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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS(s)) submitted on 10/18/2023 and 6/10/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) are being considered by the examiner.
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, 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Suenaga (US 20030037660 A1, February 27, 2003), in view of Peck (US 20120048098 A1, March 1, 2012).
Regarding claim 1, Suenaga teaches an electronic percussion instrument (Suenaga abstract: "An acoustic drum or electronic percussion instrument"), comprising: a head that is membrane-like (Suenaga ¶0030: "Namely, the drum of FIG. 1 is constructed by a hollow cylinder (or drum body) 10 and a sheet-shaped drumhead (or skin) 11. That is, the drumhead 11 is stretched to cover upper ends of the cylinder 10 such that a circumferential periphery of the drumhead 11 is tightly sandwiched between an exterior periphery of the cylinder 10 and rims 12 under tension."); a first elastic body, disposed below the head (Suenaga ¶0034: "Further, a vibration absorption member 22 made by sponge materials such as urethane sponge and rubber sponge or else is mounted on the support plate 21. The support members 20 support the vibration absorption member 22 via the support plate 21 such that an upper surface of the vibration absorption member 22 is arranged in contact with a backside surface of the drumhead 11.") and absorbing a vibration of the head at a time of a percussion to the head (Suenaga ¶0037: "To cope with the aforementioned matter, the second embodiment is constructed such that the vibration absorption member 22 is arranged in contact with the backside surface of the drumhead 11. That is, the vibration absorption member 22 absorbs bounces of the drumhead 11 effectively."); a support member, supporting the first elastic body (Suenaga ¶0034: "The drum of the second embodiment is constructed to introduce L-shaped support members 20 which are fixed to several locations along an interior periphery of the cylinder 10. Namely, each of the support members 20 is constructed by a fixing portion 20 a and a bent portion 20 b. Herein, the fixing portion 20 a is fixed to the interior periphery of the cylinder 10 at a prescribed location, and the bent portion 20 b is bent from an upper portion of the fixing portion 20 a in an inward direction toward a center of the cylinder 10. In addition, a disk-shaped support plate 21 made of aluminum is mounted on the bent portions 20 b within the cylinder 10."); and a first sensor, installed to the support member (Suenaga ¶0044: "A vibration detection sensor 51 which is configured by a piezoelectric element and other circuit elements is attached to a lower surface of the support plate 21.") and detecting the vibration of the percussion to the head (Suenaga ¶0044: "The vibration detection sensor 51 detects vibration of the support plate 21 to produce electric signals, which are supplied to the electronic musical tone generation section 56. In order to accurately detect the vibration of the support plate 21 which vibrates when the drumhead 11 is struck by a drumstick or else, it is preferable that the vibration detection sensor 51 is attached to a center of the lower surface of the support plate 21.").
Suenaga does not explicitly disclose that the first elastic body comprises a plurality of through holes connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the first elastic body.
However, Peck teaches that the first elastic body comprises a plurality of through holes (Peck ¶0034: "Compressible foam material 80 includes three cut or formed slots 100, 110, 120.") connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the first elastic body (Peck ¶0034: "Generally slots 100, 110, 120 begin at the front face 86 of the compressible foam material and terminate at the back face 88 of the compressible foam material; however, this is not required.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga by adding the through holes of Peck to reduce propagation of vibration which propagates from the drumhead to the air (Suenaga ¶0032).
