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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/17/2025 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7-10, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roth et al. [US 6,609,738] in view of Phay [US 2021/0108760] and further in view of Frolov [US 6,053,546].
Claim 1, Roth et al. discloses a safety switch [figures 1-8] comprising: a switch body [16] arranged in a compartment fixed portion [14] of a compartment system that comparts an operation region in which an apparatus operates; and an actuator [20] installed in a movable portion [10] movable relative to the compartment fixed portion [14], a reed switch sensor [24] to detect the position of the actuator; wherein the actuator [20] includes: a member to be magnetized [28] on which a surface to be attracted, which corresponds to an attracting surface formed on an electromagnet [16] provided in the switch body, is formed; an actuator attachment portion [34/44] configured to attach the actuator to the movable portion; and a movement mechanism [34] which supports the member to be movable relative to the actuator attachment portion to set a relative position of the surface to be attracted of the member with respect to the actuator attachment portion at a position offset toward the attracting surface of the switch body when the actuator is in the predetermined range with respect to the switch body as compared with a position when the actuator is not in the predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-46].
Roth et al. fails to teach that the actuator including an actuator coil corresponding to a detection unit that is provided in the switch body and detects that the actuator is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body,
Phay teaches a safety switch [2] comprising an actuator [6] including an actuator coil [RFID reader 7] corresponding to a detection unit [8] that is provided in the switch body [5] and detects that the actuator [6] is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [paragraph 0063].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the reed switch sensor actuator detection of Roth et al. with an RFID based actuator detection ss taught by Phay to improve security and tamper resistance against unintended detection of a target other than the actuator.
Roth et al. in view of Phay fails to teach that the safety switch outputs a safety-related output based on a detection result indicating whether the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body.
Frolov teaches a safety switch detects that the actuator [14] is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [12] and outputs a safety-related output based on a detection result indicating whether the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-49].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the alarm feature of Frolov in the safety switch of Roth et al. in view of Phay in order to provide audible and/or visual feedback of the status of the door when the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-49].
Roth et al. in view of Frolov fails to teach that the actuator including an actuator coil corresponding to a detection unit that is provided in the switch body and detects that the actuator is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body,
Claim 3, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the actuator includes a permanent magnet [40], and the member to be magnetized moves to a position where the relative position of the surface to be attracted is offset toward the attracting surface by an attractive force of the permanent magnet.
Claim 5, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 3, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the electromagnet attracts the member to be magnetized after the attracting surface and the surface to be attracted are brought into contact with each other [col. 7 lines 18-21].
Claim 7, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the actuator includes a swing [30/34] mechanism that supports the member to be magnetized to be swingable relative to the actuator attachment portion [34/44; figure 5A], and the swing mechanism aligns an orientation of the surface to be attracted with an orientation of the attracting surface when the surface to be attracted is caused to overlap the attracting surface [col. 6 lines 37-46].
Claim 8, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the movement mechanism includes a guide portion [30] that guides the member to be magnetized to move toward the electromagnet.
Claim 9, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the movement mechanism includes: a through hole [not labeled; see figure 5A] provided in the actuator attachment portion; and a movable pin [46] that has one end to which the member to be magnetized [28] is fixed, is inserted into the through hole, and is movable in an axial direction relative to the through hole [figure 5A].
Claim 10, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the movement mechanism includes: a through hole provided in the actuator attachment portion; a movable pin [46] that has one end to which the member to be magnetized [28] is fixed [figure 5A], is inserted into the through hole, and is movable in an axial direction relative to the through hole; and a sleeve [42/54/36] into which the movable pin [46] is inserted, the sleeve moving with movement of the movable pin, and movement of the member toward the electromagnet is guided by the through hole and the sleeve [figure 5A].
Claim 12, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 1, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the actuator further includes a biasing member [52] that biases the member to be magnetized [28] in a retracting direction [figure 5A].
Claim 13, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 12, wherein Roth et al. discloses that the actuator [20] further includes a biasing member [52] that biases the member to be magnetized [28] in a retracting direction; and a first-end flange [at end 36, adjacent to 28; figure 5A] extending in a radial direction [42/54/36], and the biasing member [52] is arranged between the first-end flange and the actuator attachment portion [34/44; figure 5A].
Claim 15, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 12, wherein the biasing member is a compression coil spring [52].
Claim 17, Roth et al. as modified discloses a safety switch [figures 1-8] comprising: a switch body [16] arranged in a compartment fixed portion [14] of a compartment system that comparts an operation region in which an apparatus operates; an actuator [20] installed in a movable portion movable relative to the compartment fixed portion; an electromagnet [18] that is provided on the switch body and has an attracting surface; a member to be magnetized [28] that is provided on the actuator, is attracted by the electromagnet, and has a surface to be attracted which comes into contact with the attracting surface [figure 5]; and a movement mechanism [34] that moves at least one of the attracting surface [28] or the surface to be attracted toward another, the safety switch detecting that the actuator is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-46].
Roth et al. fails to teach that the actuator including an actuator coil corresponding to a detection unit that is provided in the switch body and detects that the actuator is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body,
Phay teaches a safety switch [2] comprising an actuator [6] including an actuator coil [RFID reader 7] corresponding to a detection unit [8] that is provided in the switch body [5] and detects that the actuator [6] is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [paragraph 0063].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the reed switch sensor actuator detection of Roth et al. with an RFID based actuator detection ss taught by Phay to improve security and tamper resistance against unintended detection of a target other than the actuator.
Roth et al. in view of Phay fails to teach that the safety switch outputs a safety-related output based on a detection result indicating whether the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body.
Frolov teaches a safety switch detects that the actuator [14] is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [12] and outputs a safety-related output based on a detection result indicating whether the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-49].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the alarm feature of Frolov in the safety switch of Roth et al.in view of Phay in order to provide audible and/or visual feedback of the status of the door when the actuator is within the predetermined range with respect to the switch body [col. 6 lines 37-49].
Claim 18, Roth et al. as modified discloses the safety switch according to claim 17, wherein the electromagnet [18] attracts the member to be magnetized [28] with a certain attracting force or more after the attracting surface and the surface to be attracted are brought into contact with each other by the movement mechanism [when brought together to the closed position, the electromagnet is energized thereby providing a larger attracting force; col. 6 lines 37-46].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 6, 11, 14, 16, 19 and 20 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, filed 08/29/2023, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7-10, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18 under Roth et al. [US 6,609,738] been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Phay [US 2021/0108760] as outlined above. Phay teaches a safety switch [2] comprising an actuator [6] including an actuator coil [RFID reader 7] corresponding to a detection unit [8] that is provided in the switch body [5] and detects that the actuator [6] is within a predetermined range with respect to the switch body [paragraph 0063].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bernard Rojas whose telephone number is (571)272-1998. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. thru Fri. 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shawki S Ismail can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BERNARD ROJAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837