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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/10/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 20 states the fusible link is a bimetallic strip. However, the specification (see par. 0031 of the PGPUB) states, “the fire sensor or heat/smoke detector 126 in the preferred embodiment is an electromechanical heat detector made of a bimetallic strip”, which is the only mention of the strip. Therefore, there appears to be no support for fusible link 128 being a bimetallic stip.
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) 1-9, 12, and 14-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sublett et al. [US 2023/0046777] in view of White [US 5,813,739] and Eivaz [US 2020/0366114].
With respect to claims 1 and 12, Sublett discloses a charging station device [Fig. 22] comprising: a charging station having a housing including a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls, and a pivotable front door [as depicted in Fig. 22 the charging cabinet comprises top/rear/side walls that form the interior and a front opening door]; wherein said housing providing storage space for keeping a plurality of rechargeable electronic devices therein [i.e. the rechargeable batteries], however, Sublett is silent regarding the spring-loaded door and heat detector actuating the fusible fire link as claimed.
White relates to a storage cabinet for protection against fires and teaches a fusible fire link disposed inside said housing, that when an elevated temperature is detected, said fusible fire link is connected to a pivotable spring-loaded front door, and further wherein said fusible fire link melts in response to the elevated temperature and releases said pivotable spring-loaded front door to close said pivotable spring-loaded front door [“fusible link 24 which at preselected ambient temperature, fuses or melts, thus releasing the door” and “the self-closing door may be spring-loaded”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Sublett to include the fire triggered self-closing door system as taught by White for the benefit of adding a protection feature that mitigates fire damage, i.e. in the event one of the charging battery fails.
Furthermore, Eivaz relates to a battery charging safety enclosure that includes smoke, flash, and temperature sensors in the enclosure and connected to a controller [see Fig. 0040 and Fig. 9]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Sublett and White as applied above such that the housing included the heat detector configured to detect heat inside said housing as taught by Eivaz and further for actuating said fusible fire link based on the received data for the benefit of providing a primary non-destructive method for operating the spring-loaded door and fuse, i.e. meltable fuses are one use but providing an initial control unit signal to actuate the device before the fail-safe melting occurs would preserve the charging cabinet from permanent damage and future reusability.
With respect to claim 2, Sublett as applied above discloses the claimed invention except for having a plurality of springs positioned at a bottom layer of said pivotable spring-loaded front door are released upon the melting of said fusible fire link to automatically close said pivotable spring-loaded front door. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to arrange the springs at the bottom of the door (instead of the top as disclosed by Sublett), since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The benefit provided for arranging the springs on a bottom layer of the door is that it offers better weight distribution and stability thereby reducing stress on the frame as compared to top mounted springs.
With respect to claim 3, Sublett as applied above discloses the claimed invention except for wherein said housing having an interior material comprising fiberglass silicone. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use fiberglass silicone since it has been held to within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. The benefit to using a fiberglass silicone material provides inherent fire-resistant and non-combustible properties for the flame resistant cabinet as disclosed above.
With respect to claims 4 and 14, Sublett further discloses wherein said pivotable spring-loaded front door to remain open during normal operation of said charging station for charging said plurality of rechargeable electronic devices [Fig. 22 depicts the door open and batteries on the chargers].
With respect to claims 5 and 15, Sublett further discloses wherein said housing having a power strip mounted to one of said walls on an inside of said housing [Figs 10 and 22; receptacles 68 and/or chargers 224].
With respect to claims 6 and 16, Sublett further discloses wherein said power strip having a plurality of electric sockets for plugging said plurality of rechargeable electronic devices [receptacles 68 and/or chargers 224].
With respect to claims 7 and 17, Sublett further discloses wherein said housing is a generally rectilinear box [see Fig. 1].
With respect to claims 8 and 18, Sublett further discloses wherein said power strip connected to an external power cord for attaching to an external power supply [Fig. 1; item 83, see also Fig. 16 and par. 0053 for disclosure of an input power from an external source].