Regarding claim 8, Suenaga (in view of Peck) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Suenaga further teaches a head frame, connected with an outer edge of the head (Suenaga ¶0030: "Namely, the drum of FIG. 1 is constructed by a hollow cylinder (or drum body) 10 and a sheet-shaped drumhead (or skin) 11. That is, the drumhead 11 is stretched to cover upper ends of the cylinder 10 such that a circumferential periphery of the drumhead 11 is tightly sandwiched between an exterior periphery of the cylinder 10 and rims 12 under tension."); a base frame, to which the head frame is fixed (Suenaga ¶0030: "Namely, the drum of FIG. 1 is constructed by a hollow cylinder (or drum body) 10 and a sheet-shaped drumhead (or skin) 11. That is, the drumhead 11 is stretched to cover upper ends of the cylinder 10 such that a circumferential periphery of the drumhead 11 is tightly sandwiched between an exterior periphery of the cylinder 10 and rims 12 under tension."); the support member, disposed above the base frame (Suenaga ¶0034: "In addition, a disk-shaped support plate 21 made of aluminum is mounted on the bent portions 20 b within the cylinder 10."); and a displacement part, relatively displacing the support member with respect to the base frame in an upper-lower direction (Suenaga ¶0053: "Thus, it is possible to easily adjust a fixing position of the support member 20 in a vertical direction with respect to the wall of the cylinder 10. Herein, the support member 20 is arranged at a mute position such that an upper surface of the vibration absorption member 22 is brought into contact with the backside surface of the drumhead 11, so that mute performance of the drum is to be realized by reducing sounds in volume. In order to produce normal sounds without muting, the support plate 20 is moved downwardly to be lower than the mute position corresponding to the mute performance of the drum. Lowering the fixing position of the support member 20 cause the support plate 21 and vibration absorption member 22 to be lowered in elevation so that the vibration absorption member 22 is placed not to be in contact with the drumhead 11.").
Regarding claim 11, Suenaga teaches a percussion sound reduction method, which is a percussion sound reduction method for an electronic percussion instrument (Suenaga abstract: "An acoustic drum or electronic percussion instrument") comprising: a head that is membrane-like (Suenaga ¶0030: "Namely, the drum of FIG. 1 is constructed by a hollow cylinder (or drum body) 10 and a sheet-shaped drumhead (or skin) 11. That is, the drumhead 11 is stretched to cover upper ends of the cylinder 10 such that a circumferential periphery of the drumhead 11 is tightly sandwiched between an exterior periphery of the cylinder 10 and rims 12 under tension."); a first elastic body, disposed below the head (Suenaga ¶0034: "Further, a vibration absorption member 22 made by sponge materials such as urethane sponge and rubber sponge or else is mounted on the support plate 21. The support members 20 support the vibration absorption member 22 via the support plate 21 such that an upper surface of the vibration absorption member 22 is arranged in contact with a backside surface of the drumhead 11."); a support member, supporting the first elastic body (Suenaga ¶0034: "The drum of the second embodiment is constructed to introduce L-shaped support members 20 which are fixed to several locations along an interior periphery of the cylinder 10. Namely, each of the support members 20 is constructed by a fixing portion 20 a and a bent portion 20 b. Herein, the fixing portion 20 a is fixed to the interior periphery of the cylinder 10 at a prescribed location, and the bent portion 20 b is bent from an upper portion of the fixing portion 20 a in an inward direction toward a center of the cylinder 10. In addition, a disk-shaped support plate 21 made of aluminum is mounted on the bent portions 20 b within the cylinder 10."); and a first sensor, installed to the support member (Suenaga ¶0044: "A vibration detection sensor 51 which is configured by a piezoelectric element and other circuit elements is attached to a lower surface of the support plate 21.") and detecting a vibration of a percussion to the head (Suenaga ¶0044: "The vibration detection sensor 51 detects vibration of the support plate 21 to produce electric signals, which are supplied to the electronic musical tone generation section 56. In order to accurately detect the vibration of the support plate 21 which vibrates when the drumhead 11 is struck by a drumstick or else, it is preferable that the vibration detection sensor 51 is attached to a center of the lower surface of the support plate 21."), and reducing a percussion sound at a time of the percussion to the head (Suenaga ¶0036: "When a player strikes the surface of the drumhead 11 by a drumstick or else, the drumhead 11 starts to vibrate. As similar to the first embodiment, plenty of apertures 32 being formed on the drumhead 11 contribute to reduction of propagation of vibration which propagate from the drumhead 11 to the air. Thus, it is possible to reduce sound in volume.") by absorbing the vibration of the head by using the first elastic body (Suenaga ¶0037: "To cope with the aforementioned matter, the second embodiment is constructed such that the vibration absorption member 22 is arranged in contact with the backside surface of the drumhead 11. That is, the vibration absorption member 22 absorbs bounces of the drumhead 11 effectively. This allows the second embodiment to further approximate its striking actions to those of the acoustic drum.").
