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 .
Status of the Claims
In the communication filed on 01/18/2024 claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 1 and 10 are independent.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the applicant uses blank boxes and numbers to illustrate structural components in Fig. 7. These alone do not facilitate understanding of the drawings. To overcome this objection, the applicant should add more details in the drawings (e.g., clear symbols, text in the boxes, arrows with text coming off, or a legend in the drawings).
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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “A Kinetic and An Electromagnetic Energy Conversion Device and Battery Charger Assembly”.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 1 remove “is” and in line 2 remove one instance of “the” to improve reading comprehension. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 4-12, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mah (USPGPN 20070268689) and further in view of Sürer (German Patent DE-202008016384-U1).
With respect to independent claim 1, Mah teaches an energy conversion device (Fig. 5; Faraday flashlight 11).
Mah teaches a housing having a bore (Fig. 5; a main housing chamber 13 having an internal surface 51).
Mah teaches an insert sleeve having a through bore (Fig. 5; ¶[40]; a magnet translation support sleeve 61 having a “freely axially slidably” region within [i.e., a through bore]), the insert sleeve positioned within the bore of the housing (Fig. 5; sleeve 61 is positioned within internal surface 51 of the main housing 13), the insert sleeve having an exterior surface and a plurality of spaced apart partial rings extending from the exterior surface (Fig. 5; sleeve 61 has an exterior surface and a pair of spaced apart lands 69 extending from the surface), at least one coil solenoid positioned on the exterior surface, the at least one coil solenoid configured to generate a predetermined controlled magnetic field (Fig. 5; a coil of magnet wire 63 positioned on the exterior surface which is well understood by one of ordinary skill to generate a predetermined controlled magnetic field).
Mah teaches a magnet configured to traverse the through bore to generate a kinetic and an electromagnetic energy through induction with the predetermined controlled magnetic field (Fig. 5; ¶[34]; ¶[40]; “a magnet 65 which is mounted to freely axially slidably move within the magnet translation support sleeve 61” and “about 1.3 watt can be generated for each passage of the magnet 65 through the coil of magnet wire 63”).
Mah teaches a control circuit communicatively coupled to the at least one coil solenoid (Figs. 9-10; charger electronics 261 communicatively coupled to coil 63).
Mah teaches a battery configured to be recharged by the kinetic and the electromagnetic energy and discharged by an electrical connection interface (Figs. 8-13, charge storage 215 is recharged by kinetic and electromagnetic energy and discharged by an electrical connection interface towards the source 221. ¶[11]; “...an energy reservoir, which may be chemical or capacitor or other” teaches charge storage 215 may be a battery).
Mah teaches a processor configured to control a charging and discharging of the battery (Figs. 12-13; controller configured to control charging and discharging the charge storage 215).
Mah teaches at least one light emitting diode configured to display a current status of the energy conversion device (Figs. 9-10; ¶[70]; charger LED 265 can be used to indicate the energization of the charger).
Mah teaches wherein when the magnet is manually forced to traverse the through bore in a repetitive manner, an oscillation of the magnet generates the kinetic and the electromagnetic energy through induction with the predetermined controlled magnetic field of the at least one coil solenoid such that the battery is energized to provide a charging energy to the electrical connection interface (¶[11], ¶[51], and ¶[52] teach the flashlight is shaken several times to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy for storage by repeated movement of magnet 65 from one end of sleeve 61 can provide continuous charging via coil 63 to the charge storage 215 in order to provide energy to the load, in this case the flashlight LED).
However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the LED is configured to display different colors; and the electrical connection interface to provide an electrical charge to an external personal electronic device.
Sürer teaches the LED is configured to display different colors (Fig. 1; LED 3 is configured to blink green or red based on energy levels).
Sürer teaches the electrical connection interface to provide an electrical charge to an external personal electronic device (Fig. 1; socket 1 provides an interface to electrically charge a personal device).
Adding an output socket to a kinetic energy device allows it to charge external electronics while the status LED indicates if it is actively generating or holding power. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being the conversion device is portable and does not need a wall outlet, allowing users to charge their personal devices using body movement.
With respect to claim 4, Mah teaches the limitation as discussed above in claim 1. Further, Mah teaches wherein the magnet is formed from N52 Neyodium material (Applicant in ¶[38] discloses the magnet may be formed from N52 Neyodium however that is non-limiting and any other suitable magnetic composite may be used. As such, it is well known that any suitable magnetic composite may be used).
With respect to claim 5, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 1. However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 5.
Sürer teaches wherein the housing further includes a figurine extending therefrom, the figurine includes the at least one light emitting diode (Fig. 1; the figurine of the pig including the LEDs 3 extending from the housing).
Adding a character figure to a plug outlet is done for fun decoration. As such, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being that users feel comfortable or amused while using the kinetic energy conversion device to charge their personal devices.
With respect to claim 6, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 5. However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 6.
Sürer teaches wherein the figurine is generally an animal face shape and the at least one light emitting diode is a pair of light emitting diodes to imitate eyes of the animal face shape (Fig. 1; the pig face shape has a pair of LEDs 3 that imitate the eyes of the animal face shape).
