DETAILED ACTION
This action is a first action on the merit. The claims filed on December 20, 2023 have been entered. Claims 1-9 are pending and addressed below.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
This application claims Foreign Priority to Japanese Application No. JP2022-209335 filed on December 27, 2022.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed December 20, 2023 and December 9, 2024 have been considered 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(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takano et al., Japanese Patent No. JP 2022167232 A (hereinafter Takano).
Claim 1: Takano discloses a storage device (storage devices 10, 10A, 10B) comprising:
a container (storage part 11);
a lid (lid bodies 40, 40A) for opening and closing an opening of the container;
a support shaft (shaft part 30) for supporting the lid with respect to the container (11) such that the lid (40) can open and close relative to the container (11) (see abstract);
a torsion spring that includes a coil (coil springs 50, 50A) located along an axial line (through the center of shaft 30) of the support shaft (30), a first arm (spring arm portions 53, 53 as shown in Fig 2) extending from one winding end of the coil (winding portions 51) to the lid (at lid body abutting portions 54) and can engage with the lid (see Fig 2A), and a second arm (52, Fig 2) extending from an opposite winding end of the coil (winding portion 51) to the container (11a, 11) and can engage with the container when the container, the lid and the support shaft are in an assembled state (the outer wall portion 63 and the bearing body 61 and a spring receiver 64 that receives the end 52, 52A of the coil spring 50A, see Fig 8-9, par [0040]) and the first arm (53, 53A) is engaged with the lid (via sidewall portion 44a) (see Fig 10A-10B), the torsion spring (50, 50A) being configured to bias the lid in a direction to close the lid or in a direction to open the lid (a coil spring 50 that biases the cover 40 in the opening direction, par [0013]); and
a cylindrical cover (outer wall portion 63) formed integrally with the container (storage portion 11) such that the cover can surround an outer peripheral surface of the coil (Fig 8-10, par [0039]-[0040]),
the second arm (52, 52A) extending outward in a radial direction than the cover (see Fig 8-9), and having an engaging portion at an outer end (near end of 52, 52A) of the second arm (52, 52) in the radial direction such that the engaging portion engages with an engagement portion (spring receiver 64) of the container (11) (Fig 8-9, par [0040]), and
the cover (63) having clearance that allows the second arm (52, 52A) to pass without interference (as shown in Fig 8-9, par [0040]).
Claim 2: Takano discloses wherein the second arm (52, 52A) has a protrusion at a tip thereof, the container has a recess (locking portion of the corresponding support wall 26) that can receive the protrusion therein (as shown in Fig 3-5), and the recess is located on a turning locus of the protrusion in a direction in which the engagement portion receives a biasing force from the engaging portion (other end 12b is hooked to a locking portion 13c of the arm 13 described later while expressing the spring pressure, Fig 5, par [0017]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kojo, Japanese Patent No. JP 2005/247232 (hereinafter Kojo) (all citations are to the attached English translation dated 12/3/2024) in view of Takano et al., Japanese Patent No. JP 2022167232 A (hereinafter Takano) (all citations are to the attached English translation dated 12/3/2024).
Claim 1: Kojo discloses a storage device comprising:
a container (main body 2);
a lid (lid 6) for opening and closing an opening of the container (lid opening/closing device turns and switches a lid 6 between a closed position and an opened position, see abstract) with;
a support shaft (shaft 29) for supporting the lid with respect to the container (2) such that the lid (6) can open and close relative to the container (2) (see abstract);
a torsion spring that includes a coil (coil spring 12), a first arm (one end 12a) extending from one winding end of the coil (12) to the lid and can engage with the lid, and a second arm (the other end 12b) extending from an opposite winding end of the coil (12) to the container and can engage with the container when the container (2), the lid (6) and the support shaft (29) are in an assembled state and the first arm (12a) is engaged with the lid (see par [0017]), the torsion spring (12) being configured to bias the lid in a direction to close the lid or in a direction to open the lid (second coil spring 12 is for urging and moving the lid 6 from the open position to the intermediate position, par [0017]); and
a cylindrical cover (spring receiver 36) formed integrally with the lid such that the cover can surround an outer peripheral surface of the coil (12)( (as seen in Fig 3-4),
the second arm (12b) extending outward in a radial direction than the cover (36), and having an engaging portion (end near L-shaped end of 12b) at an outer end of the second arm (12b) in the radial direction such that the engaging portion engages with an engagement portion of the lid (corresponding support wall 26, see Fig 3, par [0013]), and
the cover (36) having clearance that allows the second arm (12b) to pass without interference (as shown in Fig 3-4).
