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 .
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract is over 150 words in length. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-5 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.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected because the limitations “a plurality of sensing elements each being integrated into strategic locations on said handgun” and “said plurality of sensing elements senses grip force imparted into said handgun at each of said strategic locations” are unclear. Specifically, the phrase “strategic locations” is very broad, and it does not clearly and distinctly define the metes and bounds of the limitations. For purposes of examination, Examiner is interpreting that when a sensor has a working, functional purpose, its location should be considered a “strategic location.”
Claims 2-4 are rejected for being dependent upon claim 1.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 4,457,715 (hereinafter “Knight”) and further in view of US 2014/0272806 (hereinafter “Hunt”).
Regarding Claim 1, Knight discloses a handgun (col. 14, lines 52-64: “Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the training apparatus of the present invention is equally applicable to handguns”) having a grip (fig. 4: firearm has grip located at 25), a barrel (fig. 4: firearm has a barrel at 250) and a trigger (fig. 4: firearm training device has a trigger) thereby facilitating said handgun to be gripped by a user for the purposes of training proper grip technique (col. 1, lines 22-36: “This invention relates to improved training and relates particularly but not exclusively to improved training in relation to sporting equipment where the pressure of body contact with the equipment or the weight of a sportsman on the equipment is important. One embodiment of the invention has particular application in the training of the correct holding of a rifle for marksmanship”);
a grip force unit being integrated into said handgun (fig. 4: grip force unit comprising pressure sensors 21, 23, 25, 27), said grip force unit including a plurality of sensing elements each being integrated into strategic locations on said handgun thereby facilitating each of said sensing elements to be in communication with the user's hand when the user grips said handgun such that said plurality of sensing elements senses grip force imparted into said handgun at each of said strategic locations (col. 3, lines 1-13: “the butt of the rifle, the cheek position on the rifle, the hand grip of the rifle, and the forehand grip of the rifle… The rifle has four pressure sensitive transducers fastened to the rifle at positions corresponding to the described positions”) when said recoil generator is actuated (col. 6, lines 59-62: “when the trigger of the rifle is squeezed a signal is fed to each of the logic and control units;” Examiner notes that when the trigger of the training firearm is actuated, the measurements from each of the pressure sensors are read and broadcasted. Examiner further notes, concerning the underlined portion, the relationship between the actuating of the trigger and the actuating of the recoil generator will be addressed below).
Knight does not explicitly disclose the handgun having a slide because the detailed embodiment refers to a rifle. However, Hunt explicitly discloses a handgun having a slide (fig. 1: slide 18). Knight suggests a handgun may be used as the firearm in his training device (col. 14, lines 52-64) and that the rifle embodiment he describes is merely one choice of a firearm. If a handgun was to be used instead, as suggested by Knight, it would necessarily include a slide, such as the one disclosed by Hunt (Hunt, fig. 1).
Knight also does not disclose a recoil generator. However, Hunt discloses a recoil generator being integrated into said handgun (figs. 5A-5B: recoil generator 52), said recoil generator imparting a discharge force into said handgun when said recoil generator is actuated thereby facilitating said handgun to simulate the recoil of firing a handgun with respect to the user gripping said handgun (par. 0134-0135: “the weapon emulator 10 includes a recoil effect assembly 52. Recoil effect assembly 52 provides a recoil effect… a recoil reaction actuator 52 comprises a reaction mass, which provides a substantial mass against which the weapon emulator 10 body 12 can electro-mechanically push. The reaction mass is actuated coincident with the firing of the weapon emulator 10, imparting both visible and physically felt recoil to the user holding the weapon emulator 10;” Examiner notes that the trigger and recoil generator actuating occurs at the same time, so it follows that when combined with the training apparatus of Knight, the sensing elements would sense the grip force imparted thereon when the recoil generator is actuated since the recoil generator is actuated when the trigger is actuated, and it has already been established that the sensing happens when the trigger is actuated). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the recoil generator of Hunt with the firearm training device of Knight in order to properly mimic recoil and therefore increase the realism of the training apparatus (Hunt, par. 0134).
