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 .
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.
Claims 1 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 6884455 in view of Hillje, US 2013/0291450.
Regarding claim 1:
JP ‘455 discloses a shelter/capsule unit (refer to Fig. 1), comprising a hatch (100) that opens and closes an opening of the shelter, the hatch comprising:
a plate-shaped member (100) that is singular, is rigid and covers an entirety of an opening defined in a sidewall of the shelter; and
an inward opening mechanism (70a) that movably supports the plate-shaped member (70) between a position at which the plate-shaped member is accommodated inside the shelter unit and the opening (120) is opened and a position at which the plate-shaped member covers the entirety of the opening (refer to Fig. 1), and the opening is closed,
wherein the plate-shaped member is extended further below the opening, and
wherein a cushioning material (annular gasket 75) is provided entirely on the plate-shaped member when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface of the plate-shaped member (refer to Fig. 2).
‘455 does not expressly disclose wherein the shelter is a capsule unit for sleeping.
Hillje discloses a capsule unit for sleeping (abstract) that include a hatch/door.
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to construct the shelter of ‘455 as a capsule unit for sleeping as suggested by Hillje in order to provide a living space (abstract of Hillje).
Regarding claim 5:
‘455 discloses wherein the inward opening mechanism (70a) is configured to rotatably support the plate-shaped member about a vertical axis positioned at a lateral side of the opening.
Regarding claim 6:
‘455 discloses wherein the inward opening mechanism includes a force applicator (51) that applies to the plate-shaped member a force to move the plate-shaped member in a direction toward a position wherein the plate-shaped member is accommodated inside the capsule unit and the opening is opened, and
the plate-shaped member includes a closed state locking member that locks the plate-shaped member with respect to the opening at a position wherein the plate-shaped member covers the entirety of the opening, and the opening is closed.
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 6884455 in view of Hillje, US 2013/0291450 as applied to claim 1, further in view of Cherry, US 6,415,558.
Regarding claim 3:
‘455 does not expressly disclose wherein the plate-shaped member include a frame member.
Cherry discloses a plate-shaped member for a shelter that includes a frame member (76, 79, 80, 84 and 86) including a plurality of elongated member (79, 80, 84, 86) extending in an in-plane direction of a plate of the plate-shaped member.
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to provide a frame as suggested by Cherry to the hatch of ‘455 in order to reinforce the door.
Regarding claim 4:
‘455 in view of Cherry discloses wherein the inward opening mechanism is a hinge (70a in ‘455) rotatably supporting the plate-shaped member, and the frame member is connected to the hinge (the frame member is about the exterior of the door/hatch).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record directed to capsule units having plate-shaped rigid hatches does not reasonably suggest a foldable portion as claimed. Modifying the most relevant prior art of record to include a foldable portion would require improper hindsight reconstruction and may compromise the functionality of the prior art structures.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENT W HERRING whose telephone number is (571)270-3661. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6:00p MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at (571)272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENT W HERRING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633