Suenaga does not explicitly disclose that the percussion sound reduction method comprising: forming a plurality of through holes connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the first elastic body.
However, Peck teaches that the percussion sound reduction method comprising: forming a plurality of through holes (Peck ¶0034: "Compressible foam material 80 includes three cut or formed slots 100, 110, 120.") connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the first elastic body (Peck ¶0034: "Generally slots 100, 110, 120 begin at the front face 86 of the compressible foam material and terminate at the back face 88 of the compressible foam material; however, this is not required.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the percussion sound reduction method of Suenaga by adding the through holes of Peck to reduce propagation of vibration which propagates from the drumhead to the air (Suenaga ¶0032).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Tanabe (US 20200402484 A1, December 24, 2020).
Regarding claim 2, Suenaga (in view of Peck) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Suenaga further teaches that the head is air-permeable (Suenaga ¶0031: "As the drumhead 11, the first embodiment uses a porous sheet, namely, a punching sheet on which plenty of apertures (or small opening holes) 32 are formed."), and in a state before the head is percussed (Suenaga ¶0053: "Herein, the support member 20 is arranged at a mute position such that an upper surface of the vibration absorption member 22 is brought into contact with the backside surface of the drumhead 11, so that mute performance of the drum is to be realized by reducing sounds in volume."), the first elastic body is in contact with the head (Suenaga ¶0034: "Herein, the drumhead 11 and the vibration absorption member 22 are not bonded together by adhesive. That is, the support members 20 supports the vibration absorption member 22 to be merely arranged in contact with the backside surface of the drumhead 11.").
Suenaga (in view of Peck) does not explicitly disclose that the support member comprises a plurality of through holes connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the support member.
However, Tanabe teaches that the support member comprises a plurality of through holes (Tanabe ¶0035: "In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the support member main body 21 and the sound damper support portion 22 have a plurality of air holes 24") connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the support member (Tanabe ¶0035: "In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the support member main body 21 and the sound damper support portion 22 have a plurality of air holes 24 that communicate with the through-hole 12 of the sound damper 1 and that penetrate through both the support member main body 21 and the sound damper support portion 22.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga (as modified by Peck) by adding the plurality of through holes connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of the support member of Tanabe to reduce propagation of vibration which propagates from the drumhead to the air (Suenaga ¶0032).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Hiraku (US 20050211062 A1, September 29, 2005).
Regarding claim 3, Suenaga (in view of Peck) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Suenaga (in view of Peck) does not explicitly disclose that the first elastic body is formed by an elastic material exhibiting a hardness of 10 or more and 50 or less as measured with a durometer type A hardness tester or a foamed material exhibiting a hardness of 20 or more and 75 or less as measured with a durometer type E hardness tester.
However, Hiraku teaches that the first elastic body is formed by an elastic material exhibiting a hardness of 10 or more and 50 or less as measured with a durometer type A hardness tester or a foamed material exhibiting a hardness of 20 or more and 75 or less as measured with a durometer type E hardness tester (Hiraku ¶0038: "A pad 6 was produced by applying a polyurethane coating composition to an olefinic thermoplastic elastomer (manufactured by JSR Co., Ltd., product number: Development TEL424, hardness: Shore A 20, thickness: 6 mm) serving as the body portion 61 to form a 60 μm thick coating film as the surface layer portion 62, and then an electronic drum was produced by using the resulting pad in the same manner as in Example 1.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga (as modified by Peck) by adding the elastic material of the hardness of Hiraku to improve quietness by using materials of low hardness for improved impact absorption properties (Hiraku ¶0008).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Johnston, (US 5337645 A, August 16, 1994) and Wei (US 20130098227 A1, April 25, 2013).
Regarding claim 4, Suenaga (in view of Peck) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Suenaga further teaches a body part, formed in a cylindrical shape in which an upper surface side is covered by the head (Suenaga ¶0030: "Namely, the drum of FIG. 1 is constructed by a hollow cylinder (or drum body) 10 and a sheet-shaped drumhead (or skin) 11. That is, the drumhead 11 is stretched to cover upper ends of the cylinder 10 such that a circumferential periphery of the drumhead 11 is tightly sandwiched between an exterior periphery of the cylinder 10 and rims 12 under tension.") and the support member is provided on an inner circumferential side (Suenaga ¶0034: "The drum of the second embodiment is constructed to introduce L-shaped support members 20 which are fixed to several locations along an interior periphery of the cylinder 10.").