Adding a character figure to a plug outlet is done for fun decoration. As such, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being that users feel comfortable or amused while using the kinetic energy conversion device to charge their personal devices.
With respect to claim 7, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 1. Further, Mah teaches a first end cap configured to cover one end of the housing and a second end cap configured to cover the other end of the housing, wherein the first end cap further includes the electrical connection interface (Fig. 5; a front end cap (i.e., housing 123) and a back end cap [i.e., protruding lug 19] wherein the electrical connection interface is located in the housing 123 [i.e., the LED and it’s electrical connections]).
With respect to claim 8, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 7. Further, Mah teaches an inside surface of the first end cap includes a first spring (Fig. 4B; front spring 91).
Mah teaches an inside surface of the second end cap includes a second iron core (Fig. 4A; rear spring 79).
Mah teaches wherein the first spring and the second spring are configured to repel the magnet in a direction away from the first spring and the second spring, respectively (¶[43-44] and ¶[50]).
Although Mah fails to explicitly teach an iron core, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to have adapted an iron core since Mah’s springs mechanically reverses the magnet’s movement in which the iron core’s would perform the same functionality. The advantage being aiding in the reversal of the direction of the magnet through the sleeve (i.e., bore) thereby converting kinetic energy into electromagnetic energy.
With respect to claim 9, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 8. Further, Mah teaches wherein the magnet is free floats within the through bore between the the first spring and the second spring (Figs. 4A-4B; magnet 65 free floats within the sleeve 61 between spring 91 and spring 79).
Although Mah fails to explicitly teach an iron core, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to have adapted an iron core since Mah’s springs mechanically reverses the magnet’s movement in which the iron core’s would perform the same functionality. The advantage being aiding in the reversal of the direction of the magnet through the sleeve (i.e., bore) thereby converting kinetic energy into electromagnetic energy.
With respect to independent claim 10, Mah teaches an energy device comprising (Fig. 5; Faraday flashlight 11).
Mah teaches a housing having a bore (Fig. 5; a main housing chamber 13 having an internal surface 51).
Mah teaches an insert sleeve having a through bore (Fig. 5; ¶[40]; a magnet translation support sleeve 61 having a “freely axially slidably” region within [i.e., a through bore]), the insert sleeve positioned within the bore of the housing (Fig. 5; sleeve 61 is positioned within internal surface 51 of the main housing 13), the insert sleeve having an exterior surface and at least one coil solenoid positioned on the exterior surface (Fig. 5; the sleeve 61 having an exterior surface and a coil of magnet wire 63 positioned on the exterior surface).
Mah teaches a magnet configured to traverse the through bore to generate an energy through induction with the at least one coil solenoid (Fig. 5; ¶[34]; ¶[40]; “a magnet 65 which is mounted to freely axially slidably move within the magnet translation support sleeve 61” and “about 1.3 watt can be generated for each passage of the magnet 65 through the coil of magnet wire 63”).
Mah teaches a control circuit having a battery and an electrical connection interface (Figs. 8-13, charger electronics 261 having a charge storage 215 is recharged by kinetic and electromagnetic energy and discharged by an electrical connection interface towards the source 221. ¶[11]; “...an energy reservoir, which may be chemical or capacitor or other” teaches charge storage 215 may be a battery).
Mah teaches the control circuit communicatively coupled to the at least one coil solenoid (Figs. 9-10; charger electronics 261 communicatively coupled to coil 63).
Mah teaches wherein when the magnet is manually forced to traverse the through bore in a repetitive manner, an oscillation of the magnet generates the energy through induction with the at least one coil solenoid such that the battery is energized to provide a charging energy the electrical connection interface (¶[11], ¶[51], and ¶[52] teach the flashlight is shaken several times to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy for storage by repeated movement of magnet 65 from one end of sleeve 61 can provide continuous charging via coil 63 to the charge storage 215 in order to provide energy to the load, in this case the flashlight LED).
However, Mah fails to explicitly teach provide a charging energy to an external personal electronic device via the electrical connection interface.
Sürer teaches provide a charging energy to an external personal electronic device via the electrical connection interface (Fig. 1; socket 1 provides an interface to electrically charge a personal device).
Adding an output socket to a kinetic energy device allows it to charge external electronics. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being the conversion device is portable and does not need a wall outlet, allowing users to charge their personal devices using body movement.
With respect to claim 11, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 10. Further, Mah teaches comprising at least one light emitting diode (Figs. 9-10; ¶[70]; charger LED 265 can be used to indicate the energization of the charger).
However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the LED configured to display different colors based on a current status of the energy device.
Sürer teaches the LED configured to display different colors based on a current status of the energy device (Fig. 1; LED 3 is configured to blink green or red based on energy levels).
Adding an output socket to a kinetic energy device allows it to charge external electronics while the status LED indicates if it is actively generating or holding power. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being the conversion device is portable and does not need a wall outlet, allowing users to charge their personal devices using body movement.
