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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 11,772,569).
With respect to claim 1, Huang discloses a vehicle-mounted expansion bracket, comprising: a mounting rod (1), configured for being inserted into a trailer hook (8) of a vehicle; a jacking member (5), rotatably arranged on the mounting rod, wherein the jacking member is operable in a first working state where the jacking member is rotated relative to the mounting rod to abut against an inner wall of the trailer hook and a second working state where the jacking member is rotated to separate from the inner wall of the trailer hook (column 2, lines 53-64); and a driving device (4), arranged on the mounting rod, contacted with the jacking member, and capable of driving the jacking member to rotate and keep in the first working state (Figs 3-5).
With respect to claim 2, wherein: the mounting rod has an axial direction, a mounting channel (hollow tubular member with opening 15) is arranged in the mounting rod along the axial direction of the mounting rod (Fig 3), a side wall at one end of the mounting rod is provided with a through hole (13) communicated with the mounting channel, one end of the jacking member is rotatably arranged in the mounting channel (Fig 2), the other end of the jacking member is capable of extending out of a peripheral wall of the mounting rod along the through hole to abut against the inner wall of the trailer hook (column 2, lines 53-64), and the driving device is at least partially arranged in the mounting channel and abuts against the jacking member (Figs 4-5).
With respect to claim 3, wherein: the driving device comprises an abutting block (41) slidably arranged in the mounting channel, a driving rod (61) penetrating through the mounting channel and connected with the abutting block, and a locking structure for locking a position of the abutting block (screw threads), one of the abutting block and the jacking member is provided with a first driving inclined plane (Figs 3-4, angled surface on 41) obliquely arranged along the axial direction of the mounting rod, and the other of the abutting block and the jacking member is provided with a contact portion (511, 512, 513) matched with the first driving inclined plane (Figs 4-5), and the abutting block is capable of driving the jacking member to extend out of the through hole through the matching of the first driving inclined plane and the contact portion when sliding (column 2, lines 53-64).
With respect to claim 4, wherein: the first driving inclined plane is arranged on the abutting block (Figs 3-4), and the contact portion is a second driving inclined plane (511, 512, 513) arranged on the jacking member and attached to the first driving inclined plane (Figs 4-5).
With respect to claim 5, wherein: the mounting channel penetrates through both ends of the mounting rod, one end of the mounting rod is provided with a first connecting base (right end of main body 11 that closes off channel), one end of the driving rod is provided with a threaded column section (left end in Fig 4), the abutting block is provided with an inner threaded hole matched with the threaded column section (Fig 4), and the other end of the driving rod movably penetrates through the first connecting base and is only capable of rotating relative to the first connecting base (Figs 4-5).
With respect to claim 8, wherein: the jacking member is rotatably connected with the mounting rod through a pivot perpendicular to the axial direction of the mounting rod (pivot flanges shown in Fig 3), one end of the jacking member close to the pivot is provided with an extension portion (extension portion consists of 511, 512, and 513), and the abutting block is abutted against with the extension portion to drive the jacking member to extract in the mounting channel along the through hole (Figs 3-4).
With respect to claim 9, wherein: the mounting rod is a square rod, the through hole is arranged in two adjacent side walls and an edge line of the two adjacent side walls of the square rod, the jacking member is provided with a first abutting surface and a second abutting surface respectively corresponding to the two adjacent side walls of the square rod, and the first abutting surface and the second abutting surface are configured for abutting against the two adjacent inner side walls of the trailer hook (Fig 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Dickson can be reached on 571-272-7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614