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 claims 9-15, 17-21 and 26 in the reply filed on 12/22/2025 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 9, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Carlson et al. US 7,317,313 B2.
Regarding claim 9, Carlson et al. disclose
A rotary encoder (figs 1 and 4, item 10) for measuring a lift height of a vehicle, comprising: a mounting boss comprising an arm (item 25) defining a bore (item 12);
a sheave (item 44) mounted on the arm of the mounting boss and configured to rotate about the arm (see column 2, lines 28-43, column 4, lines 1-12);
a circuit board assembly (item 20) positioned within the bore of the mounting boss (see column 2, lines 32-55. It should be noted that printed circuit board 20 to float within the magnetic encoder housing 11), the circuit board comprising a magnetic sensor (item 23) (see column 2, lines 32-37); and a cover coupled to the sheave and configured to rotate with the sheave, wherein a back face (item 32) of the cover defines a magnet holder (item 24) containing a magnet (item 22) so that the magnet rotates upon actuation of the sheave (column 2, lines 55-65, column 3, lines 58-67, column 4, lines 1-12) (the examiner has not given any patentable weight to the bold portion because a claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987)
Regarding claim 11, Carlson et al. disclose
, wherein the cover is attached directly to a seal (item 42) coupled to the sheave and configured to rotate with the sheave (see column 4, lines 1-6. See fig. 4 for detail).
Regarding claim 12, Carlson et al. disclose
, wherein the sheave is a ball bearing and the seal covers a plurality of balls (see column 4, lines 1-6).
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 15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson et al. in a view of Setbacken et al. US 8,497,469 B2.
Regarding claim 15, Carlson does not disclose but Setbacken et al. disclose, wherein the circuit board assembly is comprised of a wire guide (item 85), an insulator, and a circuit board (item 65) (column 4, lines 24-37).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the wire guide and the insulator as disclosed by Setbacken in Carlson’s teachings to prevent damage and or/signal degradation.
Regarding claim 19, Carlson does not disclose but Setbacken te al. disclose, wherein the circuit board comprises castelled edges (item 65) for receiving a plurality of pins (leads) of the insulator (column 4, lines 24-37).
Claims 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson et al. in a view of Harris US 7,287,625 B1.
Regarding claim 20, Carlson et al. disclose
A system (figs. 1 and 4) for measuring a lift height of a vehicle, the system comprising: a rotary encoder comprising: a mounting boss comprising an arm defining a bore; a sheave mounted on the arm of the mounting boss and configured to rotate about the arm; a circuit board assembly positioned within the bore of the mounting boss, the circuit board comprising a magnetic sensor; and a cover coupled to the sheave and configured to rotate with the sheave, wherein the cover defines a magnet holder containing a magnet so that the magnet rotates upon actuation of the sheave (see claim 9 rejection for detail) (the examiner has not given any patentable weight to the bold portion because a claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
Carlson does not disclose but Harris discloses
wherein the circuit board assembly (fig. 2, item 11) configured to measure the lift height of the vehicle using the magnetic sensor in relation to rotation of the magnet (column 3, lines 22-41. Carlson’s sensor also has the magnet as indicated); a safety system (item 22) of the vehicle in communication with the circuit board assembly; and
a vehicle computer (item 21); wherein the circuit board assembly is configured to simultaneously transmit lift height information to the safety system of the vehicle and the vehicle computer (column 7, lines 31-52. Fig. 2 clearly shows signal from item 11 goes to items 21 and 22 simultaneously).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the circuit board to measure the height of the vehicle as taught by Harris in Carlson’s teachings to sense the vertical position of the fork and to prevent excessive wear. (Harris’s column 1, lines 50-60)
Regarding claim 21, Carlson et al. disclose
, wherein the magnetic sensor includes two measurement dies (items 24 and 27), each of the measurement dies configured to output a first signal (item 24) to a microcontroller (item 21) of the circuit board assembly and a second signal (item 27) to the safety system of the vehicle simultaneously (column 7, lines 31-52. Fig. 2 clearly shows signal from item 11 goes to items 21 and 22 simultaneously).
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson et al. in a view of Harris and further in a view of Durham et al. US 2009/0101447 A1.
Regarding claim 26, a combination of Carlson and Harris does not disclose but Durham et al. disclose, wherein the vehicle computer (on-board computer) and the circuit board (fig. 1, item 120) assembly are communicatively coupled with two-way communication [0013-0017, 0028].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the two-way communication as taught by Durham in Carlson’s to store the height in a variety of locations (Durham’s paragraph 0017)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 13, 14 and 17-18 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. Claim 10 discloses details about the mounting boss, claim 13 discloses details about a retaining ring. Claim 17 discloses details about the wire guide.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dolz (US 11,946,778 B2) discloses a retaining device for a rotary encoder.
Alhorn et al. (US 6,313,624 B1) disclose a position sensor with integrated signal-conditioning electronics on a printed wiring board.
Shaoping (An MR safe…..FBG sensor) discloses FBG sensors.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BICKEY DHAKAL whose telephone number is (571)272-3577. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-4:30 PM.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896