Suenaga (in view of Peck) does not explicitly disclose a second elastic body, supporting the body part; an outer frame member, supporting the body part via the second elastic body; and a second sensor, installed to the outer frame member and detecting a vibration of a percussion to the outer frame member, wherein the outer frame member comprises: an outer circumferential part, having a cylindrical shape and surrounding the body part; and a bottom part, projecting from a lower end side of the outer circumferential part toward an inner circumferential side to support the second elastic body, and a support position of the second elastic body by the bottom part is located on an inner circumferential side or an outer circumferential side with respect to a support position of the body part by the second elastic body.
However, Johnston teaches a second elastic body, supporting the body part (Johnston col. 3, lines 26-31: "Each insulating support is preferably constructed of an insulating plastic or rubber material, and extends radially inward from the band and supports the drum in disconnected non-clamping relation at a desired location therearound."); an outer frame member, supporting the body part via the second elastic body (Johnston col. 5, lines 13-17: "My new mounting bracket for such conventional musical drums is comprised generally of a relatively rigid but flexible annular band 21 which extends around drum 1 and is supported above ground level through the use of one or more mounting plates 23 which carry mounting clamps 25."), wherein the outer frame member comprises: an outer circumferential part, having a cylindrical shape and surrounding the body part (Johnston col. 5, lines 13-17: "My new mounting bracket for such conventional musical drums is comprised generally of a relatively rigid but flexible annular band 21 which extends around drum 1 and is supported above ground level through the use of one or more mounting plates 23 which carry mounting clamps 25."); and a bottom part to support the second elastic body (Johnston col. 3, lines 26-31: "Each insulating support is preferably constructed of an insulating plastic or rubber material, and extends radially inward from the band and supports the drum in disconnected non-clamping relation at a desired location therearound."), and a support position of the second elastic body by the bottom part is located on an inner circumferential side or an outer circumferential side (Col. 6, lines 11-14: "Extending radially outward from the main body portion 43 is lip portion 47 which defines groove 49 within which the opposite edge of band 21 is received.") with respect to a support position of the body part by the second elastic body (Johnston col. 6, lines 21-27: "As shown clearly in FIG. 2, relative to band 21, mount 33 includes a radially inward protruding shoulder or finger 57 which has an angled free end portion 59 that extends toward opposite mount 31, thereby forming groove 61 with a drum bearing surface 63 upon which the lower counter hoop 11 of drum 1 may rest, when supported as shown in FIG. 1.").
Furthermore, Wei teaches a second sensor, installed to the outer frame member (Wei ¶0032: "With reference to FIG. 8, the securing frame 20 further has two membrane switches 26 mounted in the securing frame 20 and electrically connected to a circuit board 112 in the connection device 11.") and detecting a vibration of a percussion to the outer frame member (Wei ¶0032: "Preferably, each membrane switch 26 is curved and is 180° in curvature. With the membrane switches 26, when the securing frame 20″ is beaten, the membrane switches 26 can detect the vibrations of the securing frame 20″ and sends acoustic signal to the connection device 11″ to actuate an outer acoustic device to generate acoustic sound."); and a bottom part, projecting from a lower end side of the outer circumferential part toward an inner circumferential side (Wei ¶0025: "The securing frame 20 is annular, is mounted around the induction board 10 and comprises an annular bracket 21, an outer securing rib 22 and a bottom securing rib 222. The annular bracket 21 is connected to the induction board 10 and has an outer periphery and a bottom. The outer securing rib 22 may be annular and protrudes outward from the outer periphery of the annular bracket 21, and the bottom securing rib 222 may be annular and protrudes from the bottom of the annular bracket 21.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga (as modified by Peck) by adding the second elastic body, supporting body part, and outer frame member of Johnston and the bottom part of Wei to reduce the resonant grounding effect of the supporting structure (Johnston col. 3, lines 46-50) as well as the second sensor of Wei to permit a user to beat the securing frame to simulate the action of beating on a drum rim (Wei ¶0032).
