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 .
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1,2 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by Assadsangabi (US 20180253928 A1).
Referring to claim 1. Assadsangabi discloses a gate device (Figure 6A), comprising:
a base (bracket connecting member 11 to plate; Figure 6C), extending from a first end (back end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C) to a second end (front end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C) along an axis (axis along the length of the bracket), and comprising a first area (area adjacent back end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C) and a second area (area adjacent front end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C) respectively adjacent to the first end and the second end;
an actuator (11; Figure 6B), disposed on a top surface (top surface of bracket mounting actuator 11; Figure 6C) of the second area of the base (area adjacent front end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C) and comprising a latch (9; Figure 6A) extending downward through the base (bracket connecting member 11 to plate; Figure 6C), the actuator (11; Figure 6B) being operable to move the latch (9; Figure 6A) between a locked position (latch 9 in extended position) and a retracted position (latch 9 in retracted position);
a first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) and a second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A), disposed on a bottom surface of the first area of the base (area adjacent back end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C), when the latch (9) is in the locked position, the first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) and the second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A) engaging with the latch (9) such that pivoting the first gate plate and the second gate plate is limited to a closed position (as shown in Figure 6A), and when the latch (9) is in the retracted position, the first gate plate and the second gate plate being separated from the latch such that the first gate plate and the second gate plate are pivotable (member 10 can be rotated) from the closed position (as shown in Figure 6A) to an open position (position of retracted latch 9); and
an identification sensor (8a; Figure 4), disposed on the first area (area adjacent back end of bracket connecting member 11 when umbrella handle is adjacent an exit port; as shown in Figure 6A) of the base relative to a waiting zone defined between the first gate plate and the second gate plate (se Figure 6A) and configured to identify an identity of an umbrella which passes through the gate device (An identification component (8a, 8b) including, but not limited to, RFID tags and barcodes, QR codes, or Bluetooth modules, can be attached to the rental/shared equipment for tracking and inventory control purposes. These may then be scanned by the tracking system. FIG. 4 shows two possible identification components (8a, 8b) which can be used; Para. [0049].
Referring to claim 2. Assadsangabi discloses a gate device (Figure 6A), comprising:
wherein each of the first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) and the second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A) comprises:
a guiding structure (rotating guide for 10), the waiting zone being defined between the guiding structures of the first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) and the second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A); and
a locking structure (tip of 10), connected with the guiding structure (rotating guide for 10) and extending toward the second end of the base (front end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C), when the latch (9) is in the locked position (as shown in Figure 6C), the locking structures (tip of 10) of the first gate plate and the second gate plate engaging with the latch (9), and when the latch (9) is in the retracted position (latch retracted), the latch (9) being separated from the locking structure (tip of 10).
Referring to claim 6. Assadsangabi discloses a gate device (Figure 6A), comprising:
further comprising a switch sensor (12; Figure 6A), the switch sensor (12) being disposed on a bottom surface of the second area of the base (area adjacent front end of bracket connecting member 11 as shown in Figure 6C), wherein when the first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) and the second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A) move between the closed position (extended latch 9) and the open position (retracted latch 9), the switch sensor (12) detects a passage of a part of one of the first gate plate and the second gate plate to determine whether an abnormality occurs (which the device of the present invention may include a counting mechanism (12) that counts the number of returned and rented items; Para. [0054]).
Referring to claim 7. Assadsangabi discloses a gate device (Figure 6A), comprising:
further comprising a position sensor (sensor 12 disposed on the top of 10; as shown in Figure 6A), wherein the position sensor (12) is disposed on the axis, located on any side of the waiting zone and configured to detect a passage of the umbrella (see Figure 6A).
Referring to claim 8. Assadsangabi discloses a gate device (Figure 6A), comprising:
further comprising two return springs (biasing leaf spring of members 12), wherein one end of each of the two return springs is connected (biasing leaf spring of members 12) to the first gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the top side of 9; Figure 6A) or the second gate plate (ratchet teeth of 10 disposed on the bottom side of 9; Figure 6A), and the other end of each of the two return springs (biasing leaf spring of members 12) is connected to the base(through member 12), the two return springs (biasing leaf spring of members 12) normally providing a restoring force to return the first gate plate and the second gate plate to the closed position (see Figure 6A).
