DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on March 6, 2023 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (KR 20210124798) in view of Niwa (US 2022/0314826).
Jeong discloses an electric vehicle charging cable mounting system, and method of using, comprised of a driving unit 115 including a rotary disc, the driving unit being configured to allow the charging cable 120 to be released from a side in accordance with a rotation motion of the rotary disc. A controller 130 is configured to control the driving unit and the guide unit such that the charging cable is automatically released in an electric vehicle charge mode and is automatically returned in an electric vehicle charge standby mode. The controller 130 is configured to calculate a release amount of the charging cable based on a distance between the driving unit and an electric vehicle charging section, and to allow the charging cable to be automatically released in accordance with the calculated release amount of the charging cable. A cable sensor 122 on the side of the charger measures the distance from the charging connection gun 121 to the vehicle to be charged to communication the length of the cable needed. A plurality of guide rollers, in the form of guide ring 117, is positioned inside the driving unit, disposed in a circumferential direction in which the charging cable is released, and configured to prevent separation of the charging cable.
Jeong discloses the system as described above. However, Jeong does not show a guide unit positioned behind the drive unit to move the assembly in a vertical direction. Niwa discloses an electric vehicle charging assembly comprised of a housing 300 for the reel and charging gun that will raise and lower in a vertical direction to access the charger assembly. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have installed a charging assembly like that of Jeong, to a vertically moveable assembly, like that of Niwas, with the expected result of providing a space to store the charging reel away from the elements and to provide an adjustable stand so as to accommodate different sized vehicles.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9 and 15 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
February 9, 2026
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