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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-13, 15-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “position of the second axis changes” of claim 9. No figures indicate the second axis, which claim 4 now requires is the axis of rotation of the support mechanism; please see 112b rejection below.
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9-11, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 9, applicant claims “position of the second axis changes as rotation of the support mechanism”. This claim language is rejected for two reasons:
A: The drawings do not indicate how the position moves or changes at all; further, claim 4 now indicates that this axis of rotation is that which is the rotation of the support mechanism 62. The rotation of support mechanism 62 depends entirely on the rotation of part 611 of figure 10 within the semicircular grooves of figures 11/12. There is no changing of the axis of each individual support mechanism, since the curvature of the semi circular groove must match the semi circular protrusion in order for these parts to rotate. Applicant indicates two axes in figures 11 and 12, but does not indicate where these axes move to, or any different locations of the axes 01 and 02 in figures 11 and 12. Therefore, the record as originally filed does not indicate that this axis’ position changes as stated in claim 9.
B: Should applicant refer to the axis of the torsion mechanism with the curved active groove in claim 1, this groove connects the torsion mechanism and the support mechanism 62. The active groove of claim 1 is already referred to as having at least two different curvatures in claims 1, 3, and 20. If applicant intends that claim 9 is the functional result of having the two different curvatures in groove 84, then claim 9 does not further limit the device of claim 4.
Dependent claims inherit the same issues from parent claims and do not resolve any indefinite issues.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9-13, 15-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by 2023/0244274 Lin (filed in PCT on May 11, 2021, and in China September 30, 2020, both of which are prior to applicant’s Chinese filing date of 7/22/2022, and PCT date of 5/12/2023).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a hinge device, comprising:
a fixed trestle 182; a guide slider 121/122 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 18 and rotatably connected with the fixed trestle; and
a support mechanism 141/142 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 182, rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182, and slidably connected with the guide slider 121/122 (using pins 121a/122a in slots 142b, shown in figure 23),
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wherein when the hinge device rotates (from flat in figure 30 to folded in figure 31), the support mechanism and the guide slider rotate relative to the fixed trestle 182, and the support mechanism 141/142 slide relative to the guide slider 121/122;
wherein the hinge device further comprises a torsion mechanism and a middle support plate 173, the torsion mechanism comprises a first torsion mechanism 171 and a second torsion mechanism 172, and the middle support plate 173 is disposed between the first torsion mechanism 171 and the second torsion mechanism 172 (figure 13), wherein each of the first torsion mechanism 171 and the second torsion mechanism 172 is provided with an active groove (1713 best shown in figures 29 and 30) adjacent to the support mechanism 141/142 (141d of the support mechanism 141 shown in figure 21 is within the groove 1713, as shown in figure 30),
the active groove is arc-shaped (as shown in figures 29 and 30), the active groove 1713 comprises a first arc portion (center) and second arc portions (ends), the second arc portions are disposed on both sides of the first arc portion (as the ends are on either side of the center), and the second arc portions are smoothly connected with the first arc portion (as shown in figures 29 and 30); and
wherein a curvature of the first arc portion is less than a curvature of each of the second arc portions (the center portion has a different curvature than the right arc portion 1713b as shown in figure 30).
Regarding claim 3, Lin discloses a hinge device, comprising: a fixed trestle 182; a guide slider 121/122 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 182 and rotatably connected with the fixed trestle;
a support mechanism 141/142 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 182, rotatably connected with the fixed trestle, and slidably connected with the guide slider 121/122 (using pins 121a/122a in slots 142b, shown in figure 23); and
a torsion mechanism 171/172 disposed on at least one side of the fixed trestle 182 and rotatably connected with the fixed trestle; wherein when the hinge device rotates (from flat in figure 30 to folded in figure 31), the support mechanism 141/142 and the guide slider 121/122 rotate relative to the fixed trestle 182, and the support mechanism 141/142 slide relative to the guide slider 121/122; wherein the torsion mechanism 171/172 is provided with active grooves (1713 figures 29 and 30) adjacent to the support mechanism (because pin 141d of the support mechanism 141/142 is within the groove 1713), each of the active grooves is arc-shaped (as shown in figures 29 and 30), each of the active grooves comprises a first arc portion (center) and second arc portions (ends), the second arc portions are disposed on both sides of the first arc portion (ends of the arc are on either side of the middle), and the second arc portions are smoothly connected with the first arc portion (as shown in figures 29 and 30): and wherein a curvature of the first arc portion (center) is less than a curvature of each of the second arc portions (right end of groove 1713 in figure 30 is greater than the center portion of the groove).
