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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informality: in page 6, line 12, replace “body3” with --body 3--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 11 is 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.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the insertion hole" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1, 3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kudo (JPS 40-18534; Applicant cited with translation).
Regarding claim 1, Kudo teaches a fader device (slidable resistor; see under the heading of “Detailed Description” and fig. 1) comprising:
a screw shaft (screw shaft 8) and a guide member (guide rail 4) disposed parallel to each other; and
a moving body (holder 5 “able to travel”) attached to the screw shaft (8) and the guide member (4) and movable in a longitudinal direction of the screw shaft,
wherein the screw shaft includes a male thread (helical groove on the surface of the shaft to allow movement in an axial direction; page 3 of the translation) on an outer periphery thereof and is configured to be rotatable about an axis extending along the longitudinal direction,
wherein the guide member (4) guides the moving body (5) in the longitudinal direction,
and
wherein the moving body meshes (the thread engages with claws on the moving body 5) with the male thread to move in the longitudinal direction as the screw shaft rotates.
Regarding claim 3, Kudo teaches the guide member (4) and the screw shaft (8) being spaced apart (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Kudo teaches a fader device (slidable resistor; see fig. 1) comprising:
a screw shaft (screw shaft 8) extending in a linear direction and including a thread (helical grooves on the surface of the shaft for axial movement of the shaft), the screw shaft being rotatable about an axis extending in the linear direction;
a guide member (guide rail 4) extending in the linear direction and disposed parallel to the screw shaft; and
a moving body (5) attached to the screw shaft (8) and the guide member (4) and movable
in the linear direction;
wherein the moving body (5) meshes with the thread to move in the linear direction
as the screw shaft rotates (the thread engages with claws on the moving body 5).
Claims 1, 4, 7, 9 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasutaka (JP 55-87402; Applicant cited with translation).
Regarding claims 1, 4 and 7, Yasutaka teaches a fader (motorized variable resistor; see translation and figs. 1-2) comprising:
a screw shaft (5) and guide members (4, 6) in parallel with each other; and a moving body (moving unit 3) attached to the screw shaft and the guide members, wherein the screw shaft includes a male thread (the screw shaft having helical grooves on the surface) on the outer periphery thereof and being configured to be rotatable about an axis (the shaft screw moveable manually, also automatically with the power unit [motor 81]), wherein the guide member guides the moving body (3) in a longitudinal direction, and the moving body meshes (gears 32 meshes with the male threads 9 of the screw shaft 5) with the male thread to move in the longitudinal direction as the screw shaft rotates.
Regarding claim 9, Yasutaka teaches a fader device (motorized variable resistor; see translation and figs. 1-2) comprising:
a screw shaft (5) extending in a linear direction and including a male thread (helical grooves on the surface of the shaft for axial movement of the shaft) on an outer periphery thereof, the screw shaft being rotatable about an axis extending in the linear direction;
a moving body (movable unit 3) attached to the screw shaft and meshes with the male thread to move in the linear direction as the screw shaft rotates (gears 32 meshes with the male threads 9 of the screw shaft 5);
a partition member (dark lined L-shaped member shown in fig. 2) that separates a first region (inner region) where the screw shaft is located from a second region (outer region) that is different from the first region, the partition member including a slot (allows for manual knob 8 to be connected to the movable body 3) that extends in the linear direction and through which part of the moving body extends through from a side of the first region to a side of the second region; and
a cover member (attached to rail 6) positioned between the screw shaft (5) and the slot of the partition member in the first region and extending in the linear direction (the cover member extends in a linear direction).
Regarding claim 15, Yasutaka teaches the fader device, comprising:
a position detection unit (resistor and slider) that detects a position of the moving body in the linear direction, wherein the position detection unit comprises a resistance element (21, 22) comprising a conductor (34), provided on the moving body (the conductor 34 being provided on the moving body 3).
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Yasutaka teaches he fader device, wherein the moving body comprises:
a space through which the screw shaft is inserted (the space being a U-shaped through hole extending from one side to another); and
an engaging portion provided in the space and that meshes with the male thread the screw shaft (engaging gear 32 meshes with the helix grooves 9 on the screw shaft 5).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasutaka in view of Mori (JP 2012-207751; translation attached).
Regarding claim 2, Yasutaka teaches the claimed invention except for the diameter of the screw shaft being smaller than the diameter of the guide member.
Mori teaches a slidable device, wherein a pair of guide shaft (40; see fig. 3) around the screw shaft (31), the guide shaft having a diameter larger than the diameter of the screw shaft.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Mori with Yasutaka, since the thicker guide shaft taught by Mori improves the stability of the moving body of Yasutaka.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasutaka in view of Nunziata et al., US Pat. 4,583,032.
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Yasutaka teaches the claimed invention except for the fader device having an encoder that measure the rotation angle of the screw shaft.
Nunziata teaches a linear motion encoder, wherein the encoder reads linearly variable voltages from the commutator strip as the block (the movable body) moves back and forth lengthwise as the screw shaft is moved axially, thus providing motion detection of the shaft’s axial movement (see at least col. 3, line 60 to col. 4, line 51).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nunziata with Yasutaka, since the encoder taught by Nunziata provides continuous angular screw shaft position for the fader device of Yasutaka.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 12-14 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.
Claim 11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 10, the prior art does not teach or suggest the moving body having a coupling portion that couples the insertion portion and the mounting portion, and the coupling portion further surrounding the cover member as viewed in the linear direction.
Claims 11-14 depend on claim 10.
Conclusion
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/KYUNG S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833