With respect to claims 9 and 19, Sublett as modified by Eivaz above further discloses a heat sensitive switch disposed in said power strip to automatically disable the power supply to said power strip in case of heat detection inside said housing [par. 0045]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effect filing date of the instant invention to automatically disable the power supply responsive to the temperature sensor for the benefit of preventing and/or mitigating damage to the circuitry from over-heating and/or potential fire situations.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sublett et al. [US 2023/0046777], White [US 5,813,739], and Eivaz [US 2020/0366114] as applied above, and further in view of Lee et al. [US 2024/0024714].
With respect to claim 13, Sublett as applied above fails to disclose a carbon dioxide store. However, Lee relates to a battery pack charging storage system and teaches a carbon dioxide store that actuates in response to heat to spray automatically inside the housing for extinguishing fire [par. 0086, 0099].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to include a carbon dioxide store for spraying in response to a fire for the benefit of additional fire mitigation features as suggested by Lee.
Additionally, embedding the tank into the housing would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art for the benefit of keeping the housing portable (note the wheels on the cabinet of Sublett) and secure.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sublett et al. [US 2023/0046777], White [US 5,813,739], and Eivaz [US 2020/0366114] as applied above, and further in view of Singh et al. [US 2024/0136607].
With respect to claim 20, Sublett as applied above is silent regarding the fusible link is a bimetallic strip that expands upon detection of the heat, the smoke, or the fire.
Singh relates to thermal runaway protection for a battery assembly and teaches using a bimetallic strip that expands upon detection of the heat, the smoke, or the fire [par. 0054], in order to break an electrical connection. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Sublett as applied above such that the link is bimetallic for the benefit of adding a protection feature that mitigates heat damage, i.e. in the event one of the charging battery fails or short circuit, by using a device that does not rely on external power to actuate.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sublett et al. [US 2023/0046777] in view of White [US 5,813,739], Eivaz [US 2020/0366114], and Lee et al. [US 2024/0024714].
With respect to claim 10, Sublett discloses a charging station device [Fig. 22] comprising: a charging station having a housing including a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls, and a pivotable front door [as depicted in Fig. 22 the charging cabinet comprises top/rear/side walls that form the interior and a front opening door]; wherein said housing providing storage space for keeping a plurality of rechargeable electronic devices therein [i.e. the rechargeable batteries], however, Sublett is silent regarding the spring-loaded door, heat detector actuating the fusible fire link, and carbon dioxide store as claimed.
White relates to a storage cabinet for protection against fires and teaches a fusible fire link disposed inside said housing, that when an elevated temperature is detected, said fusible fire link is connected to a pivotable spring-loaded front door, and further wherein said fusible fire link melts in response to the elevated temperature and releases said pivotable spring-loaded front door to close said pivotable spring-loaded front door [“fusible link 24 which at preselected ambient temperature, fuses or melts, thus releasing the door” and “the self-closing door may be spring-loaded”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Sublett to include the fire triggered self-closing door system as taught by White for the benefit of adding a protection feature that mitigates fire damage, i.e. in the event one of the charging battery fails.
Furthermore, Eivaz relates to a battery charging safety enclosure that includes smoke, flash, and temperature (fire) sensors in the enclosure and connected to a controller [see Fig. 0040 and Fig. 9]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Sublett and White as applied above such that the housing included the heat detector configured to detect heat inside said housing as taught by Eivaz and further for actuating said fusible fire link based on the received data for the benefit of providing a primary non-destructive method for operating the spring-loaded door and fuse, i.e. meltable fuses are one use but providing an initial control unit signal to actuate the device before the fail-safe melting occurs would preserve the charging cabinet from permanent damage and future reusability.
Finally, Lee relates to a battery pack charging storage system and teaches a carbon dioxide store that actuates in response to heat to spray automatically inside the housing for extinguishing fire [par. 0086, 0099].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to include a carbon dioxide store for spraying in response to a fire for the benefit of additional fire mitigation features as suggested by Lee.
Additionally, embedding the tank into the housing would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art for the benefit of keeping the housing portable (note the wheels on the cabinet of Sublett) and secure.
With respect to claim 11, Sublett as applied above discloses the claimed invention except for wherein said housing having an interior material comprising fiberglass silicone. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use fiberglass silicone since it has been held to within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. The benefit to using a fiberglass silicone material provides inherent fire-resistant and non-combustible properties for the flame resistant cabinet as disclosed above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859