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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on September 19, 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed January 24, 2024 are accepted.
Abstract
The Abstract filed January 24, 2024 is accepted.
Specification
The specification filed January 24, 2024 has been entered.
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)(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.
Claims 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yan (CN 109357579 A).
With respect to claim 1, Yan discloses a tape measure, comprising a first shell (10) having a first outlet (Figure 1); a tape (30) including one end mounted in the first shell and another end extending out of the first shell (10) through the first outlet and configured to move in a first measuring direction relative to the first shell (See figure 1); and an optical positioning assembly connected to the first shell and including an imaging sensor (50) mounted in the first shell opposite to a surface of the tape (See figure 1), and configured to, when working, consecutively acquire images of the tape in a moving process and perform feature comparison on the images to determine a relative displacement of the tape moving in the first measuring direction in real time, and a first controller (70) in communication with the imaging sensor (50) and configured to, when working, receive the relative displacement and determine in real time, based on the relative displacement, a length by which the tape extends out of the first shell (See specification below).
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Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jayanetti et al. (US 8,732,974 B2).
With respect to claim 1, Jayanetti et al. discloses a tape measure, comprising a first shell (122) having a first outlet (Figure 1); a tape (114) including one end mounted in the first shell and another end extending out of the first shell (122) through the first outlet and configured to move in a first measuring direction relative to the first shell (See figure 1); and an optical positioning assembly connected to the first shell and including an imaging sensor (120) mounted in the first shell opposite to a surface of the tape (See figure 1), and configured to, when working, consecutively acquire images of the tape in a moving process and perform feature comparison on the images to determine a relative displacement of the tape moving in the first measuring direction in real time, and a first controller (136) in communication with the imaging sensor (120) and configured to, when working, receive the relative displacement and determine in real time, based on the relative displacement, a length by which the tape extends out of the first shell (See specification below).
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Referring to claim 4, Jayanetti et al. sets forth a tape measure wherein the imaging sensor (120) includes an imaging component (120) configured to capture images at a preset frequency to consecutively acquire the images of the tape in the moving process, wherein the preset frequency allows images acquired by the imaging sensor at adjacent time points to be superposed at least in part; an image processing circuit (136) in communication with the imaging component and configured to perform feature comparison on the images to determine a relative displacement of the tape in the first measuring direction in real time; and a light source (118) disposed on a same side of the tape with the imaging component and configured to emit light to the tape (See specification below).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 3 and 5 – 10 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.
Claims 11 – 20 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 2 and 3 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a tape measure wherein the surface of the tape includes position identifiers at a plurality of preset positions; the optical positioning assembly further includes a position identification sensor disposed in the first shell opposite to a side of the tape having the position identifiers, the position identification sensor is in communication with the first controller and is configured to, when working, read the position identifier on the tape that passes by the position identification sensor in the moving process to generate a corresponding absolute position signal, and transmit the absolute position signal to the first controller; and the first controller further performs the following operations: receiving the absolute position signal, determining, based on the absolute position signal, an absolute length corresponding to the absolute position signal, and resetting ,based on the absolute position signal, a relative length obtained by accumulating the received relative displacements to zero, and determining, based on the relative displacement and the absolute length received after resetting to zero, the length by which the tape extends out of the first shell in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 5 - 10 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a tape measure comprising an execution component mounted on the first shell and including a first triggering surface and a second triggering surface, wherein the first triggering surface and the second triggering surface receive triggering forces in different directions, respectively; and when any one of the first triggering surface and the second triggering surface is triggered, the execution component drives the braking component to come into contact with or be separated from the tape, wherein the second triggering surface is inclined at an included angle toward the tape relative to the first triggering surface in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 11 - 20 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a measuring device, comprising a first shell having a first outlet, a tape including one end mounted in the first shell and another end extending out of the first shell through the first outlet and configured to move in a first measuring direction relative to the first shell, and an optical positioning assembly connected to the first shell and including an imaging sensor mounted in the first shell opposite to a surface of the tape, and a laser ranging device connected to the tape measure, including: a second shell provided with a second outlet, and a laser measuring portion disposed in the second shell and configured to, when working, measure a distance in a second measuring direction via the second outlet in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are considered relevant but fail to teach the combination as claimed:
Donnell (US Pub. No. 2025/0327650 A1) discloses a digital tape measure systems including a digital angle-finder, which is able to record and store or transmit to an external device both a length measurement and an angle measurement. These measurements may be able to be recorded individually or together in one “capture” motion, such as pushing a “record” button. Such a system allows a user to easily record a length of material and an angle indicating where and how the material needs to be cut. Donnell fails to teach a laser ranging device connected to the tape measure and including a second shell.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL whose telephone number is (571)272-2244. The examiner can normally be reached Mon -Thu, 8:00am - 6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura E Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
May 16, 2026
/YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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