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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species II (Figs. 6-16) in the reply filed on 06/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 21-23, 25-28, 30-38, and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu et al. (US 11259846 B2) (hereon referred to as Yu).
Regarding claim 21, Yu teaches a pivoting rod connector (100) comprising:
a first connector block (120) comprising:
a first rod slot (122) for receiving a first stabilization member (152);
a first closure bore (128) for receiving a first closure device (144), wherein the first closure bore (128) communicates with the first rod slot (122); and
a first pin bore (124), wherein the first pin bore (124) communicates with the first rod slot (122);
a second connector block (consisting of 110 and 132) comprising:
a second rod slot (112) for receiving a second stabilization member (150);
a second closure bore (118) for receiving a second closure device (142), wherein the second closure bore (118) communicates with the second rod slot (112); and
a second pin bore (132a);
a pin (134) comprising:
a smooth shaft portion (134b) positioned within the first pin bore (124); and
a threaded shaft portion (134a) positioned within the second pin bore (132a, see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 22, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 21 further comprises a first closure device (144) configured to be inserted into the first closure bore (128) to abut a first rod (152) positioned within the first rod slot (122);
wherein the abutment of the first closure device (144) against the first rod (152) pushes the first rod against the smooth shaft portion (134b, see Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 23, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 22, wherein the pushing of the first rod (152) against the smooth shaft portion (134b) inhibits angulation between the first connector block and the pin (see Col. 5, ll. 26-46).
Regarding claim 25, Yu teaches the pivoting connector of claim 21, wherein the first rod slot (122) comprises a lobed opening including an upper portion and a lower portion (see labelled diagram of Fig. 6 below); and
wherein the pin (134) extends into the lower portion such that the first stabilization member (152) contacts the smooth shaft portion (134b) within the first rod slot (122).
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Regarding claim 26, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 25, wherein the upper portion of the first rod slot is sized to receive the first stabilization member (note that the upper portion, as outlined in the labelled diagram of Fig. 6 above, is substantially large enough to encompass the entire stabilization member); and
wherein the lower portion is sized to permit passage of the pin (134) into the first rod slot (122).
Regarding claim 27, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 21, wherein the second rod slot comprises a lobed opening including an upper portion (110) and a lower portion (132);
wherein the upper portion (110) is sized to receive a first diameter stabilization member; and
wherein the lower portion (132) is sized to receive a second diameter stabilization member having a diameter smaller than the first diameter stabilization member (note that both components are capable of receiving a stabilization member, however the upper portion diameter is larger, therefore enabling reception of a larger stabilization member if configured accordingly).
Regarding claim 28, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 21, wherein the threaded shaft portion (134a) is threadedly engaged with the second pin bore (132a) such that tightening of the pin (134) draws the first connector block (120) toward the second connector block (110, 132).
Regarding claim 30, Yu teaches the pivoting rod connector of claim 21, wherein the first connector block and the second connector block each include a generally rectangular body (see labelled diagram of Fig. 4 below) having opposing side surfaces configured to abut each other to permit relative pivoting prior to locking (see Col. 5, ll. 56-67).
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Regarding claim 31, Yu teaches a method (see Col. 5, ll. 26-67) comprising:
inserting a first stabilization member (150) into a first rod slot (122) of a first connector block (120; see Col. 5, ll. 26-46);
inserting a second stabilization member (152) into a second rod slot (112) of a second connector block (consisting of 110 and 132; see Col. 5, ll. 26-46);
coupling the first connector block (120) to the second connector block (consisting of 110 and 132) with a pin (134), including positioning a smooth shaft portion (134b) of the pin (134) within a first pin bore (124) of the first connector block (120) and positioning a threaded shaft portion (134a) of the pin (134) within a second pin bore (132a) of the second connector block (110, 132; see Col. 5, ll. 26-46); and
inserting a first closure device (144) into a first closure bore (144) of the first connector block to engage the first stabilization member and to push the first stabilization member against the smooth shaft portion of the pin (see Col. 5, ll. 47-67).
Regarding claim 32, Yu teaches the method of claim 31 further comprising inhibiting relative angulation between the first connector block (120) and the second connector block (132, 110) by pressing the first stabilization member (152) against the smooth shaft portion (134b) of the pin (see Col. 5, ll. 52-56).