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Johnston, Wei, and Yoshino (US 20190266989 A1, August 29, 2019), hereinafter Yoshino '989.
Regarding claim 5, Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Johnston and Wei) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 4 as discussed above.
Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Johnston and Wei) does not explicitly disclose a rim having an annular shape, bonded to the outer frame member, and formed by using an elastic body.
However, Yoshino '989 teaches a rim having an annular shape (Yoshino '989 ¶0034: "The rim 5 includes an annular struck part 50 and the substantially rectangular parallelepiped clamped part 51 that protrudes radially outward from the outer circumferential surface of the struck part 50 and is suspended downward and is formed using a rubber-like elastic component."), bonded to the outer frame member (Yoshino '989 ¶0071: "For example, a configuration in which the rim 5 (the struck part 50) is adhered to the inner circumferential surface of the hoop 4 may be used."), and formed by using an elastic body (Yoshino '989 ¶0034: "The rim 5 includes an annular struck part 50 and the substantially rectangular parallelepiped clamped part 51 that protrudes radially outward from the outer circumferential surface of the struck part 50 and is suspended downward and is formed using a rubber-like elastic component.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga (as modified by Peck, Johnston, and Wei) by adding the rim of Yoshino '989 to reduce the striking sound when the struck part is struck (Yoshino '989 ¶0043).
Regarding claim 6, Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Johnston, Wei, and Yoshino) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 5 as discussed above.
Yoshino '989 further teaches that a curved portion is formed by using a convex part or a concave part extending in a circumferential direction on an inner circumferential surface, an outer circumferential surface, or an upper surface of the rim (Yoshino '989 ¶0009: "The rim 105 includes an annular struck part 150 formed with a substantially U-shaped cross section and a clamped part 151 that protrudes radially outward from the outer edge of the struck part 150 and is formed using a rubber-like elastic component."), and in a case where the rim is percussed, the rim is allowed to deform with the curved portion as a starting point (Yoshino '989 ¶0014: "In addition, since the struck part 150 is formed with a U-shaped cross section (hollow shape) using a rubber-like elastic component, the struck part 150 is easily elastically deformed by striking, and a striking force is buffered by the struck part 150.").
Regarding claim 7, Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Johnston, Wei, and Yoshino '989) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 5 as discussed above.
Yoshino '989 further teaches that the rim is formed in a hollow shape (Yoshino '989 ¶0010: "In addition, since the struck part 150 is formed in a U-shaped cross section (hollow shape) using a rubber-like elastic component, it is possible to reduce a striking sound generated by striking the struck part 150.") having a cavity extending in a circumferential direction (Yoshino '989 ¶0009: "The rim 105 includes an annular struck part 150 formed with a substantially U-shaped cross section and a clamped part 151 that protrudes radially outward from the outer edge of the struck part 150 and is formed using a rubber-like elastic component.").
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Yoshino (US 20150179159 A1, June 25, 2015), hereinafter Yoshino '159, and Onheiser (US 20080127805 A1, June 5, 2008).
Regarding claim 9, Suenaga (in view of Peck) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Johnston and Wei) does not explicitly disclose that the electronic percussion instrument is supported by a rod and a support, the support is installed to the rod, and a chevron-shaped support surface is formed on an upper surface of the support, the electronic percussion instrument comprises: a supported part, having a rod insertion hole into which the rod is inserted; and a third elastic body, interposed between the supported part and the support surface, in a state before the electronic percussion instrument is percussed, an inclination of the electronic percussion instrument with respect to the rod is restricted by the third elastic body, and in a case where the electronic percussion instrument is percussed, swinging of the electronic percussion instrument is allowed through elastic deformation of the third elastic body.
