DETAILED ACTION
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 § 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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshikawa et al. JP 2009196437 A in view Mitani et al. US 20190111782 A1 (page/line numbering used for foreign references below corresponds to the machine-translation preceding the original patent, as attached to the present Office Action – note page numbers of the translation are marked as TP-1, TP-2, etc.).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yoshikawa et al. discloses [a cart movement assist device that is attached to a rear end portion side of a cart 1 which is a side where a worker is located,] (Fig. 1 and 7; Page 4, lines 23-24; Page 6, lines 1-4) and that [assists a movement of the cart,] (Fig. 1 and 7; Page 6, lines 1-4) the cart movement assist device comprising:
[an assist tire 18;] (Fig. 1 and 7; Page 6, lines 1-4)
[a movement pedal that is pivotably operated;] (Fig. 1-10; Page 2, lines 21-28; Page 4, lines 25-28) and
[a movement torque transmission mechanism 16 configured to generate an assist force for moving the cart, by transmitting a torque generated by an operation on the movement pedal to the assist tire and rotating the assist tire.] (Fig. 1 and 7; Page 6, lines 1-4)
Yoshikawa et al. does not disclose a backward movement; and a backward movement torque transmission mechanism configured to generate an assist force for moving the cart backward, by transmitting a torque generated by an operation on the backward movement pedal to the assist tire and rotating the assist tire.
Mitani et al. teaches [a backward movement pedal 16;] (Fig. 8; Paragraph 0045) and [a backward movement torque transmission mechanism configured to generate an assist force for moving the cart backward, by transmitting a torque generated by an operation on the backward movement pedal to the assist tire and rotating the assist tire.] (Fig. 8; Paragraph 0078-0079)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to alternatively use the backward movement pedal and movement torque transmission of Mitani et al. with the cart movement assist device of Yoshikawa et al. with a reasonable expectation of success because it would allow for the cart movement assist device to selectively assist movement of the cart in a backward direction in addition to a forward direction, thus improving maneuverability and ease of operation of the cart in confined spaces during directional changes.
Regarding claim 2, Yoshikawa et al., as modified, discloses all of the claimed limitations above, including [wherein the movement torque transmission mechanism 16 increases a rotation amount of the assist tire 18 with respect to a rotation amount of the movement pedal during operation] (Fig. 8 of Yoshikawa et al.; Page 6, lines 34-39 of Yoshikawa et al.) and [accelerates rotation of the assist tire with respect to rotation of the movement pedal by reducing the torque received from the movement pedal and outputting the reduced torque from the assist tire.] (Fig. 8 of Yoshikawa et al.; Page 6, lines 34-39 of Yoshikawa et al.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 3 contains the limitation of a forward movement pedal that is pivotably operated; and a forward movement torque transmission mechanism configured to generate an assist force for moving the cart forward, by transmitting a torque generated by an operation on the forward movement pedal to the assist tire and rotating the assist tire, wherein the backward movement torque transmission mechanism and the forward movement torque transmission mechanism transmit, to the common assist tire, torques for rotating the assist tire in directions opposite to each other. The closest prior art, Yoshikawa et al. JP 2009196437 A, discloses a forward movement torque transmission mechanism configured to generate an assist force for moving the cart forward, by transmitting a torque generated by an operation on the forward movement pedal to the assist tire and rotating the assist tire but does not disclose wherein the backward movement torque transmission mechanism and the forward movement torque transmission mechanism transmit, to the common assist tire, torques for rotating the assist tire in directions opposite to each other.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cho US 20220351706 A1 – comprises a drum including a base part; a pair of support parts provided at the front side of the base part; a cam part that is axially coupled to the pair of support parts via a main shaft; a hitting part that is axially coupled to the pair of support parts via the main shaft and disposed to be adjacent to the cam part; a pedal part of which one end is coupled to the rear side of the base part and which is formed to extend in the direction of the front side of the base part; and a power transmission part that connects the cam part and the pedal part and rotates the main shaft and the cam part according to a load applied to the pedal part, wherein at least two different power transmission parts can be selectively coupled to the cam part.
Hur et al. KR 20140069755 A – comprises a starting aid for a hand truck, which can overcome a stop friction generated by the load of a heavy object and help a hand truck to start moving with small force when transporting the object manually using the hand truck in an industrial field, etc. The starting aid for a hand truck comprises: a truck frame which includes a stacking unit for stacking an object to be moved; and multiple wheels which are installed in the bottom of the truck frame in order to freely rotate, and roll along the bottom surface. The provided starting aid for a hand truck includes: a pedal which is installed on the bottom of the truck frame in order to rotate or move linearly by the force of a worker; and a power transmission unit which transmits the movement of the pedal to the wheels or a wheel shaft in order to rotate the wheels.
Arai JP 2023106115 A – comprises a hand-pushed carriage capable of achieving easy and stable start and operation thereof, without need for electric power assist as well as lever operation separated from a handle and pedaling; wherein a handlebar of a movable handle is grasped together with clutch bars and pushed ahead (or pulled backward), the movable handle is inclined forward (or rearward) with a handle support shaft of a lower end part of a pillar thereof as a supporting point. The operating force accompanied with the inclination of the movable handle is transmitted as a rotational force to a forward side (or a backward side) of a ratchet type first gear through a clutch plate coaxial to the handle support shaft, and a rear wheel is rotated forward (or rotated backward) through a second gear and a third gear. A carriage is started in a forward direction (or a backward direction).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mohamed Medani whose telephone number is (703)756-1917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 11:00 am - 7:30 pm.
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/Mohamed M Medani/Examiner, Art Unit 3611
/VALENTIN NEACSU, Ph.D./Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611
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