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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the damping mechanism integrated within the central shaft must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The two embodiments depicted within the Figures do not present a damping mechanism within the central shaft. The 7th paragraph from the end of the Specification provides a brief description of a shaft with a cavity in which a damping component is provided. No figures or further description has been provided. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 11 and 12 now include the phrase “at least one” or variations thereof that do not appear to be supported by the original disclosure. There is no provision for this more specific range of release protrusion sections or slide ac groove sections.
Claim 1 further includes the phrase “enabling an automatic mode switching between tightening and free release operations”. There does not appear to be original support for this language. The three words “automatic mode switching” were not used in the original disclosure and potentially imply operations by the device that are never provided. When the drive plate is within the slide arc groove to provide tightening, how would the drive plate automatically transition to reside in the release protrusion section for free release operations? The release protrusion is at a greater radius than the slide arc groove and manual operation of the drive plate to raise the plate over and onto the greater radius of the release protrusion would be required to mode switch. It is unclear how this operation could be automatic or what is implied by this language.
Claims 3, 5-10 and 13-15 further inherit these deficiencies.
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 1-15 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. As noted above, claim 1 now requires the damping mechanism to be provided within the central shaft. This language appears to represent a non-elected, briefly described embodiment. There does not appear to be sufficient description or Figures for one of ordinary skill in the art to understand how this device would operate. Figs. 1-16 show embodiments that appear to employ some sort of frictional damping on the movement. No description of any frictional or alternative damping has been provided that could be included within the cavity of a shaft. Furthermore, as also noted above, it unclear what automatic mode switching would be and how a transition between tightening and free release could be understood as being automatic with the provided structures. Claims 2-15 inherit these deficiencies.
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, 7-9 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Breeden (US 2007/0189873).
Regarding claim 1, Breeden discloses an apparatus comprising:
a U-shaped frame (16), wherein the frame is provided with a base plate and side plates extending in the same direction of both sides of the base plate (Fig. 2 as shown), a center shaft (14) is installed in the center of the side plates, and a wrenching handle (32) and a ratchet wheel (52) are installed on the center shaft; a webbing (12) is wound around the central shaft; a coiling spring component (70) is installed at one end of the central shaft, and a lock plate (62) capable of preventing the ratchet wheel from rotating in a pay-out direction is installed in the side plates; a drive plate (38) on the wrenching handle can drive the ratchet rotates in a retracting direction; and
at least one slide arc groove section (Fig. 2 as shown) is provided on the edge of the side plates, and at least one release protrusion (66/68) section is located at one end of the at least one slide arc groove close to the drive plate, the radius of the at least one slide arc groove is smaller than the radius of the at least one release protrusion section, when the drive plate is in the at least one slide arc groove section (Figs. 2 and 7a as shown), the webbing can be retracted and tightened up through the ratchet by pushing and pulling the wrenching handle; when the drive plate is in the at least one release protrusion section, the webbing can be released or retracted freely (Figs. 6C and 7b shows a position wherein the drive plate is positioned within the release protrusion; last 7 lines of Paragraph 42 describe wherein the webbing can be unwound and is uncoupled from the ratcheting); wherein the drive plate is selectively engaged with the at least one slide arc groove (Fig. 7a) or the at least one release protrusion (Fig. 7b) using a difference in radius between the drive plate and the at least one slide arc groove and the at least one release protrusion, enabling an automatic mode switching between tightening and free release operations (the device as shown in Fig. 2 can operate in the claimed manner),
wherein, a safe damping mechanism is integrated within the central shaft that provides safe resistance to the retraction of the webbing (as best understood the language herein describes the behavior provided in Paragraph 49 lines 4-6), and
wherein at least one fixing hole (92) is formed on the base plate for securing the ratcheting device.
Regarding claim 7, Breeden further discloses wherein the wrenching handle is provided with a first protective handle sleeve (Paragraph 29, lines 5-12).
Regarding claim 8, Breeden further discloses a webbing fixing shaft (100) is provided at one end of the base away from the center shaft, a protective shell (104) is also provided on the webbing fixing shaft.
Regarding claim 9, Breeden further discloses wherein through observation ports (Fig. 1 shows the base plate has a notch to serve as observation ports), the movement of the ratchet is respectively provided on both sides of the bottom of the base.
Regarding claim 13, Breeden further discloses wherein a webbing fixing part (44) is provided on the outer periphery of the center shaft, the webbing fixing part has a substantially "U" shaped cross section (Fig. 4 as shown).
Regarding claim 14, Breeden further discloses wherein a protruding section is provided on the webbing fixing part, a fitting part corresponding to the protruding section is provided on the ratchet, wherein, the webbing fixing part and the ratchet are detachably attached by the protruding section and the fitting part (Fig. 2 shows extending prongs matching apertures within the ratchets 42 shown in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 15, Breeden further discloses wherein the damping component is integrated with the central shaft to form a central shaft with damping functionality (Paragraph 49 lines 4-6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Breeden as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2, Breeden further discloses the at least one slide arc groove section includes a starting position and an ending position, and the starting position and the ending position are clamped relative to the central shaft (Fig. 2 as shown), but fails to specify the angle is α, 15°≤α≤150° .
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the claimed ranges since these angles would provide sufficient advancement of the webbing during ratcheting while still leaving sufficient range to provide the release position and it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim(s) 3-5 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Breeden as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Kämper (US 5,103,536).
