DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Action on the merits in response to the application filed 02/17/23. Domestic priority to a provisional application 02/21/22 is proper. Claims 1-20 are currently pending yet all are rejected as detailed below.
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.
Walterspiel
Claim(s) 1-7, 10-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Walterspiel (U.S. Patent No. 10,506,840). Walterspiel is directed to a shock absorbing system. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Walterspiel discloses a shell-based material [Figs. 3A-4E] comprising: a plurality of interconnected unit cells (200) [see Fig. 3A (via 312)], each unit cell including a continuously curved shell [see Figs. 4A-4E], the shell having at least one perforation (204, 210, 218, 224, 230) defining a snapping motif on the shell [see col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8 (impact results in compression, then return or buckling/bulging)], wherein the shell-based material has a predetermined number of structural states based on the snapping motif defined on the shell of the unit cell and on the at least one perforation defined on the shell [see col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8 (made of elastic, resilient or shape memory material, permitting multiple “structural states”)], the predetermined number of structural states including a first structural state, and a second structural state being different from the first structural state. See Figs. 3A-4E.
Claim 2: Walterspiel discloses that each shell has a configuration of Schwarz P of alternative level set constants. See Fig. 3A.
Claim 3: Walterspiel discloses that the at least one perforation includes an elliptical perforation. See col. 3, line 8.
Claim 4: Walterspiel discloses that at least one of the unit cells is configured for supporting a predetermined load in a load direction, and a major diameter of the elliptical perforation extends along the load direction. See col. 3, line 8 (load direction can be chosen to line up accordingly).
Claim 5: Walterspiel discloses that the at least one perforation includes a plurality of multilayer staggered perforations. See Fig. 3A-4E.
Claim 6: Walterspiel discloses that the predetermined number of structural states includes 2^(n−1) structural states, wherein n corresponds to a number of layers of the multilayer staggered perforations. See Fig. 3A.
Claim 7: Walterspiel discloses that the multilayer staggered perforations include rectangular perforations.
Claim 10: Walterspiel discloses that a section of the shell extending between adjacent staggered perforations defines a hinge, and the shell bends and twists about the hinge between the first structural state and the second structural state, the first and second structural states being consecutive structural states. See Fig. 3A (“hinge” could be due to magnet connection), 4B (“hinge” could be angle formed hexagonal hole). “Hinge” can be construed broadly here without further clarification.
Claim 11: Walterspiel discloses that the second structural state corresponds to a snap-back behavior of the unit cell. See col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8 (made of elastic, resilient or shape memory material).
Claim 12: Walterspiel discloses that the second structural state corresponds to a snap-through behavior of the unit cell. See col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8 (made of hard plastic or metal material).
Claim 13: Walterspiel discloses that the at least one perforation includes a first perforation extending along a first direction, and a second perforation extending along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. See Figs. 4A-4E.
Claim 14: Walterspiel discloses that the snapping motif is reproduced on the shell using rotation transformations about the first and second directions. See Figs. 4A-4E.
Claim 15: Walterspiel discloses that the shell-based material has the first structural state and the second structural state along the first direction, and further has a third structural state being different from the first and second structural states, and a fourth structural state being different from the first, second and third structural states, the third and fourth structural states being along the second direction. See col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8 (made of elastic, resilient or shape memory material, permitting numerous “structural states”)
Claim 16: Walterspiel discloses that the at least one perforation further includes a third perforation extending along a third direction orthogonal to the first and second directions. See Figs. 4A-4E.
Claim 18: Walterspiel discloses that at least one of the first and second structural state is a stable structural state. See Fig. 3A.
Claim 19: Walterspiel discloses a damper comprising the shell-based material of claim 1. See Fig. 3A.
Claim 20: Walterspiel discloses a shell network comprising the shell-based material of claim 1. See Fig. 3A.
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.
Walterspiel
Claim(s) 8-9 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walterspiel.
Claims 8-9: Walterspiel is relied upon as in claim 1 above but does not disclose that the perforations are “rectangular.” It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to make the perforations rectangular because Walterspiel already discusses that the shapes of the holes could be of any type, including but not limited to, circular, oval, hexagonal, etc. A rectangular shape is another simple shape, like a circle, oval, hexagon, square, etc. and would have been an obvious choice. Since Walterspiel discloses that the holes may be in a variety of orientations and the direction of the load can be chosen accordingly, it would further be obvious for the load to be in a direction orthogonal to the long sides of the rectangular perforations.
Claim 17: Walterspiel does not explicitly disclose the use of a “rubber-based material” but since it explicitly contemplates elastic/resilient materials, the use of rubber would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the effective filing date of the invention, given its elastic properties, wide availability and low cost. See col. 9, line 22 – col. 10, line 8.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 February 20, 2026