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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 5 recite the limitation “eliminating a misrotation angle from the measured rotation angle to obtain a true rotation angle corresponding to the rotation action, and taking the true rotation angle as a detection result.” This limitation is indefinite because the scope of “misrotation” and “true rotation” are unascertainable. The specification on page 5 lines 20-30 discusses correcting the “misrotation” of a crown as a result of jittering or shaking of the crown. However, it is not made clear how the invention distinguishes misrotation from true rotations. The specification further discusses a 0.5 second time frame during which “when the pressing action on the key is detected first, and the rotation angle of the shaft is not identified in the process of pressing the key (for example, within 0.5 seconds when detecting change in the key state), the misrotation caused to the shaft in the process of pressing the key can be avoided from being identified.” For purposes of examination misrotation angle will be interpreted to mean a first rotation angle detected within a set period of time after a pressing operation and a true rotation angle to be a second rotation angle not including the first rotation angle to determine the detection result. Claims 2-4 and 6-20 are rejected for inheriting the deficiency of the claims they depend from.
Claims 2, 3, 17 and 18 are further rejected because “the misrotation threshold” lacks proper antecedent basis and because the limitation “the ratio detected each time within the set period of time is randomly distributed within a range with an absolute value less than 1” is unclear. What is the scope of “random distribution” in this context? It appears to be any ratio between -1 and +1 but the first part of the claim already states this. Therefore, the claimed scope is unascertainable.
Claim 6 is further rejected because “the side surface” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 7 is further rejected because “the light emission unit” and “the light reception unit” lack antecedent basis. This claim appears to be incorrectly dependent on claim 5, when depending from claim 6 would give proper antecedent basis.
Claim 12 is further rejected because it is not apparent what a “specific shape” entails. For purposes of examination this will be interpreted to mean any shape.
Claim 13 is further rejected because “the key state” and “the key” lack antecedent basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art fails to disclose or reasonably suggest the claimed invention of a rotation detecting method for a crown, wherein operations on the crown comprise a pressing action and a rotation action, and the method comprises: including detecting, within a set period of time when the pressing action is identified, a rotation angle of the crown to obtain a measured rotation angle; and eliminating a eliminating a misrotation angle from the measured rotation angle to obtain a true rotation angle corresponding to the rotation action, and taking the true rotation angle as a detection result.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art fails to disclose or reasonably suggest the claimed invention particularly including a detection device for the crown of a smart watch, wherein operations on the crown comprise a pressing action and a rotation action, and the detection device comprises: an angle measuring module, configured to detect a rotation angle of the crown to obtain a measured rotation angle; a pressing detection module, configured to detect a pressing action on the crown; and a rotation detection module, connected to the angle measuring module and the pressing detection module, and configured to eliminate, within a set period of time when the pressing action is identified, a misrotation angle from the measured rotation angle to obtain a true rotation angle corresponding to the rotation action, which is taken as a detection result.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/JASON M COLLINS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/EDWIN A. LEON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831