Regarding claim 3, Breeden further discloses:
wherein, the side plates on both sides of the base plate are respectively formed with limiting groove (Fig. 2 as shown) on side plates;
wherein, the ratchet has a wheel body (52, 52’), and 15 to 25 wheel teeth (54, 54’) are provided on the wheel body (Fig. 2 shows wherein there are 15-25 teeth provided on the two ratchet wheels);
wherein, the lock plate is inserted in the lock plate limiting groove on side plates, one end of the lock plate limiting groove on side plates corresponds to the outer periphery of the ratchet wheel, and the other end of the lock plate limiting groove extends a distance not less than one length of the lock plate and one height of the wheel teeth away from the ratchet direction (Figs. 1-7b as shown),
wherein, the lock plate elastically pushing the ratchet (Paragraph 40, lines 6-11).
Breeden fails to disclose wherein the base plate extends upwardly to have a base plate extension part, a lock plate positioning hole is provided on the base plate extension part, a first elastic element is provided between the base plate extension part and the lock plate, the lock plate has a lock plate positioning part for fixing the first elastic element, wherein, the lock plate positioning part can be inserted into the lock plate limiting hole, the lock plate forms an elastic connection with the base plate through the lock plate positioning part and the first elastic element.
Kämper teach an apparatus comprising a base plate extension part (24), a lock plate positioning hole (25’), a first elastic element (27’) and a lock plate positioning part (26’; Fig. 1 as shown).
From this teaching of Kämper, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to recognize the need for providing a simplistic method of elastically tensioning the plate on the ratchet wheel wherein the structure of Kämper allows for the simple provision of elasticity without adding complexity.
Regarding claim 4, Breeden further discloses wherein the wrenching handle has a wrenching part (34) for wrenching the handle, a wrenching extension part (Fig. 4 as annotated below) is provided on the wrenching part, an elastic element (60) is provided between the wrenching extension part and the drive plate, a drive plate positioning hole is provided on the wrenching extension part (Fig. 4 as shown), the drive plate has a drive plate positioning section (Fig. 2 as shown), wherein, the drive plate positioning section can be inserted into the drive plate positioning hole, the drive plate forms an elastic connection with the wrenching handle through the drive plate positioning section and the second elastic element (Fig. 4 as shown):
wherein, the base plate on both sides of the base respectively forms drive plate limiting groove (Fig. 2 as shown);
wherein, the drive plate is inserted in the drive plate limiting groove, one end of the drive plate limiting groove corresponds to the at least one slide arc groove, the other end of the drive plate limiting groove extends a distance not less than one length of the drive plate and one radius difference between the at least one slide arc groove and the release drive plate away from the at least one slide arc groove direction, wherein, the drive plate elastically pushes the ratchet (Figs. 7a-7b as shown).
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Figure 4 as reproduced and annotated from Breeden
Regarding claim 5, Breeden further discloses wherein a flat swivel part (Fig. 1 as shown) is provided on the wrenching handle, a raised part (36) is provided at one end of the flat swivel part.
Regarding claim 11, Breeden further discloses wherein when the drive plate is located in the at least one slide arc groove, the drive plate elastically pushes and contacts in the at least one slide arc groove to engage the ratchet, correspondingly the lock plate synchronously engages the ratchet, the wrenching handle and the base continuously open and close around the center shaft, and drive the ratchet rotates in a retracting direction by cooperating with the drive plate and the lock plate, thereby winding the webbing to achieve a retracting or tightening action (Figs. 6a-7b as shown).
Regarding claim 12, Breeden further discloses wherein when the drive plate is in the at least one release protrusion section, the drive plate elastically pushed outward by the at least one release protrusion section to disengage from the ratchet, correspondingly the lock plate is synchronously pushed by the raised part to disengage from the ratchet, the ratchet freely rotates (Fig. 7b as shown).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Breeden as applied to claim1 above, and further in view of Huang (US 2011/0179609).
Regarding claim 6, Breeden discloses the invention except for a shield is provided at one end of the base close to the central shaft, the shield has a belt through hole.
Huang teaches a shield (15) with a through hole (18).
From this teaching of Huang, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a lid to prevent binding of the belt in the ratchet teeth while still allowing free passage in to the ratchet spool. The lid also prevents injury to a user during use.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Breeden as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Carlson et al. (US 2009/0283729).
Regarding claim 10, Breeden further discloses wherein the drive plate has a pressing part perpendicular to the drive plate direction and extending away from the base direction (Fig. 2 as shown), but fails to disclose a second protective sleeve is provided on the pressing part.
Carlson et al. teach a protective sleeve (100, Fig. 14 as shown).
From this teaching of Carlson et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to recognize the need for a protective sleeve. A protective sleeve enhances the comfort of using release portion in extreme temperatures and when high tensions are present in the webbing.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10 November 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has argued Breeden does not provide two distinct operating modes. However, as noted above, Figs. 7a and 7b appear to provide these two distinct operating modes. Fig. 7b shows wherein both a drive plate and lock member are disengaged from the ratchet wheel due to a cam structure and release protrusion provided on the handle and base plate. Fig. 7a shows a distinct mode for tightening. Applicant’s comments and inclusion of the “automatic” phrasing do not appear distinguish the claim language from the structure and operation of Breeden. (Examiner further make note the phrase “close to the drive plate” in line 12 of claim 1 may be in error as the Specification appears to describe the proximity of the release protrusion section to the lock plate instead.) The newly described fixing hole has been addressed in the updated rejection. Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-5735. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason San can be reached at (571) 272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.S.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677