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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 1-18 are pending and Claims 1-8 have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits. As of the date of this application, the Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 07/17/2022, 03/28/2024, 08/28/2024, 10/23/2024 has/have been taken into account.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 04/20/2020 and 06/28/2020. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN202020590439.5 and CN202010599396.1 applications as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species 1, Claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 08/28/2024 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “Firstly, Species 1 and Species 2 apply the same basic principle (i.e. by adjusting the position of the threaded sliding block 7 on the threaded rod 8, the connector 4 is stopped at different heights relative to the base 1), and both Species 1 and Species 2 have the above key technical features of Claim 1. Secondly, the solution of Species 2 is a further improvement and optimization on the basis of the solution of Claim 1. The above arrangement does not provide too much search and/or examination burden for the examiner.” This is not found persuasive because the improvement and optimization of species 2 contains multiple exclusive characteristics, as indicated in the requirement and applicant’s response, and these characteristics are not obvious variants. As consideration of each of these characteristics will require employment of various additional search queries, it does cause a serious search burden
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 9-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 08/28/2024.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, 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 3 recites “translating a line segment ef upwards and downwards for 5mm”. – It is unclear if the entire translation is 5mm or each translation is 5mm for a total of 10mm. For purposes of examination, it has been interpreted as the latter.
Claim 3 recites “a connecting point between the mechanical spring and the connector or the lower connecting arm is taken as a center of circle of the circle C, a length L1 of the mechanical spring when the connector is at a preset maximum height is taken as a radius of the circle C”. – As the connecting point indicated as being the center of the circle can be pivoted with respect to the base and threaded rod, it is unclear how the trajectory that is based on a fixed threaded rod can move with a range that is based on a movable circle center.
Claim 5 recites “x is -10mm-30mm”, it is unclear if applicant is claiming a negative or positive number for x.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Buccieri et al. (US 5,826,846).
Regarding Claim 1, Buccieri discloses a display support having a freely adjustable height, wherein the display support comprises: a base (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 12); a connector (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 32) for installing a display; an upper connecting arm (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 36) and a lower connecting arm (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 14), which are parallel to each other, being arranged between the base and the connector, and a quadrilateral structure is formed among a hinge point between the upper connecting arm and the connector (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 40), the connector, a hinge point between the lower connecting arm and the connector (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 24), the lower connecting arm, a hinge point between the lower connecting arm and the base (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 18), the base, a hinge point between the upper connecting arm and the base (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 38), and the upper connecting arm; and the display support further comprises a mechanical spring (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 20), wherein an end (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 23) of the mechanical spring is hinged with the connector or the lower connecting arm, an other end (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 17) of the mechanical spring is hinged with a threaded sliding block (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 56), the threaded sliding block sleeves on a threaded rod (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 48), the threaded rod is arranged in the base, so that when an end part of the threaded rod is operated to drive the threaded rod to rotate, the threaded sliding block is movable along the threaded rod, and a position of the threaded sliding block on the threaded rod is adjusted according to a weight of the display on the connector, so that when the connector is moved upwards or downwards, the connector is stopped at different heights relative to the base (Buccieri: Fig. 7-8; Col. 10, Ln. 9-38; Col. 12, Ln. 21-31; Col. 14, Ln. 22-31).
Regarding Claim 2, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display support satisfies a first balance condition and a second balance condition, and the first balance condition is: maintaining the connector at any height within a preset height range, driving the threaded sliding block to move by driving the threaded rod to rotate, and ensuring that a gravitational torque M1 is equal to an elastic torque M2, so as to adapt to the display of any weight within a preset weight range; and the second balance condition is: according to the first balance condition, maintaining a position of the threaded sliding block corresponding to the weight of the display in the threaded rod, and when the height of the connector is arbitrarily changed within the preset height range, ensuring that the gravitational torque M1 is equal to the elastic torque M2, so that the connector is able to stop at different heights relative to the base (Buccieri: Col. 10, Ln. 9-38; Col. 12, Ln. 21-31; Col. 14, Ln. 22-31).
Regarding Claim 4, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein an included angle between the threaded rod (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 48) and a horizontal direction away from the connector is 0-80º (Buccieri: Fig. 7-8).
Regarding Claim 6, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the connector (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 32) is maintained at any horizontal height within a preset height range, according to a maximum value and a minimum value of a preset weight range of the display, a maximum value and a minimum value of an included angle b between the mechanical spring and the upper connecting arm or the lower connecting arm are obtained (Buccieri: Col. 9, equation (5)).
Regarding Claim 7, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein an elastic coefficient K of the mechanical spring is Kmin-Kmax, wherein Kmax-Kmin<15, and Kmin and Kmax are obtained by a following formula:
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in the formula, G represents a weight of the display; al and a2 respectively represent angles between the upper connecting arm or the lower connecting arm and a horizontal plane when the connector is at two arbitrary heights within a preset height range; b1 and b2 respectively represent included angles between the mechanical spring corresponding to al, a2 and the upper connecting arm or the lower connecting arm; and L1 and L1' respectively represent lengths of the mechanical spring corresponding to al and a2 (Buccieri: Col. 8, Equation (1) – shows overall formula for K; Col. 9, and equation (5) - shows formula to calculate spring force at each location).
Regarding Claim 8, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein an end of the threaded rod (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 48) is set to be an operating end (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 87), and an other end (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 70) of the threaded rod is rotatably arranged in a mounting seat (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 66), so that the threaded rod is driven to rotate by applying a force to the operating end.
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 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buccieri et al. (US 5,826,846).
Regarding Claim 3, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein the threaded rod is set to be consistent with a movement trajectory of the threaded sliding block (Buccieri: Fig. 7-8; 30), the movement trajectory of the threaded sliding block is a line segment formed by connecting a point e0 and a point f0 within a range of a quadrilateral elflf2e2, the range of the quadrilateral elflf2e2 is formed by translating a line segment ef upwards and downwards in a direction perpendicular to the line segment ef, so as to obtain line segments e1fl and e2f2 respectively, a point e and a point f are respectively intersection points of a circle C with a straight line La and a straight line Lb, a connecting point between the mechanical spring and the connector or the lower connecting arm (Buccieri: Fig. 7; 24) is taken as a center of circle of the circle C, a length L1 of the mechanical spring when the connector is at a preset maximum height is taken as a radius of the circle C, and the straight lines La and Lb are respectively straight lines where the mechanical spring is located when an included angle b between the mechanical spring and the upper connecting arm or the lower connecting arm is at a maximum value and a minimum value.
Regarding Claim 5, Buccieri discloses the display support having the freely adjustable height as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the connector (Buccieri: Fig. 6-8; 32) is at a preset maximum height, a length L1 of the mechanical spring is set to be L-x, wherein L (Buccieri: Fig. 5; L) represents a distance from a connecting point between the mechanical spring and the connector or the lower connecting arm to a hinge point between the lower connecting arm and the base.
Buccieri discloses the claimed invention, except for the specific 10mm quadrilateral range for the movement trajectory positioning recited in claim 3 and the 10-30mm spring length range recited in claim 5. However, it would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide a specific range for the movement trajectory to reside, with the motivation of providing only a slight change in spring length to ensure that the adjustment of the threaded rod is what provides the most effect on the counterbalancing force (Buccieri: Col. 10, Ln. 1-8), and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable range involves only routine skill in the art. In other words, narrowing a general condition taught by the prior art to a specific numerical value has been held to be an obvious variation thereof. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 and In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 for cited references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Taylor Morris whose telephone number is (571)272-6367. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM-5PM PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached on (571) 272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Taylor Morris/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631