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 . 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 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/16/2022 and 09/11/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 2-9,12-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Groups II-IV, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/07/2024.
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 1-4, 10, 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krans (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2016/0107323) in view of King (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2017/0232624).
Regarding claim 1, Morris teaches a shaving head assembly, comprising:
a head cover (3);
a holder (6), mounted on the head cover;
a cutting unit (4), mounted on the holder, and the cutting unit comprising cutters mounted on the holder and a rotating cutter head arranged in cutters; and a connecting seat, configured for connecting to a handle assembly (2), and the connecting seat being electrically connected with the holder (Figures 1, 2 and 5 and Paragraphs 0049-0057)
Krans teaches it is known to sense variance in conductance (Paragraph 0092) and sensors (7) that are controlled via controller (8) to alter operating characteristics automatically (Paragraph 0068-0070) but does not specifically provide wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin.
King teaches it is known in the art of shaving systems to incorporate a shaving device (1,2) with cutting units (7) utilizing sensors (26) electrically connected (Paragraph 0033) to a microprocessor (50) to detect various sensed data (Paragraphs 0031-39);
wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin (Paragraph 0033-0036).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of krans to incorporate the teachings of King to provide the shaving head with various sensors electrically connected to ascertain, interpret and communicate/relay various shaving data. Doing so provides various data to the user allowing for optimum shaving (paragraph 0003-0008).
Regarding claim 2, the modified device of Kans provides the shaving head assembly according to claim 1, wherein when the holder is served as the first end of the first conductive path, the holder is configured as a conductor; or an outer surface of the holder is provided with a conductive layer; and when the cutters are served as the first end of the first conductive path, the cutters are configured as conductors; or an outer surface of the cutters is provided with a conductive layer (King paragraphs 0033-0036).
Regarding claim 3, the modified device of Kans provides the shaving head assembly according to claim 1, wherein the holder is provided with a mounting groove, the cutting unit is arranged in the mounting groove, the holder is mounted with a fixing plate configured for limiting the cutting unit, and the holder is electrically connected to the head cover and serves as a part of the first conductive path (Kans Figure 1 and Paragraph 0049).
Regarding claim 4, the modified device of Kans teaches the shaving head assembly according to claim 3, wherein the head cover is provided with a mounting hole, and the holder is swingably arranged in the mounting hole (Kans Figure 1 and Paragraph 0050).
Regarding claim 10, Kans teaches a handle assembly (2), configured for connecting a shaving head assembly and the shaving head assembly comprising:
a head cover;
a holder (6), mounted on the head cover; a cutting unit (3), mounted on the holder, and the cutting unit comprising cutters mounted on the holder and a rotating cutter head arranged in cutters (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0049-0050); and
a connecting seat, configured for connecting to a handle assembly (2), and the connecting seat being electrically connected with the holder (Paragraph 0050);
the handle assembly comprising: a casing (Figure 1);
a motor, mounted in the casing and configured for powering the rotating cutter head (Paragraphs 0050 and 100); and
a circuit board assembly, mounted in the casing (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0050, 100-101; Examiner notes there must be a circuit board attached to the electronics within the device).
Krans teaches it is known to sense variance in conductance (Paragraph 0092) and sensors (7) that are controlled via controller (8) to alter operating characteristics automatically (Paragraph 0068-0070) but does not specifically provide;
wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin; and
wherein the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to a second end of the first conductive path and configured for activating the motor when receiving the first inductive capacitor.
King teaches it is known in the art of shaving systems to incorporate a shaving device (1,2) with cutting units (7) utilizing sensors (26) electrically connected (Paragraph 0033) to a microprocessor (50) to detect various sensed data (Paragraphs 0031-39);
wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin (Paragraph 0033-0036); and
wherein the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to a second end of the first conductive path and configured for activating the motor when receiving the first inductive capacitor (Paragraphs 0038, 0045 and 0060).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of krans to incorporate the teachings of King to provide the shaving head with various sensors electrically connected to ascertain, interpret and communicate/relay various shaving data. Doing so provides various data to the user allowing for optimum shaving (paragraph 0003-0008).
Regarding claim 11, the modified device of Kans provides the handle assembly according to claim 10, wherein the circuit board assembly is provided with a first receiving end electrically connected to the second end of the first conductive path to receive the first inductive capacitor, the circuit board assembly is provided with a first capacitor electrically connected to the first receiving end and configured for determining a reference capacitor, the circuit board assembly comprises a controller (8) configured for activating the motor when the first receiving end obtains the first inductive capacitor (Kans Paragraphs 0050, 0068-0070 100-101 and King Paragraphs 0038, 0045 and 0060).
Regarding claim 20, Kans teaches an inductive shaver, comprising a shaving head assembly and a handle assembly (2), the shaving head assembly comprising: a head cover; a holder (6), mounted on the head cover; a cutting unit (3), mounted on the holder, and the cutting unit comprising cutters mounted on the holder and a rotating cutter head arranged in cutters; and a connecting seat, configured for connecting to a handle assembly, and the connecting seat being electrically connected with the holder (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0049-0050); a circuit board (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0050, 100-101; Examiner notes there must be a circuit board attached to the electronics within the device);and wherein the shaving head assembly is connected to the handle assembly (Figure 1).
Krans teaches it is known to sense variance in conductance (Paragraph 0092) and sensors (7) that are controlled via controller (8) to alter operating characteristics automatically (Paragraph 0068-0070) but does not specifically provide;
wherein the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to a second end of the first conductive path and configured for activating the motor when receiving the first inductive capacitor; wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin.
King teaches it is known in the art of shaving systems to incorporate a shaving device (1,2) with cutting units (7) utilizing sensors (26) electrically connected (Paragraph 0033) to a microprocessor (50) to detect various sensed data (Paragraphs 0031-39);
wherein the holder is served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the holder and ground when the holder approaches or contacts human skin; or wherein the cutters are served as a first end of a first conductive path, and the first conductive path is configured for receiving a first inductive capacitor between the cutters and the ground when the cutters approach or contact human skin (Paragraphs 0031-39);
wherein the circuit board assembly is electrically connected to a second end of the first conductive path and configured for activating the motor when receiving the first inductive capacitor (Paragraphs 0038, 0045 and 0060).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of krans to incorporate the teachings of King to provide the shaving head with various sensors electrically connected to ascertain, interpret and communicate/relay various shaving data. Doing so provides various data to the user allowing for optimum shaving (paragraph 0003-0008).
Related Prior Art
Below is an analysis of the relevance of references cited but not used
- "892 cited references B-J and L on page 1 establish the state of the art with a variety of shaver and with different cutting elements/blades using a variety of electrical systems for the cutting elements and blades/shaving device.
Conclusion
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/RICHARD D CROSBY JR/ 02/28/2025Examiner, Art Unit 3724