Regarding Claim 2, Knight modified by Hunt further discloses said recoil generator is in operational communication with said trigger, said recoil generator being actuated when said trigger is urged into a firing position (Hunt, par. 0135: “a recoil reaction actuator 52 comprises a reaction mass, which provides a substantial mass against which the weapon emulator 10 body 12 can electro-mechanically push. The reaction mass is actuated coincident with the firing of the weapon emulator 10, imparting both visible and physically felt recoil to the user holding the weapon emulator 10”). The combination of the firearm training device of Knight with the recoil generator of Hunt described above for Claim 1 would have included the operational communication between the recoil generator and the trigger.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knight in view of Hunt as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2012/0141957 (hereinafter “Miller”) and US 2019/0003804 (hereinafter “Deng”).
Regarding Claim 3, Knight further discloses said grip force unit comprises:
a control circuit being integrated into said handgun (figs. 4, 15, 21; col. 12, lines 13-20: “A pressure sensing circuit of the type shown in FIG. 21 is provided for each of the transducers which is to be mounted on the rifle or like weapon;” col. 14, lines 52-64: “Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the training apparatus of the present invention is equally applicable to handguns”);
a plurality of pressure sensors, each of said pressure sensors being integrated into said handgun such that said plurality of pressure sensors defines said plurality of sensing elements (fig. 4: grip force unit comprising pressure sensors 21, 23, 25, 27; col. 3, lines 1-13: “the rifle has four pressure sensitive transducers fastened to the rifle”), said plurality of pressure sensors being electrically coupled to said control circuit (fig. 15; col. 6, lines 56-68: “Each of the… control circuits is arranged as shown in FIG. 15 and has a source of constant current which is applied to the respective pressure transducer”), said plurality of pressure sensors including a front grip sensor being integrated into a front side of said grip of said handgun (fig. 4: pressure sensor 25 on front of grip) and a back grip sensor being integrated into a back side of said grip of said handgun (fig. 4: pressure sensor 25 on back of grip) and a barrel sensor being integrated into a lateral side of said barrel of said handgun (fig. 4: pressure sensor 27 on lateral side of barrel);
a transceiver being integrated into said handgun (col. 14, lines 35-51: “the pressure sensing network and the logic circuitry which provides signals to the yellow, green, and red display lamps is an arrangement which avoids the necessity of a cable connection between the training device and the display panel… any suitable… transmitter/receiver apparatus known in the art could be used for this purpose”), said transceiver being electrically coupled to said control circuit (figs. 4, 15, 21), said transceiver broadcasting a data signal comprising pressure data received from each of said plurality of pressure sensors (figs. 4, 15, 21; col. 14, lines 35-51: “the pressure sensing network and the logic circuitry which provides signals… is an arrangement which avoids the necessity of a cable connection between the training device and the display panel… any suitable… transmitter/receiver apparatus known in the art could be used for this purpose).
Knight does not disclose a trigger sensor. However, Miller discloses a trigger sensor being integrated into said trigger of said handgun (par. 0022: “the sensors 112 may be… pressure sensors that sense when the trainee's trigger finger is proximate to or in contact with one of the sensors 112. The trigger assembly 108 also includes a sensor 113 that senses when a trainee's trigger finger contacts the trigger 110 but is not pressing or squeezing the trigger (i.e., the trigger position) and also when the trainee's finger is squeezing the trigger 110 (i.e., the firing position)”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the trigger sensor of Miller with the training firearm of Knight in order to ensure proper grip and pressure is also applied to the trigger (Miller, abstract; par. 0022).
