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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/9/2026 has been entered.
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) 1-4, 6, 11-17, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seal et al. U.S. PGPub 2007/0171372 (hereinafter “Seal”).
Regarding claims 1, 14 and 20, Seal discloses a computer-assisted system comprising: a display unit configured to display images viewable by an operator (e.g. ¶19 and 21; Fig. 1); a headrest coupled to the display unit, the headrest configured to be contacted by a head of the operator, the displayed images being viewable to the operator while the head of the operator is contacting the headrest (e.g. ¶19 and 21; Fig. 1); an actuator (e.g. drive mechanism/motor) operable to move the headrest relative to the display unit (e.g. ¶40-47); a head-input sensor (e.g. ¶30 and 47); and a control unit (e.g. processor) communicably coupled to the actuator and the head-input sensor (e.g. ¶60; claim 5), wherein the control unit is configured to: determine head data based on sensor data acquired by the head-input sensor (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5), determine a commanded motion (e.g. upward/downward) based on at least the head data, a baseline (e.g. ¶32 and 40-47, initial/pre-defined positions), and a damping (e.g. ¶42, load-compensator), and command the actuator to move the headrest relative to the display unit based on the commanded motion (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5).
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Seal discloses he computer-assisted system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the commanded motion based on a virtual spring model (e.g. chinrest adjustment algorithm) and at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: a system force (e.g. ¶30) or a system torque.
Regarding claim 3, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 2, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the commanded motion based on at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: a position of the headrest and an orientation of the headrest (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 2, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the commanded motion based on a monotonic function of a difference between a headrest position (e.g. adjusted position) of the headrest and a predefined position (e.g. initial position) (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 2, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the commanded motion based on a monotonic function of a difference between a headrest orientation of the headrest and to a predefined orientation (e.g. ¶29 and 45).
Regarding claims 11 and 19, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the baseline based on: first head data determined based on the sensor data acquired by the head-input sensor when the computer-assisted system enters an ergonomic adjustment mode; and first system data associated with when the computer-assisted system enters the ergonomic adjustment mode (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5).
Regarding claim 12, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 1, wherein the head data includes at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: a force associated with the head, a position of the head, a torque associated with the head, and an orientation of the head (e.g. ¶30 and 47).
Regarding claim 13, Seal discloses the computer-assisted system of claim 1, further comprising: another actuator communicably coupled to the control unit (e.g. ¶29 and 45), wherein to command the actuator to move the headrest based on the commanded motion, the control unit is configured to: command the actuator to move a portion of the headrest (e.g. ¶6, 40-47; claims 2 and 5); and command the another actuator to move another portion of the headrest (e.g. ¶29 and 45).
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.
Claim(s) 7-9 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seal as applied to the claims above, in view of Timm et al. U.S. Patent 10,034,721 (hereinafter “Timm”).
Seal discloses a damping mechanism (e.g. ¶42), but does not explicitly disclose damping based on a velocity of the headset.
Timm discloses a damping mechanism for controlling an actuator that moves a headrest (e.g. col. 4-5, lines 49-67 and 1-14; col. 20-21, lines 64-67 and 1-7). Regarding claim 7, Timm discloses determining the damping based on a velocity of the headrest (e.g. col. 4-5, lines 49-67 and 1-14; col. 19-20, lines 60-67 and 1-27). Regarding claims 8 and 18, Timm discloses damping varying based on a direction of the velocity (e.g. col. 4-5, lines 49-67 and 1-14; col. 19-20, lines 60-67 and 1-27). Regarding claim 9, Timm discloses damping is larger when the velocity is in a first direction (a longer extended direction) than when the velocity is in a second direction (a shorter retracted direction) (e.g. col. 4-5, lines 49-67 and 1-14; col. 19-20, lines 60-67 and 1-27).
At the time the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a damping mechanism in the control of the headrest. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this to provide for smooth and reliable control of the headrest.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Jung with Timm to obtain the invention as specified in claims 7-9 and 18.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 10 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.
Relevant Prior Art
Tamiya et al. U.S. PGPub 2017/0291037 discloses a method for controlling a headrest coupled to a display unit of a computer-assisted system, the headrest configured to be contacted by a head of an operator, and the display unit configured to display images viewable by the operator while a head of the operator is contacting the headrest (e.g. ¶146; Fig. 1-2), the method comprising: determining head data based on sensor data acquired by a head-input sensor (e.g. ¶120), determining a commanded motion based on at least the head data and a baseline (e.g. ¶120), and commanding an actuator to move the headrest relative to the headrest based on the commanded motion (e.g. ¶120).
Stolze U.S. PGPub 2017/0265643 discloses a method for controlling a headrest coupled to a display unit of a computer-assisted system, the headrest configured to be contacted by a head of an operator, and the display unit configured to display images viewable by the operator while a head of the operator is contacting the headrest (e.g. Fig. 1), the method comprising: determining head data based on sensor data acquired by a head-input sensor, determining a commanded motion based on at least the head data and a baseline (e.g. ¶47); and commanding an actuator to move the headrest relative to the headrest based on the commanded motion (e.g. ¶47).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES R KASENGE whose telephone number is (571)272-3743. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30am to 4pm EST.
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CK
March 20, 2026
/CHARLES R KASENGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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