Referring to claim 9. Assadsangabi discloses an umbrella sharing system (13; Figure 7), comprising:
a housing (housing 13), having an elongated opening at a lower end thereof (rear opening of 13);
a rail (1; Figure 2), comprising an elongated slot (slot 1) extending along the elongated opening;
two gate devices (opening at front and rear of 13; Figure 7; comprising entry and exit ports 6; Figure 6A) according to claim 1, respectively disposed on an entrance end and an exit end of the elongated slot (see Figure 7); and an umbrella (2; Figure 3), comprising:
a handle (3; Figure 3), defining a groove (4), the handle sliding on the rail (1) through the groove (groove in 1), the two gate devices (gate exit ports 6 disposed on the entry and exit points; Figure 6A) being configured such that the handle (3) enters the gate device via the first end of the base and leaves the gate device via the second end of the base after passing through the waiting zone between the first gate plate and the second gate plate (see Figure 7); and
an identification chip (8b; RIFD tag; Figure 4), disposed in a head of the handle (3) such that when the handle (3) slides through the waiting zone (see Figure 7), the identification sensor identifies the identification chip to determine an identity of the umbrella (n identification component (8a, 8b) including, but not limited to, RFID tags and barcodes, QR codes, or Bluetooth modules, can be attached to the rental/shared equipment for tracking and inventory control purposes. These may then be scanned by the tracking system. FIG. 4 shows two possible identification components (8a, 8b) which can be used; Para. [0049].
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.
Claims 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Assadsangabi (US 20180253928 A1) in view of Hardy (US 5,669,527 ).
Referring to claim 15-17. Assadsangabi discloses an umbrella system (13; Figure 7), comprising:
a rail (1; Figure 2), defining an elongated slot that allows an umbrella (2) to slide through,
at least one section of the elongated slot being inclined at an included angle with respect to a horizontal direction, and the included angle being about 7 degrees to about 20 degrees;
two gate devices (gate exit ports 6 disposed on the entry and exit points; Figure 6A), respectively disposed on the rail (1) relative to an entrance end and an exit end of the elongated slot; and
an umbrella (2), configured to be slidable on the rail (1; Figure 7), one of the two gate devices (gate exit ports 6 disposed on the entry and exit points; Figure 6A) disposed relative to the entrance end being configured to control the umbrella (2) to be moved into the elongated slot (see figure 7), and the other of the two gate devices disposed relative to the exit end (gate exit ports 6 disposed on the entry and exit points; Figure 6A) being configured to control the umbrella to be moved out of the elongated slot.
Assadsangabi does not disclose at least one section of the elongated slot being inclined at an included angle with respect to a horizontal direction, and the included angle being about 7 degrees to about 20 degrees.
Hardy discloses a gravity feed dispenser (10) configured to dispense bottle (16) hanging from a slot in a rail (see Figure 5) wherein
at least one section of the elongated slot (54; Figure 7) being inclined at an included angle (beta; Figure 5) with respect to a horizontal direction, and the included angle being about 7 degrees to about 20 degrees (the inclination of the track is shown by the angle beta which can be on the order of 5 degrees to 10 degrees as desired; Col. 3 line 4).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Assadsangabi to include at least one section of the elongated slot being inclined at an included angle with respect to a horizontal direction, and the included angle being about 7 degrees to about 20 degrees as taught by Hardy because an inclined elongated slot holding a plurality of hanging articles would automatically be fed towards the dispensing end thus reducing a need for a biasing mechanism.
Regarding claims 18-20, see claimed structure as recited in rejection of claim 1 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 10-14 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH KUMAR whose telephone number is (571)272-8314. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH from 8AM-6:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached at (571) 272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAKESH KUMAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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