Regarding claim 33, Yu teaches the method of claim 31 further comprising threadably advancing the pin (134) within the second pin bore (132a) to draw the first connector block (120) toward the second connector block (132, 110; see Col. 5, ll. 26-46).
Regarding claim 34, Yu teaches the method of claim 31 further comprising axially locking the second stabilization member (152) within the second rod slot (112) by inserting a second closure device (142) into a second closure bore (118) of the second connector block (see Col. 5, ll. 57-67).
Regarding claim 35, Yu teaches the method of claim 31, wherein inserting the first closure device (144) fixes an axial position of the first stabilization member (150) relative to the first connector block (120) and locks a relative angular position between the first connector block (120) and the second connector block (132, 110; see Col. 5, ll. 53-56).
Regarding claim 36, Yu teaches a connector system (100) comprising:
a first connector block (120) comprising a first slot (122) configured to receive a first elongate stabilization member (150);
a second connector block (consisting of 110 and 132) comprising a second slot (112) configured to receive a second elongate stabilization member (152); and
a threaded locking system (134) coupling the first connector block (120) and the second connector block (110, 132) and configured to inhibit a relative angular movement in a locked state (see Col. 5, ll. 52-56),
wherein the first connector block (120) includes at least one closure (144) configured to engage the first elongate stabilization member (150) and to apply a first force to the first elongate stabilization member (see Col. 5, ll. 52-56), the first force causing a second force to be applied to the threaded locking system (134) to inhibit the relative angular movement between the first connector block (120) and the threaded locking system (134) in a locked state (see Col. 5, ll. 52-56).
Regarding claim 37, Yu teaches the connector system of claim 36, wherein the threaded locking system (134) comprises a threaded member (134) extending between the first connector block (120) and the second connector block (110, 132), the threaded member (134) comprising:
a smooth shaft portion (134b) positioned within a first pin bore (124) of the first connector block (120); and
a threaded shaft portion (134a) positioned within a second pin bore (132a) of the second connector block (110, 132).
Regarding claim 38, Yu teaches the connector system of claim 37, wherein engagement of the first elongate stabilization member (150) by the at least one closure (144) forces the first elongate stabilization member (150) into contact with the smooth shaft portion (134b) to inhibit the relative angular movement (see Col. 5, ll. 47-56).
Regarding claim 40, Yu teaches the connector system of claim 36, wherein the first slot (122) includes a lobed geometry having:
a first portion sized to receive the first elongate stabilization member (see labelled diagram of Fig. 6 above); and
a second portion sized to receive at least a portion of the threaded locking system (see labelled diagram of Fig. 6 above).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu as applied in the rejection of claim 21 above, and further in view of a different embodiment of Yu.
Regarding claim 29, the embodiment of Yu teaches a connector as outlined in the rejection of claim 21 above, however, this embodiment of Yu shows a connector that is narrow such that it does not consist of a second closure bore and closure device. Another embodiment taught by Yu, shown in Fig. 3, displays a connector (20) with two closure bores (24, 26) and two closure devices (30).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the embodiment of Yu shown in Figs. 4-9 to be wide such as that shown in Fig. 3, wherein the wider modification consists of two closure bores and corresponding closure devices, as this would enable more secure grip on the rod (see Col. 1, ll. 20-53), and because Yu expresses that such modifications are within the scope of the invention (see Col. 6, ll. 25-31).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24 and 39 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims in the instant application have not been rejected using prior art because no references, or reasonable combination thereof, could be found which disclose, or suggest, the claimed combination of limitations recited in dependent claims 24 or 39. In particular, none of the cited references teach or suggest “wherein the pin further comprises a head configured to engage an exterior surface of the first connector body external to the first pin bore”, or “wherein the second slot does not communicate with the second pin bore” as required by claims 24 and 39, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 10687862 B2: This reference teaches a rotatable connector with a non-threaded connecting component.
US 8066746 B2: This reference teaches a lateral connector with a central threaded pin.
US 20070162008 A1: This reference teaches a lateral connector with a leaf spring configuration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOLLY J LANE whose telephone number is (703)756-4702. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/H.J.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3773 /EDUARDO C ROBERT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3773
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