However, Yoshino '159 teaches that the electronic percussion instrument is supported by a rod and a support (Yoshino '159 ¶0060: "As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, generally, the electronic cymbal 100 is used while the rod 91 a of the cymbal stand 91 is inserted thereinto."), the support is installed to the rod (Yoshnio '159 ¶0060: "A cymbal support portion 92 is locked to the cymbal stand 91 while restricted from moving downward (lower side in FIG. 3A)."), and a chevron-shaped support surface is formed on an upper surface of the support (Yoshino '159: "An upper part (upper part in FIG. 3A) of the cymbal support portion 92 is formed in a tapered shape that tapers upward."), the electronic percussion instrument comprises: a supported part, having a rod insertion hole (Yoshino '159 ¶0067: "The swing portion 21 includes a through hole 21 a formed through its central part along an axial direction (vertical direction in FIG. 5B). ") into which the rod is inserted (Yoshino '159 ¶0116: "While the electronic cymbal 100 is supported by the cymbal stand 91, the rod 91 a is inserted into the uniform diameter portion 21 b of the second ring 20.").
Furthermore, Onheiser teaches a third elastic body (Onheiser ¶0026: "Referring to FIGS. 2-5 and 10, a cymbal support member of the present invention is in the form of a grommet-like member 20 made of resiliently flexible material such as rubber or a suitable polymer."), interposed between the supported part and the support surface (Onheiser ¶0030: "The top annular surface of the base is of greater diameter than the cymbal aperture so that the interior portion of the cymbal can rest on that surface. The bottom surface of the base is adapted to rest either on a convex support disc conventionally secured to the rod on the support stand or a centrally apertured cushion of felt or other material surrounding the rod in a position between the mounting grommet and the support disc."), in a state before the electronic percussion instrument is percussed, an inclination of the electronic percussion instrument with respect to the rod is restricted by the third elastic body (Onheiser ¶0036: "However, the same pliant resilience of the mounting grommet that facilitates its insertion into the cymbal aperture also permits the upper flange to be downwardly compressed by the wing nut sufficiently to restrict tilt and wobble to the extent desired by the percussionist."), and in a case where the electronic percussion instrument is percussed, swinging of the electronic percussion instrument is allowed (Onheiser ¶0004: "The cymbal, in use, must be mounted on the rod in a manner to prevent the mounting from damping the vibrations when the cymbal is struck. The extent to which the wing nut is tightened is often a matter of preference for each percussionist. In other words, the cymbal should be able to tilt or wobble somewhat when struck to the extent desired by the percussionist.") through elastic deformation of the third elastic body (Onheiser ¶0036: "The height of the neck of the mounting grommet is selected to be greater than the thickness of the cymbal at the aperture 17 to allow the cymbal to freely move (i.e., tilt and wobble) in the neck portion. However, the same pliant resilience of the mounting grommet that facilitates its insertion into the cymbal aperture also permits the upper flange to be downwardly compressed by the wing nut sufficiently to restrict tilt and wobble to the extent desired by the percussionist.").
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 35 as unpatentable over Suenaga in view of Peck, and further in view of Yoshino '159, Onheiser, and Takegawa (US 20050120864 A1, June 9, 2005).
Regarding claim 10, Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Yoshino '159 and Onheiser) teaches an electronic percussion instrument comprising the features of claim 9 as discussed above.
Suenaga (in view of Peck and further in view of Yoshino '159 and Onheiser) does not explicitly disclose a groove surrounding the third elastic body is formed on a lower surface of the supported part.
However, Takaegawa teaches a groove surrounding the third elastic body (Takegawa ¶0012: "A rubber O-ring on the threaded post fits into a receptacle in the seat cup to provide secure attachment and silent action. For applications where the cymbal, such as crash cymbals, needs freedom of movement, the seat cup can be positioned with the convex side positioned upward. A cavity on the opposite side allows the seat cup to float on the rubber O-ring for optimal cymbal sound.") is formed on a lower surface of the supported part (Takegawa ¶0025: "For applications where the cymbal, such as crash cymbals, needs freedom of movement, the reversible seat cup 10 can be positioned with the convex side 12 positioned upward as shown in FIG. 8. The cavity defined by the first enlarged open portion 17, which is opposite the convex side 12, allows the seat cup 10 to float on the rubber O-ring 26 for optimal cymbal sound.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic percussion instrument of Suenaga (as modified by Peck, Yoshino '159, and Onheiser) by adding the grooves of Takegawa to provide silent action and freedom of motion (Takegawa ¶0012).
Conclusion
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/PHILIP G SCOLES/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/DEDEI K HAMMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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