With respect to claim 12, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 11. However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 12.
Sürer teaches wherein the housing further includes a figurine extending therefrom, the figurine includes the at least one light emitting diode (Fig. 1; the figurine of the pig including the LEDs 3 extending from the housing).
Adding a character figure to a plug outlet is done for fun decoration. As such, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Sürer’s output socket to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being that users feel comfortable or amused while using the kinetic energy conversion device to charge their personal devices.
With respect to claim 18, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 10. Further, Mah teaches wherein the magnet is formed from N52 Neyodium material (Applicant in ¶[38] discloses the magnet may be formed from N52 Neyodium however that is non-limiting and any other suitable magnetic composite may be used. As such, it is well known that any suitable magnetic composite may be used).
Claims 2-3 and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mah in view of Sürer, and further in view of Lewis et al. (USPGPN 20210359584).
With respect to claim 2, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 1. However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 2.
Lewis teaches wherein the at least one coil solenoid is formed from a first coil and a second coil, the first coil is spaced apart from the second coil (Fig. 3).
Connecting multiple coils as a magnet passes through them adds up the total emf. As such, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Lewis’ connection of multiple coils to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being increasing the voltage output while keeping the current the same (see ¶[41] of Lewis).
With respect to claim 3, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 2. Further, Mah teaches wherein coil is formed from a copper wire (Applicant in ¶[29] discloses the coils may be formed from copper however that is non-limiting and any conductive material may be used. As such, it is well known that copper or any other conductive material is used for the coil).
With respect to claim 13, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 10. However, Mah fails to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 13.
Lewis teaches wherein the at least one coil solenoid is formed from a first coil and a second coil, the first coil is spaced apart from the second coil (Fig. 3).
Connecting multiple coils as a magnet passes through them adds up the total emf. As such, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have adapted Lewis’ connection of multiple coils to Mah’s kinetic energy conversion device. The advantage of this being increasing the voltage output while keeping the current the same (see ¶[41] of Lewis).
With respect to claim 14, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 13. Further, Mah teaches a first end cap configured to cover one end of the housing and a second end cap configured to cover the other end of the housing, wherein the first end cap further includes the electrical connection interface (Fig. 5; a front end cap (i.e., housing 123) and a back end cap [i.e., protruding lug 19] wherein the electrical connection interface is located in the housing 123 [i.e., the LED and it’s electrical connections]).
With respect to claim 15, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 14. Further, Mah teaches an inside surface of the first end cap includes a first spring (Fig. 4B; front spring 91).
Mah teaches an inside surface of the second end cap includes a second iron core (Fig. 4A; rear spring 79).
Mah teaches wherein the first spring and the second spring are configured to repel the magnet in a direction away from the first spring and the second spring, respectively (¶[43-44] and ¶[50]).
Although Mah fails to explicitly teach an iron core, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to have adapted an iron core since Mah’s springs mechanically reverses the magnet’s movement in which the iron core’s would perform the same functionality. The advantage being aiding in the reversal of the direction of the magnet through the sleeve (i.e., bore) thereby converting kinetic energy into electromagnetic energy.
With respect to claim 16, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 15. Further, Mah teaches wherein the magnet free floats within the through bore between the first spring and the second spring (Figs. 4A-4B; magnet 65 free floats within the sleeve 61 between spring 91 and spring 79).
Although Mah fails to explicitly teach an iron core, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to have adapted an iron core since Mah’s springs mechanically reverses the magnet’s movement in which the iron core’s would perform the same functionality. The advantage being aiding in the reversal of the direction of the magnet through the sleeve (i.e., bore) thereby converting kinetic energy into electromagnetic energy.
With respect to claim 17, Mah teaches the invention as discussed above in claim 13. Further, Mah teaches wherein coil is formed from a copper wire (Applicant in ¶[29] discloses the coils may be formed from copper however that is non-limiting and any conductive material may be used. As such, it is well known that copper or any other conductive material is used for the coil).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dendy et al. (USPGPN 20230240372) describes an electronic vaping device with a rechargeable battery section, a control circuit, and a conductive contact assembly at the end of the device.
Shastry et al. (USPGPN 20180026513) describes a portable device that turns a user’s motion into electrical power. The device uses two tubular magnet assemblies placed side by side, each with a magnet that can slide or oscillate inside the tube.
Shastry et al. (USPGPN 20160248312) describes a small device that turns human or object motion into electrical power. It uses a placed along the housing so that the moving magnet induces voltage in the coils. End-cap magnets hold the central magnet in a suspended position, allowing it to oscillate more easily when the user moves. The generated AC power is rectified into DC power and stored in a battery tubular magnet housing with a magnet inside that can move up and down as the user walks, runs, or otherwise moves.
Liu (USPGPN 20150237918) describes a rechargeable electronic charging device that receives the charger’s electromagnetic wave and turns it into power for the battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Frank A Silva whose telephone number is (703)756-1698. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 09:30 am -06:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FRANK ALEXIS SILVA/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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