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 .
Acknowledgement is made of application #18/496,194 filed on 10/27/2023 in which claims 1-20 have been presented for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/27/2023, 09/11/2024 and 01/05/2026 have been considered and put on record. Initialed copies are attached herewith.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over US 2020/0406470 to Herold et al., (Herold)(also cited by applicants) in view of Takeuchi et al., (Takeuchi) US 2010/0045715
Regarding the 102: Regarding claim 1: Herold at least discloses and shows in Figs. 11A-11B: A charger latch assisting device(see Figs. 11A-11B) comprising: a contactor(66)(see Fig. 11A) in contact with a latch button(18) of a charger(10)(see [0047]); an output clutch(61) coupled to the contactor(66) and movable in conjunction with the contactor(66)(note-globoid wheel 61 is mounted on the housing 21 so as to freely rotate on an axle 62 and is laterally provided with a bore through which an axle 63 is plug-fitted. This axle 63 couples a pair of legs 64 at the upper ends thereof to the globoid wheel 61; see [0047]); and an input clutch(construed as wheel 48) configured to move the output clutch(61) as the input clutch rotates(via actuating elements 59, worm gear 60) to press the latch button(18)(note-A wheel 48 in the center of the swing arm 54 is mounted so as to freely rotate by way of an axle 45 above the unlocking button 18 of the charger plug. The other end of the swing arm by way of an axle 43 is connected to a short spring bushing 58 in which a vertically aligned compression spring 57 lies. The upper end of the spring 57 lies in a counter bearing 69 which is connected to the housing 21. The spring 57 by way of the spring bushing 58 pushes the swing arm 54 toward the charger plug 10 and thus pushes the wheel 48 against the unlocking button 18 of the charger plug 10, on account of which the unlocking button 18 is activated; see [0048]).
Regarding the 103: Herold teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth above but Herold does not expressly use the word “input clutch and output clutch”
However Takeuchi discloses and shows in Fig. 3, factual evidence of the use of an input clutch (58a) and output clutch (58b)(see [0054]-[0056]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the input clutch and output clutch as disclosed in Takeuchi into the device of Herold for the advantages of enabling/disabling the transmission of driving force, as per the teachings of Takeuchi [0055].
Regarding claim 11, Herold or in the alternative as modified by Takeuchi discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Modified Herold further discloses, wherein the contactor(61) and the output clutch(48)(Takeuchi; (58b)) are configured to vertically translate as the latch button(18) moves (see Herold; Figs. 11A-11B and [0047]-[0048]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-20 are allowed over the prior art of record.
The prior art of record either taken alone or in combination thereof fails to teach or reasonably suggest, in the claimed combination:
As in claim 12: A charger latch assisting device, the device comprising: a contactor in contact with a latch button of a charger; an output clutch coupled to the contactor and movable in conjunction with the contactor; an input clutch configured to move the output clutch as the input clutch rotates to press the latch button; an assisting housing configured to be fixed to the charger; and an elastic member having both ends connected to the assisting housing and the output clutch, respectively, and configured to swingably support the output clutch with respect to the assisting housing.
As in claim 16: A charger latch assisting device, the device comprising: a contactor in contact with a latch button of a charger; an output clutch coupled to the contactor and configured to move in conjunction with the contactor, wherein the output clutch comprises: an output body coupled to the contactor; and an output protrusion protruding from the output body in a reference direction and configured to define an output groove together with the output body; an input clutch configured to move the output clutch as the input clutch rotates to press the latch button, wherein the input clutch comprises: an input body; and an input protrusion protruding from the input body in a direction opposite to the reference direction and inserted into the output groove to press the output protrusion in a state in which the input clutch rotates with the reference direction as an axial direction; and an elastic member having both ends connected to the input clutch and the output clutch, respectively, and configured to swingably support the output clutch with respect to the input clutch.
Claims 13-15 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 12 and therefore are allowed for the same reasons.
Claims 17-20 depend directly from claim 16 and therefore are allowed for the same reasons.
Claims 2-10 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.
Regarding claim 2, patentability exists at least in part with the claimed limitations of, “wherein the output clutch comprises: an output body coupled to the contactor; and an output protrusion protruding from the output body in a reference direction and configured to define an output groove together with the output body”.
Claims 3-6 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 2 and thus are allowable for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 7, patentability exists at least in part with the claimed limitations of, “wherein the input clutch comprises: an input body coupled to the contactor; and an input operator coupled to the input body and comprising an electromagnet”.
Claims 8-9 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 7 and thus are also allowable for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 10, patentability exists at least in part with the claimed limitations of, “ the device further comprising an elastic member having both ends connected to the input clutch and the output clutch, respectively, and configured to swingably support the output clutch with respect to the input clutch”.
Citation of Prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPAT 6,095,270 to Ishikawa discloses a battery carrier lock for electric power assisted vehicle.
USPAT 5,248,264 to Long et al., (Long) discloses the general state of the art regarding a latch assembly and carrier for a portable product.
USPAT 4,734,049 to George et al., (George) discloses a mechanical latch mechanism for combination portable transceiver and charging unit.
US 2018/0347643 A1 to Itomi discloses a locking-type reverse input blocking clutch.
Conclusion
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M'BAYE DIAO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/M BAYE DIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 July 21, 2026
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