Kojo fails to disclose the cylindrical cover formed integrally with the container.
Takano discloses a storage device comprising a tubular cover (outer wall portion 63) integrally formed with a container (storage portion 11) while surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the coil (Fig 8-10, par [0039]-[0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the cylindrical cover of Kojo to be formed integrally with the container as disclosed by Takano, as the need to cover a coil would have lead one skilled in the art to choose an appropriate cylindrical cover such as the cylindrical cover formed integrally with the container as disclosed by Takano. Therefore, choosing the appropriate arrangement of the cylindrical cover integrally formed with the container as disclosed by Takano would merely be a simple substitution of one known element for another would yield the predictable result of covering the coil, id. at 301,213 USPQ at 536. in re ICON Health & Fitness, Inc.. 496 F.3d 1374, 83 USPG2d 1746 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
Claim 2: Kojo, as modified by Takano, discloses wherein the second arm (Kojo, 12b) has a protrusion at a tip thereof, the container has a recess (locking portion of the corresponding support wall 26) that can receive the protrusion therein (as shown in Fig 3-5), and the recess is located on a turning locus of the protrusion in a direction in which the engagement portion receives a biasing force from the engaging portion (other end 12b is hooked to a locking portion 13c of the arm 13 described later while expressing the spring pressure, Fig 5, par [0017]).
Claim 5: Kojo, as modified by Takano, discloses an alignment portion (supports 32 and 34) for aligning the axial line of the support shaft (shaft 29) between the container (2) and the lid (6) (supports 32, 34 are semicircular arc in shape and have a shaft hole 32a, 34a, formed within par [0025], necessarily hole shaft 29 in alignment, see Fig 3-4, 6a, 6b).
Claim 6: Kojo, as modified by Takano, discloses wherein the second arm (Kojo, 12b) has a protrusion at a tip thereof, the container has a recess (locking portion of the corresponding support wall 26) that can receive the protrusion therein (Kojo, as shown in Fig 3-5).
Claim 7: Kojo, as modified by Takano, discloses wherein the recess is located on a turning locus of the protrusion in a direction in which the engagement portion receives a biasing force from the engaging portion (other end 12b is hooked to a locking portion 13c of the arm 13 described later while expressing the spring pressure, Fig 5, par [0017]).
Claim(s) 3-4 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kojo in view of Takano as applied to claims 2 and 7, and further in view of Tani et al., Japanese Patent No. JP 2008024202 A (hereinafter Tani) (all citations are to the attached English translation dated 12/3/2024).
Claim 3 and 8: Kojo and Takano are silent as to the protrusion has an annular shape when viewed from a direction along the axial line of the support shaft.
Tani discloses a storage device wherein the second arm (the other end of torsion coil spring 31) has a protrusion at a tip thereof (loop-shaped protruding portion) (Fig 7-8, par [0025]), the container has a recess that can receive the protrusion therein (a recess formed between the cylindrical spring locking portion 17a and the side wall around the spring locking portion 17a), and the recess is located on a turning locus of the protrusion in a direction in which the engagement portion receives a biasing force from the engaging portion (as shown in in Fig 5-7), wherein the protrusion has an annular shape when viewed from a direction along the axial line of the support shaft (as shown in Fig 5-7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the recess and protrusion of the coil of Kojo and Takano to utilize a protrusion with an annular shape as disclosed by Tani, as the use of an annular shape on the protrusion of a coil would have is a known mounting structure of a coil spring to a container and choosing the appropriate mounting structure of a coil spring to include an annular protrusion disclosed by Tani would merely be a simple substitution of one known element for another would yield the predictable result of mounting the lid to the container using the coil spring (Tani, see Fig 7-8, par id. at 301,213 USPQ at 536. in re ICON Health & Fitness, Inc.. 496 F.3d 1374, 83 USPG2d 1746 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
Claims 4 and 9: Kojo further discloses the second arm (12b) extending outward in the counterclockwise direction (as shown in Fig 1) to engagement the recess (as see Fig 1).
Tani further discloses that the protruding portion protrudes with respect to the opening that opens in the direction along the paper surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date the invention, to further modify the recess of Kojo such that the opening of the recess faces in the direction in which the engagement portion (hooking portion) receives the biasing force from the engaging portion (Tani, as shown in in Fig 5-7) as disclosed by Tani, as this modification would have yielded the predictable results of aiding in the opening of the lid.
Conclusion
Claims 1-9 are rejected. No claims allowed.
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/CAROLINE N BUTCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676