Knight also does not explicitly disclose a power supply. However, Deng discloses a power supply being integrated into said handgun (fig. 1: power supply 12 within grip of handgun), said power supply being electrically coupled to said control circuit (par. 0042: “circuit board 10 electrically coupled to battery 12 with connecting wire 22”), said power supply comprising:
a rechargeable battery being integrated into said grip of said handgun (fig. 1: battery 12 within grip of handgun; par. 0043: “Battery 12 is mounted into first grip panel 16;” par. 0050: “The mini-B USB connector is electrically coupled to a battery charger 166. The battery charger 166 is electrically coupled to battery 12”), said rechargeable battery being electrically coupled to said control circuit (figs. 1-2, 5-6; par. 0042: “circuit board 10 electrically coupled to battery 12 with connecting wire 22”); and
a charge port being recessed into a bottom end of said grip of said handgun thereby facilitating said charge port to receive a charge cord of a charger (fig. 1: charge port is recessed into bottom end of grip within entry point 14; par. 0042: “Battery 12 is electrically coupled to entry point 14. Entry point 14 is configured to receive a hardwire connection for either electrical power or data”; par. 0050: “The mini-B USB connector is electrically coupled to a battery charger 166. The battery charger 166 is electrically coupled to battery 12”), said charge port being electrically coupled to said rechargeable battery for charging said rechargeable battery (par. 0042: “Battery 12 is electrically coupled to entry point 14. Entry point 14 is configured to receive a hardwire connection for either electrical power or data”; par. 0050: “The mini-B USB connector is electrically coupled to a battery charger 166. The battery charger 166 is electrically coupled to battery 12”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the described power supply of Deng with the firearm training device of Knight in order to provide a simple way to power and charge the device without requiring a constant wired connection while in use (Deng, pars. 0002-0004, pars. 0042-0043).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knight in view of Hunt, Miller, and Deng as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of US 2019/0154401 (hereinafter “Almagor”).
Regarding Claim 4, Knight does not disclose a personal electronic device nor analysis software. However, Almagor discloses a personal electronic device storing analysis software (par. 0046: “The training code may be program instructions stored in a non-transitory medium, for example a software application executed on one or more processing nodes having one or more processors. The mobile device 99 may be or include a handheld device, such as a mobile phone or a tablet or a smartwatch”), said personal electronic device being in remote communication with said grip force unit (par. 0055: “the physiological parameter(s) are calculated by the processor 101 based on the analysis of the outputs which are received via the wireless channel”), said analysis software analyzing data received from said grip force unit thereby facilitating said analysis software to analyze the user's grip technique for training the user to improve their grip technique (par. 0071: “outputs of the IMU may be acquired and synced with imaging data and/or data of additional sensors. The combination of outputs from different sensors may allow detection of a weak firearm gripping, for example by detecting undesired hand motion or trembling during or just before the shooting event;” par. 0074: “a pressure sensor in a glove or imaging data may be analyzed to detect wrist alignment with a pistol muzzle and compare to a position of the target 216;” pars. 0029-0030: “FIG. 6 is an image having marking thereon to depict features indicative of a good firearm grip by imaging data analysis… FIG. 7 is an image having marking thereon to depict features indicative of good and bad firearm grips by imaging data analysis”), said personal electronic device being in wireless communication with said transceiver such that said personal electronic device receives said pressure data from said transceiver (par. 0059: “This allows the wearable device(s) 98 to forward to the mobile device 99 the IMU outputs. As shown at 302, these IMU outputs are received by the processor 201 for processing according to the training code 102… the wearable device(s) 98 include a glove with one or more pressure sensors;” par. 0055: “which are received via the wireless channel”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the personal electronic device and analysis software as described by Almagor with the training device and sensors of Knight in order to provide more complicated analysis and feedback of the gathered data and on a more convenient device to the user, such as a smartphone or similar (Almagor, pars. 0005, 0046).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knight in view of Hunt, Miller, Deng, and Almagor.
Regarding Claim 5, see rejections for Claims 1-4 above. Claim 5 is the combination of each and every limitation from Claims 1-4 verbatim and is therefore rejected under the same rationale described above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIE DOSHER whose telephone number is (571) 272-4842. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.G.D./Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/DMITRY SUHOL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715