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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 10/04/23. These drawings are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Nomura et al. (JP 2018202841), hereinafter, Nomura.
Regarding claim 1, Nomura discloses an electronic balance (See: Figs. 1-4) used for a weighing unit (10) in a feeder (40) composed of a hopper (42) unit that stores an object to be measured, a feeder unit (16) that discharges the object to be measured in the hopper unit (42) and has a driving source (38) whose discharge amount is controlled by a control device (20), and the weighing unit (10) that weighs a weight of the object to be measured discharged from the hopper unit (42), the electronic balance comprising:
a weighing pan (28) on which the hopper unit (42) and the feeder unit (40) are installed;
a sensor unit (24) configured to measure the weight of the object to be measured discharged from the hopper unit (42) [the strain gauge 24 is a sensor in which when the strain generating body 22 is distorted by receiving a load, the strain is deformed in accordance with the strain, and the resistance value is changed in accordance with the amount of the strain 30 to the control device 20 described later; the load cell 14 is for detecting a load, and is roughly constituted by a strain generating body 22, a strain gauge 24]; and
a case (26) that houses the sensor unit (24), wherein a flexible wiring member (30, 44 and 46) for supplying an electric signal from the control device (20) to the driving source (28) of the feeder unit (40) is provided in the case (26) [a cover member 26 and a mounting bracket 28].
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomura et al. (JP 2018202841), hereinafter, Nomura in view of Blair et al. (US Patent 6,797,891), hereinafter, Blair.
Regarding claim 2, Nomura discloses wiring member (cables 30, 44, 46). However, Nomura does not particularly disclose or suggest wherein the wiring member is a flexible substrate. Blair discloses Figs 1 and 2 depict a flexible interconnect cable 100 having a first end 102 coupled to a first component 104 and having a second end 106 coupled to a second component 108. For purposes of this example, first component 104 is an integrated circuit package comprising an electronic device (e.g., a flip chip die) 110, a component carrier substrate (e.g., a BGA substrate) 112 coupled to electronic device 110, and a cable receptacle 114 configured to receive flexible interconnect cable 100 (see: col. 3, line 6 to col. 4, line 7. It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize in Nomura the cable of Blair because the cable can be coupled to destination components using a variety of connection techniques, e.g., direct bonding to a circuit substrate, direct soldering to a flip chip, mechanical attachment to a component, or integration with a circuit substrate wherein flexible interconnect cable 100 may utilize any number of different internal structures depending upon the particular application. Therefore, the above combination would be very effective.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record taken alone and in combination does not disclose “wherein the flexible substrate has one end provided with an electric signal input substrate for inputting an electric signal from the control device and has the other end provided with an electric signal output substrate for outputting an electric signal to the driving source of the feeder unit, a curved portion having a curved shape in a plan view is formed at a portion from the one end to the other end, and the electronic balance is provided with a pan boss vertically displaced in conjunction with the weighing pan and a support member having one end side fixed to a fixed frame and having the other end side supporting an electromagnetic force generator, and the curved portion of the flexible substrate is arranged below the pan boss, the electric signal input substrate is fixed to the fixed frame, and the electric signal output substrate is fixed to the pan boss” as recited in claim 3. These limitations are neither taught nor made obvious by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACQUES M SAINT SURIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2206. The examiner can normally be reached Mon to Frid (Flex) 10:00 to 7:00.
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/JACQUES M SAINT SURIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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