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 statements (IDS) dated 06/29/2023 and 12/30/2025 have been received and considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities.
In order to avoid improperly claiming portions of the human body, and to avoid claiming method steps within an apparatus claim, the following claims should be amended:
Claim 1: A walking assistance device comprising: a waist attachment portion configured to attach[[ed]] to a waist; a knee attachment portion configured to attach[[ed]] to a knee; and a stretchable wire that connects the waist attachment portion and the knee attachment portion and is configured to configured to assist[[s]] a motion of swinging the thigh forward by an elastic restoring force of the wire, wherein the waist attachment portion includes a wire guide configured to extendconfigured to be guided by the wire guide and extends along the wire guide, and is selectively anchored to at least two or more anchoring portions separated from each other in a longitudinal direction of the wire guide.
Claim 2: The walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the at least two or more anchoring portions are configured to be arranged on a front surface side of the waist.
Claim 3: The walking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion arranged on a back surface side of the waist attachment portion, and wherein the wire extends through the guide back surface portion to reach the at least two or more anchoring portions.
6. The walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion arranged on a back surface side of the waist attachment portion, and a pair of guide front surface portions are configured to be arranged on a front surface side of the waist and adjacent to each other along the longitudinal direction of the waist attachment portion, and wherein the guide front surface portions are configured to be swingably attached to the guide back surface portion, and wherein the guide front surface portions are detachable from each other.
Claims 4 and 5 are objected to as depending upon an objected-to base claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (CN 114795834 A), hereafter Chen, in view of Shimada et al. (US 2018/0280178 A1), hereafter Shimada. A machine translation of Chen is relied upon to address claims.
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses a walking assistance device (fig. 2, “Technical Field” page 1) comprising: a waist attachment portion attached to a waist (fig. 2, waist strap 101, page 4 “The power assist” para.); a knee attachment portion attached to a knee (fig. 2, first strap 102, page 4 “The power assist” para.); and a stretchable wire that connects the waist attachment portion and the knee attachment portion and that extends along a front surface of a thigh (fig.2, Bowden lines 2013, page 4 “The active power line” para.), wherein the walking assistance device assists a motion of swinging the thigh forward by an elastic restoring force of the wire (page 4, “The power assist unit” para.), and wherein the wire extends from the knee attachment portion toward the waist attachment portion (this configuration is shown in fig. 2), and is selectively anchored to at least two or more anchoring portions separated from each other in a longitudinal direction (fig. 4, 307 and fig. 2, 305, page 5 “The initial end of the third Bowden” para.).
Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein the waist attachment portion includes a wire guide extending along an outer periphery of the waist (see annotated fig. 1, the wire is arranged around the waist, but not by a specific structure) or whether the wire is guided by the wire guide and extends along the wire guide.
Shimada teaches the use of a wire guide extending along an outer periphery of a waist portion of a walking assistance device (fig. 1, outer tube 32 enclosing wire 31 [0114]). The wire is guided by the wire guide and extends along the wire guide (fig. 1 [0115]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a wire guide on Chen’s waist attachment portion extending along an outer periphery of the waist to guide the wire, as taught by Shimada, in order to provide a means of fixing the wire around the waist to the waist attachment portion (Shimada [0115]).
Regarding Claim 2, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the at least two or more anchoring portions are arranged on a front surface side of the waist (fig. 4, 307 and fig. 2, 305 are shown on the front surface of the waist in fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 3, Chen as modified discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion arranged on a back surface side of the waist (as modified by Shimada fig. 1, 32 extends around the back of the waist), and wherein the wire extends through the guide back surface portion to reach the at least two or more anchoring portions (Shimada [0116] the wire is inserted through the length of the tube 32).
Regarding Claim 4, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein an anchor thicker than the wire is attached to the wire (fig. 2, fixing member 305 and 307 (labeled in fig. 4) are shown as thicker than the wires 2013, page 5 “The initial end of the third Bowden” para.), and wherein the wire is anchored to one of the at least two or more anchoring portions via the anchor (fig. 2, two anchoring portions are shown).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Chen and Shimada, further in view of Xu et al. (CN 111249119 A), hereafter Xu. A machine translation is relied upon to address claims.
Regarding Claim 5, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 4, but is silent on a groove in the wire guide.
Xu teaches the use of a wiring groove in a walking assistance device (page 8, “In an embodiment” para.) to insert wires to protect lines from being hooked by foreign objects during walking.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a groove in the modified Chen’s wire guide in order to protect the wire on the belt from being hooked by foreign objects, or even the user, as taught by Xu. It further would have been obvious to include the anchor accommodated in the groove when the anchor is anchored to one of the at least two or more anchoring portions, since the anchors are designed to maintain the position of the wire (Chen page 5, “The initial end of the third Bowden” para.).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Chen and Shimada, further in view of Sankai (WO 2010/035706 A1), hereafter Sankai. A machine translation is relied upon to address claims.
Regarding Claim 6, Chen discloses a walking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the wire guide includes a guide back surface portion arranged on a back surface side of the waist (as modified by Shimada fig. 1, 32 extends around the back of the waist), and a pair of guide front surface portions arranged on a front surface side of the waist and adjacent to each other along the longitudinal direction of the waist attachment portion (as seen in Chen fig. 2, the wire is guided along two front portions of the waist strap 101), but the modified device is silent on wherein the guide front surface portions are swingably attached to the guide back surface portion, and wherein the guide front surface portions are detachable from each other.
Sankai discloses a walking assistance device (fig. 3, page 2, first full para.) which has a waist attachment portion (fig. 2, hip fastening member 30, page 3 “Battery 32” para.) and also has a pair of guide front surface portions (fig. 3, 120, 130, page 5 “The waist fastening” para.) that are swingably attached to a guide back surface portion (fig. 3, fitting portion 31, page 5 “The waist fastening” para.), and wherein the guide front surface portions are detachable from each other (fig. 3, locking metal fitting 142 “The waist fastening” para.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen’s guide front surface portions to include the configuration taught by Sankai in order to provide an adjustable fit in close contact around the waist of the user (Sankai page 5, last para.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Co-pending application 18/216303 has been reviewed for potential double patenting. No conflicting claims have been identified at this time.
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/SARA K TOICH/ Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/BRANDY S LEE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785