sugiyama are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of conductor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified “847” bus bars 21 as insulation-coated bus bars per Sugiyama’s teaching, because coating a bus bar conductor with an insulating sheath is a well-known technique in the same field (bus bar routing and protection structures) for preventing accidental contact and short circuits along any exposed length of the bus bar
outside the protector housing — a predictable application of a known technique to known bus bar structures, yielding the expected result of improved insulation.
“847” in view of Sugiyama is silent on the pair of cover portions are arranged such that one and the other of the pair of cover portions overlap each other when the opening portions of both of the pair of groove portions are closed. “847” discloses (para [0057]), each bus bar cover closes "by being pivoted 180 degrees about the second hinges 62 so as to overlap the upper surface of the insulating protector 30" — cover-over-body, not cover-over-cover.
However, “163” claim 1 recites bus bars "that include overlap portions and that overlap each other at the overlap portions" together with "an insulating middle cover disposed between the overlap portions of the plurality of bus bars." Structurally, Reference B discloses a terminal block 39 (Figs. 3–10) including "a lower cover 40 (an example of an outer cover)... a middle cover 43 configured to be overlapped with the lower bus bar 42... an upper bus bar 44... configured to be overlapped with the middle cover 43... and an upper cover 45 (an example of an outer cover) configured to be overlapped with the upper bus bar 44" (para [0061]). The middle cover 43 "is formed as a single piece with the lower cover 40 via hinges 64" (para [0075], Figs. 5–6), and the upper cover 45 is "configured to be mounted as a single piece to the lower cover 40 while being overlapped on the upper bus bar 44" (para [0087], Fig. 8), such that once both are closed, upper cover 45 overlaps structure that itself overlaps middle cover 43 (overlap portion 85B, (para [0077]). “163” own claim 3 states this cover-over-cover relationship directly: "the middle cover is formed as a single piece with at least one side of the outer cover via a hinge having flexibility."
“847” in view of Sugiyama and “163” are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of conductor. A person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to substitute “163” cover-overlaps-cover closure scheme for “847” cover-overlaps-body closure scheme, because both references address the identical problem of insulating adjacent bus bars from external contact using molded, hinged covers, and doing so predictably achieves the benefit “163” itself identifies: "it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a short circuit caused by a foreign object coming into contact with the bus bar" (para [0010]).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHIMIZU et al. (US 20190198847 A1, “847”) in view of SHIMIZU et al (US 20210218163 A1, “163”) and Sugiyama (US 20210006057 A1, “Sugiyama”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wagener (US 6100473 A, “Wagener”).
Regarding claim 2, “847” in view of Sugiyama and “163” discloses the conductor according to claim 1, wherein the exterior component includes a first block that constitutes one of the pair of groove portions and a second block that constitutes the other of the pair of groove portions and is separate from the first block, “847” further discloses one of the pair of cover portions is coupled to the first block so as to be displaceable in a hinge shape, and is engaged with an engaged portion provided in the first block when the opening portion of the one of the groove portions is closed, “847” supplies this hinge-and-engagement mechanic, bus bar cover 60L is coupled for pivoting "via second hinges 62" (para [0056]), and when closed, "second locking piece 86 of the bus bar covers 60 is received by and engaged with the corresponding second lock receiving portion 87 of the housing compartment 33" (para [0058], Fig. 12) — a hinge displaceable cover engaging a locking feature ("engaged portion") on its block when the groove opening is closed; “847” in view of “163” discloses the other of the pair of cover portions is coupled to the second block so as to be displaceable in a hinge shape, is engaged with an engaged portion provided in the second block when the opening portion of the other of the groove portions is closed, overlaps the one of the cover portions, and couples the first block and the second block; “847” mirrors the same hinge/lock structure for a second cover (60R) engaging a corresponding lock
receiving portion 87 on the opposite housing compartment 33, “163” supplies the "overlaps... and couples" function: upper cover 45 is "configured to be mounted as a single piece to the lower cover 40 while being overlapped on the upper bus bar 44"
(para [0087]), and because the upper bus bar's overlap portion 85B already sits over middle cover 43 (para [0077]), closing this second cover necessarily overlaps it over the structure of the first cover — bridging what would otherwise be two separate pieces into a single assembled housing.
“847” in view of Sugiyama and “163” is silent on wherein the exterior component includes a first block that constitutes one of the pair of groove portions and a second block that constitutes the other of the pair of groove portions and is separate from the first block
However, Wagener discloses teaches the missing limitation. Its claim 1 recites "the support having two L-shaped receiving elements (20.1, 20.2) with second legs (23.1, 23.2) aligned parallel with respect to the fastening surface which determine a width of the receptacle, the L-shaped receiving elements (20.1, 20.2) having front ends facing each other with dovetailed strips (24.1, 24.2) and dovetailed grooves (25.1, 25.2) aligned with each other" (Fig. 1). The specification confirms these are separately-formed pieces joined around the busbar: "The two receiving elements can approach the busbar from both sides and be connected in the longitudinal direction of the same by the dovetailed connections" (col. 1, lines: 46 - 48). Receiving element 20.1 is thus a first block constituting one side of the busbar-receiving groove, and element 20.2 is a second block, separate from the first, constituting the other side.
Wagener states its own purpose for splitting the busbar-receiving structure into two separate, independently-formed blocks: to enable "primarily the later additional fixation in place of busbars already fastened to a fastening surface" (Abstract) — a two-piece design permits installation around a busbar already mounted, which a one-piece design cannot do. A person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to apply “847”'s per-groove hinge-and-lock cover mechanism to Wagener's two independently-molded receiving elements, and further to arrange the second cover to overlap the first per “163”'s teaching, because combining these known elements according to their established functions predictably yields a two-piece, independently-covered housing whose covers overlap to both close and mechanically join the two pieces — the same benefit the instant specification attributes to this arrangement: regulating the order in which the covers are opened so as to prevent "an unintended short circuit between the bus bars" when detached (para [0009], [0026]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIDI MOHAMED MAIGA whose telephone number is (703)756-1870. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am 5 pm.
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/SIDI M MAIGA/Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/STEVEN T SAWYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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