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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s elections of group I and group A in the reply filed on 2025-11-21 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
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 “mount(s)” of claims 1-8 (the claimed mounts appear to be the disclosed "bracket portion(s)" of the drawings, however the drawings make no “first”/”second” distinction between the brackets and so it is unclear which bracket portion maps to which mount)
the “selectively separable core(s)” of claims 1, 2, 8, 9 (the claimed cores at first appear to match the “hinge core” 40 of the present application, however claims 8 and 9 recite first and second separable cores, however no plural hinge core, but the singular 40, is shown in the figures making it unclear which cores match the claimed cores)
the “first(second) set of plural friction washers” of claim 5 (only a single friction washer, 66, is ever shown in the drawings (FIG.4), and only on one side of hinge core 40 in a manner that does not appear to be possible to place a friction washer on both sides due to the notch in 60 and right 54)
the “alignment” pin of claim 7 (it is unclear whether the claimed “alignment pin” of the claims is the same pin as element 56 “pin” of the drawings)
the “alignment opening” of claim 7 (pin 56 of the drawings is disclosed in the specification to fit into guide 50 of the drawings, however it is unclear whether the claimed “alignment opening” is the same as the “guide” of the drawings)
the “first/second torque” of claim 8 (the drawings show/indicate C-clips 64 clipping to axle 52 and pressing against 60 for friction, however one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that as all c-clips are clipped to single axle 52 it is unclear how the structure in the drawings result in two separate torques)
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 § 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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MOTOSUGI (US 2015/0227175).
Regarding claim 1 MOTOSUGI discloses:
An information handling system comprising:
a housing having a lid portion (e.g. 3 FIG.1A) and a main portion (e.g. 2 FIG.1A);
a processor disposed in the housing and operable to execute instructions to process information (e.g. understood as inherent to "notebook PC" described paragraph [0054]);
a memory disposed in the housing and interfaced with the processor, the memory operable to store the instructions and information (e.g. understood as inherent to "notebook PC" described paragraph [0054]); and
a hinge (e.g. 4 FIG.1A) coupled to the lid portion and the main portion to rotate the lid portion and main portion between open and closed positions (e.g. indicated FIG.1A-FIG.1B, paragraph [0054]), the hinge having a first mount coupled to the main portion (e.g. 11 FIG.2), a second mount coupled to the lid portion (e.g. 13 FIG.2) and a selectively separable core removably coupled to the first and second mounts (e.g. shown FIG.3), the core having a rotatable axle (e.g. 7 FIG.3) and a torque device (e.g. extensive structure between 10c/12c and 39/40 FIG.3) coupled to the rotatable axle to resist rotation of the axle (e.g. described paragraph [0063]).
Regarding claim 2 MOTOSUGI discloses:
a first mount adapter (e.g. 10 FIG.3) non-rotatably coupled to the first mount (e.g. via screws paragraph [0057]); and
a second mount adapter (e.g. 12 FIG.2) non-rotatably coupled to the second mount (e.g. via screws paragraph [0059]); wherein
the axle rotates relative to the first and second mount adapters (e.g. indicated FIG.1A-FIG.1B).
Regarding claim 3 MOTOSUGI discloses:
the first mount adapter couples to the first mount with a first screw (e.g. left 10i paragraph [0057]) and the second mount adapter couples to the second mount with a second screw (e.g. left 12i paragraph [0059]).
Regarding claim 4 MOTOSUGI discloses:
an outer shield (e.g. 6 FIG.3) fixed relative to the first and second mount adapters (at 7b FIG.3);
an inner axle member rotatable relative to the first and second mount adapters (e.g. indicated FIG.1A-FIG.1B); and
friction clips (e.g. 28/29 FIG.12A/FIG.12B) coupled over the inner axle member (e.g. shown FIG.3) within the outer shield to resist rotation of the inner axle member relative to the first and second mount adapters (e.g. described paragraph [0063]).
Regarding claim 5 MOTOSUGI discloses:
a first set of plural friction washers (e.g.28&30H FIG.3) coupled to the axle and fixed relative to the first mount adapter to resist rotation; and
a second set of plural friction washers (e.g.29&30i FIG.3) coupled to the axle and fixed relative to the second mount adapter to resist rotation.
Regarding claim 6 MOTOSUGI discloses:
each of the first and second mounts form a cavity (e.g. right 11a/13a FIG.3) configured to accept the first and second mount adapters (via right 10b/12b FIG.3).
Regarding claim 7 MOTOSUGI discloses:
an alignment pin (e.g. right 10i/12i paragraph [0057]/[0059]) right extending from each of the first and second mount adapters (e.g. indicated FIG.3); wherein
the alignment pin fits into an alignment opening in each cavity of the first and second mounts (e.g. indicated FIG.3).
Regarding claim 8 MOTOSUGI discloses:
a first selectively separable core (e.g. 19 FIG.3) having a first torque; and
a second selectively separable core (e.g. 20 FIG.3) having a second torque different from the first torque (e.g. shown FIG.8-FIG.9); wherein
one of the first and second selectively separable cores are selected to couple to the first and second mounts to achieve a predetermined housing rotation characteristic (e.g. described paragraph [0061]).
Regarding claim 9 MOTOSUGI discloses:
the housing rotation characteristics comprise a first stop rotational orientation (e.g. stoppers on 14 FIG.6) of the first selectively separable core and a second stop rotational orientation of the second selectively separable core (e.g. stoppers on 14 FIG.6, shown FIG.3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional references cited on the PTO-892 disclose similar circuit board housing hinge structures as those disclosed in the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THERON S MILLISER whose telephone number is (571)270-1800. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6.
Limited examiner interviews are available.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N. Hayman can be reached at (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THERON S MILLISER/Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/ANTHONY M HAUGHTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841