Regarding claim 20, Lin discloses a flexible display device (figure 2), comprising: a flexible screen 2 [0109]; a housing 31/32 configured to support the flexible screen; and at least one hinge device (center of figure 3), the flexible screen being laid on the hinge device (figure 8), and the hinge device being connected with the housing 31/32 (figure 8); wherein the hinge device comprises:
a fixed trestle 182; a guide slider 121/122 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 182 and rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182; a support mechanism 141/142 disposed on a side of the fixed trestle 182, rotatably connected with the fixed trestle, and slidably connected with the guide slider (using pins 121a/122a in slots 142b, shown in figure 23); and
a torsion mechanism 171/172 disposed on at least one side of the fixed trestle 182 and rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182 wherein when the hinge device rotates (even with the hinge device does not rotate, torsion mechanism 171/172 is connected with the fixed trestle 182), the support mechanism 141/142 and the guide slider 121/122 rotate relative to the fixed trestle 182, and the support mechanism 141/142 slide relative to the guide slider (using pins 121a/122a in slots 142b, shown in figure 23);
wherein the torsion mechanism 171/172 is provided with active grooves 1713 (figures 29 and 30) adjacent to the support mechanism 141/142 (because protrusion 141d is within groove 1713, figure 30), each of the active grooves is arc-shaped (as shown in figures 29 and 30), each of the active grooves comprises a first arc portion (center) and second arc portions (end), the second arc portions are disposed on both sides of the first arc portion (two ends on either side of the center), and the second arc portions are smoothly connected with the first arc portion (as shown in figures 29 and 30); and
wherein a curvature of the first arc portion (center) is less than a curvature of each of the second arc portions (the curvature is sharper on the right end in figure 30 than in the middle).
Regarding claims 2 and 4, Lin discloses the hinge of claims 1 and 3, wherein the guide slider 121/122 is rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182 through first chutes (through holes 151 with pins), and the support mechanism 141/142 is rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182 through limit chutes (153 with pins, best shown in figure 21) and an axis of a rotation of the guide slider rotates is a first axis, an axis of a rotation of the support mechanism rotates is a second axis, and the first axis is parallel to the second axis (as shown in figure 21).
Regarding claim 5, Lin discloses the hinge of claim 3, wherein the guide slider 121/122 is provided with first chutes (through holes 151) is rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182 through the first chutes (using pins through the holes 151); and the support mechanism 141/142 is rotatably connected with the fixed trestle 182 through limit chutes (through holes 153).
Regarding claim 9, please see both rejections of indefiniteness of this claim above. Lin discloses the hinge device according to claim 4, having the structure of the active groove 1713 with two curvatures (meets assumption B of the 112b rejection above). Applicant does not show two different locations of each axis 01 and 02 of figures 11 and 12, and therefore, examiner contends that the axes of claim 9 are impossible to move.
Regarding claim 12, Lin discloses the hinge device according to claim 3, wherein the torsion mechanism 171/172 comprises axis pins 141d (unitary with support mechanism 141/142); and wherein the support mechanism 141/142 is connected to the torsion mechanism 171/172 through the axis pins 141d.
Regarding claim 13, Lin discloses the hinge device according to claim 12, wherein the axis pins 141d are slidable in the active groove 1713 (figures 29-30).
Regarding claim 15, Lin discloses the hinge device of claim 13, wherein each of the axis pins 141d comprises an end fixed on the support mechanism (unitary with support mechanism 141/142, figure 21) and another end inserted into one of the active groove 1713 (figures 29 and 30); and
When the hinge device rotates, the support mechanism 141/142 is configured to drive the axis pins to slide in the active grooves and to drive the torsion mechanism to move relative to the support mechanism (as the structure is identical to that which is claimed).
Regarding claim 21, Lin discloses the hinge device of claim 11, wherein the first support mechanism 141 comprises a first opening 141b, the second support mechanism 142 comprises a second opening 142b, the guide slider 121/122 are disposed in the openings (with the posts 121a/122a), and the openings are not axially aligned (as these are catty corner from each other, as best shown in figure 23).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7, 10-11, 16-19 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 all of any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The inclusion of further structure, not just the use of the curved groove in the torsion mechanism, along with other features such as the curved chutes of claims 6-7, the use of one curved and one straight chute in claims 10-11, or the inclusion of the detailed torsion mechanism structure of claims 16-19, are not shown as an obvious modification to the claimed structure claimed in the rejected claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMILY M MORGAN whose telephone number is (303)297-4260. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8-5 MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason San can be reached at (571)272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMILY M MORGAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3677