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 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “one or more terminals being configured to bias to a shunted position” / “the one or more terminals being held open during normal operation and biased to a shunted position” 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 § 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.
Claims 7-8 and 10-20 are 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 7 recites “one or more terminals being configured to bias to a shunted position, in response to the battery being fully discharged or the power failure”, claim 10 recites “the one or more terminals being configured to bias to a shunted position, in response to the battery being fully discharged or a power failure” and claim 17 recites “the one or more terminals being held open during normal operation and biased to a shunted position, in response to the battery being fully discharged or a power failure”; these recitations are indefinite because the definition of a “shunted position” is that when a motor’s shunt field windings are connected in parallel with the armature windings, allowing them to share the same voltage source and maintain constant speed under varying loads, Therefore, since it is an arrangement of wiring i.e., a permanent configuration, it is not clear how it can be attained in “response to the battery being fully discharged or a power failure”. Claims 7-8 and 10-20 are currently only rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph pending clarification by applicant.
Dependent claims are rejected at least for depending from a rejected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahern, US (2017/0081162) in view of Kuribayashi, US (2006/0138979).
In regards to claim 1 Ahern discloses:
A fully-electric lift vehicle (100; fig. 1; being fully electric per excerpt of paragraph [0021] “The battery compartment includes a power source configured to supply a total electrical requirement of the scissors lift vehicle”) comprising:
a base (116, 102, 132; fig. 1);
a battery (680; fig. 6B) arranged within the base (as described in highlighted excerpt of paragraph [0021] below);
a drive motor (674 and 676; fig. 6B) powered by the battery and configured to drive a wheel (as shown in fig. 6B and described in paragraph [0059] below);
a scissor lift (scissors assembly 112) including a first end (bottom end) coupled to the base (as shown in fig. 1), the scissor lift being movable between an extended position and a retracted position (per normal operation of the plurality of scissors linkages 118; fig. 1);
a work platform (113) supported on a second end of the scissor lift (top end of the scissors assembly); and
a linear actuator (300; fig. 3) including a motor (310) powered by the battery (the battery described in paragraph [0021] as “configured to supply a total electrical requirement of the scissors lift vehicle”),
wherein the linear actuator (300) is coupled to the scissor lift (112) so that rotation of the motor moves the scissor lift between the extended position and the retracted position (motor 310 attached to the lift control as shown in fig. 2).
PNG
media_image1.png
311
576
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
176
572
media_image2.png
Greyscale
In regards to claim 1 Ahern does not disclose the motor of the linear actuator being a DC shunt motor includes a rotor and a permanent magnet.
Kuribayashi teaches a DC shunt motor (motor in fig. 1, 10) includes a rotor and a permanent magnet (as taught in claim 8; see excerpt below), the DC shunt motor being configured to act like a generator and reduce a speed of the rotor (as described at least for startup speed being low; excerpt paragraph [0054] below).
PNG
media_image3.png
490
460
media_image3.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image4.png
318
574
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the DC shunt motor taught by Kuribayashi for the linear actuator of Ahern for the predictable result with reasonable expectation of success i.e., to improve the efficiency of the motor as motivated by Kuribayashi in paragraph [0013]; see highlighted excerpt below.
PNG
media_image5.png
395
574
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Ahern and Kuribayashi do not explicitly teach that the reduction in speed is in response to the battery being fully discharged or a power failure.
Examiner takes Official Notice that ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) and AGS (Automatic Generator Start) modules are old and well known in the art to switch the motor into a generator mode upon detection of the power dropping below a certain threshold level. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize an ATS or an AGS module onto the motor of Ahern as modified by Kuribayashi for the predictable result with reasonable expectation of success i.e., to ensures continuous power supply in case of sudden loss of power.
In regards to claim 9 Ahern discloses the linear actuator is arranged between the base and the work platform (inherent in order to operate the scissors lift also as evidenced in fig. 1 where fluid cylinder assembly 300 is not and cannot be placed above the platform or underneath the base; fig. 1).
Claims 2-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahern and Kuribayashi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KAI, WO (2013035506).
In regards to claims 2 and 3 Ahern and Kuribayashi do not teach an electromagnetic brake including a friction disk, an armature and a wire coil.
KAI teaches an electromagnetic brake (15) includes a friction disk (18), an armature (17), and a wire coil (20) configured to selectively receive electrical power from the battery (intended use) and, in response, generate a force on the armature to bias the armature out of engagement with the friction disk (as described in English translation text highlighted below) (as described in English translation text highlighted below).
PNG
media_image6.png
309
679
media_image6.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image7.png
460
563
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the electromagnetic brake including a friction disk, an armature and a wire coil taught by KAI onto the motor of Ahern as modified by Kuribayashi to provide for a secure, controlled and electrically operated braking system via the electromagnet which delivers an automated braking system in case power is lost as described and motivated by KAI in excerpt above and to provide a system that provide protection from the possibility of dropping due to the weight of the load increases as described in excerpt below. A person of ordinary skill in the art would look at other linear actuators for safety and braking protocols.
PNG
media_image8.png
75
771
media_image8.png
Greyscale
In regards to claim 5 KAI teaches the armature (17) is configured to be biased (via spring 19) into engagement with the friction disk, in the event of the power failure, to prevent rotation of the rotor and, thereby, prevent the scissor lift from moving between the extended position and the retracted position (as described in English translation text highlighted below).
PNG
media_image9.png
116
792
media_image9.png
Greyscale
In regards to claim 6 KAI teaches one or more springs (spring 19) configured to bias the armature (17) into engagement with the friction disk when the wire coil is de- energized.
PNG
media_image9.png
116
792
media_image9.png
Greyscale
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
Note that in light of the indefiniteness issues associated with claims 7-8 and 10-20, those claims cannot be indicated allowable pending clarification by applicant.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to PTO-892 form for list of cited references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHIREF M MEKHAEIL whose telephone number is (571)270-5334. The examiner can normally be reached 10-7 Mon-Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Cahn can be reached at 571-270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/S.M.M/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634
Prosecution Insights