DETAILED ACTION
The Amendment filed 05/12/26 has been entered. Claims 1 and 3-13 are currently pending, with claim 2 being moved up into claim 1 and claims 12-13 being newly added. Claims 5-6 contain allowable subject matter. Claims 1, 3-4 and 7-13 are rejected as detailed below. In light of the new independent claim, a revised 103 rejection of all pending claims is required, and this action is made final. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Maki in view of Butler
Claim(s) 1, 3-4 and 7-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maki et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,918,632) in view of Butler (U.S. Patent No. 4,401,290). Maki is directed to a rocker mechanism for a rocker recliner. See Abstract. Butler is directed to a stabilized seat. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Maki discloses a spring mechanism [Figs. 3a, 3b, 5-7] for a rocker assembly (22), the spring mechanism being connected to a rocker mechanism (40, 42) of the rocker assembly to assist a rocker member (20) of the rocker mechanism in returning from a rocking position to a rest position, the spring mechanism comprising two mounting plates (58, 68) opposed at a spacing and two springs (44, 46) connected between the two mounting plates, each of the mounting plates being provided with two sets of holding structures (134, 137) for holding each of the springs in place on the mounting plate. Figs. 3a, 3b, 5-7.
Maki discloses all the limitations of this claim except for the plastic washer “spacer” between the mounting plate and spring. Butler discloses a spring mechanism [Fig. 2] that also supports a seat (10), with a spring (36) located between mounting plates (24, 26), wherein a spacer (44, 46) is provided between each mounting plate and each spring to avoid the mounting plate from contacting at least one turn of the spring, wherein the spacer is a plastic washer [see col. 3, line 62 (“nylon washers”)]. See Figs. 1, 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to include a spacer/washer in the Maki spring mechanism because this prevents direct frictional contact between the spring and plates, and this protection may increase the longevity of the spring and overall functionality of the mechanism, and the use of a plastic washer is cheap and readily available.
Claim 3: Maki discloses that each set of holding structures comprises a clip portion (134) and a locating protrusion (137) formed on the mounting plate, and end turn of the spring is clipped by the clip portion and positioned by the locating protrusion. See Fig. 3b.
Claim 4: Maki discloses that each mounting plate is laterally provided with two lateral openings (116-122) to allow the end turns of the springs and the spacers to at least partially pass therethrough and be held on the mounting plate by the clip portions and locating protrusions.
Claim 7: Maki discloses a rocker assembly, comprising a base and two rocker mechanisms mounted symmetrically at the left and right sides of the base, characterized in that the rocker assembly further comprises two spring mechanisms according to any of claims 1 to 6, each of which is connected to the respective rocker mechanism and to the base. See Figs. 1, 2.
Claim 8: Maki discloses that the base comprises two support tubes arranged at a spacing in a horizontal direction and two base plates symmetrically disposed at the left and right sides of the two support tubes, each rocker mechanism being placed on a respective base plate, and each spring mechanism being connected to the respective base plate via a first mounting plate. See Figs. 2, 5, 6.
Claim 12: see claim 1 above. Butler further discloses that the spacer is removable. See Fig. 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the at the effective filing date of the invention for the washer to be removable because this permits ease in replacement of parts, either due to wear, or to vary the damping effect of the spring mechanism.
Claim 13: Maki discloses a rocker assembly comprising a base, two rocker mechanisms mounted symmetrically at the left and right sides of the base, and two spring mechanisms according to claim 12, each of the two spring mechanisms is connected to the respective rocker mechanism and to the base. See Figs. 3a, 3b, 5-7.
Maki in view of Butler and Lawson
Claim(s) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maki in view of Butler and Lawson et al. (CA 2974705). Lawson is directed to a rocker and recline linkage. See Abstract.
Claim 9: Maki discloses that each rocker mechanism comprises a rocker member (62) to which a movable member (64) is attached, wherein the movable member is movable as the rocker member swings on the base plate about a fulcrum. See Fig. 2. However, the “movable member” disclosed in Maki is used differently than the instant application. While another teaching reference is not necessarily needed here, for the sake of moving prosecution forward, Lawson is used here to teach the use of a movable member (34, 38) that is attached to the rocker member (22) and is movable as the rocker member swings. See Figs. 1, 22-23. It would be obvious to a one skilled in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use this movable member to limit the range of motion of the rocker, which is preferred for reclining furniture.
Claim 10: Lawson discloses that each movable member is connected to a corresponding rocker member via an intermediate bracket, and between two symmetrically arranged intermediate brackets, there are connected two connecting rods which are offset both horizontally and vertically; wherein a second mounting plate of each spring mechanism is fixedly connected to an intermediate connecting plate, which is inserted in a horizontal direction between and respectively connected to the two connecting rods. See Figs. 1, 22-23.
Claim 11: Lawson discloses a pair of stops is provided symmetrically at the left and right sides of one of the support tubes, intended to abut against the corresponding movable member to limit its further movement. See Figs. 1, 22-23 (38 contacting 12). See also claim objection above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-4 and 7-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 May 28, 2026
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