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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species I in the reply filed on 1/30/26 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 2, 3, 9-11, and 15-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Drawings
Figure 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract recites “The present invention mainly comprises”, which is a phrase that may be implied. A recommended correction is to replace the sentence including said recitation with --A passage is provided on the screen guide frame structure-- or similar.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 8, 13, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 recites “wherein at least one elastic pushing device is each provided between wo adjacent ones of said pivot moving members”. The term “each” in this limitation is grammatically unclear and should be deleted. In the context of the disclosure as a whole, this limitation is interpreted as requiring only one elastic pushing device, and does not require a pushing device between all adjacent pivot moving members. If multiple elastic pushing devices are intended to be required, the claim should be amended to clearly introduce multiple devices. Similar issues are present in claims 13 and 20, wherein the limitation “being each provided” should be amended to delete the word “each” or to clarify that multiple pushing devices are positively required.
Claim 8 includes the subject matter of claim 1, but also recites “at least one guide frame” in lines 2-3. In the context of the disclosure, it is clear that this limitation is not introducing a new guide frame, but is instead referring to the guide frame set forth in claim 1. Claim 8 should be amended to reference “the at least one guide frame” in lines 2-3.
Claim 8 recites “the other end” in line 6, which should be replaced with --another end-- or --a second end--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 8, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuji (JP 2017-2477). Note: A copy of a machine translation of the Tsuji patent document has been provided with this Office action. References to the disclosure of Tsuji are directed to the translation.
Regarding claim 1, Tsuji discloses a screen guide frame structure [FIG. 1], comprising: a plurality of pivot moving members (63), said pivot members being pivotally connected in series to form a guide frame (60; the pivotal connection is provided by strip 69 as described in paragraph 0018 and shown in Figures 1 and 4), an inner sidewall of each said pivot moving member having an extended piece extended therefrom (extended piece defined by upper wall 62; see annotated drawing below), a front edge of said extended piece protruding out of said pivot moving member and being abutted against another said pivot moving member (extension of the extended piece is shown in Figure 5c; abutment of the extended piece against an adjacent one of said pivot moving members is shown in at least Figure 4).
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Regarding claim 4, Tsuji discloses that each of said pivot moving members is provided with a shifting slot (61a) therein, and said shifting slots from a passage in said guide frame (slots 61a form a guide slot 61 as shown in Figure 4 and described in paragraph 0017).
Regarding claim 8, Tsuji discloses a screen device (1) in which the screen guide frame structure as claimed in claim 1 is applied (as set forth above), comprising a first frame (10), a second frame (40), at least one guide frame (60; as set forth above, it is understood that this limitation refers to the guide frame of claim 1) and a screen (50), wherein one end of said first frame is provided with a first guide block (lower portion of the frame at 13 to which a first end of the guide frame 60 is connected; paragraph 0013), at least one end of said second frame is provided with a second guide block (lower end of the frame 40 at 45) which is communicated to an interior space of said second frame (as shown in Figure 1, the lower guide block at 45 allows extension of the guide frame 60 through the opening and into the interior space of the frame 40, thereby defining a communicated space), one end of said guide frame is secured to said first frame (paragraph 0013) and the other end of said guide frame enters and exits said second frame through said second guide block [FIG. 1], and two opposite sides of said screen are respectively secured to said first frame and said second frame (paragraph 0012).
Regarding claim 12, Tsuji discloses that each of said pivot moving members is provided with a shifting slot (61a) therein, and said shifting slots from a passage in said guide frame (slots 61a form a guide slot 61 as shown in Figure 4 and described in paragraph 0017).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vittore (WO 2017/033127).
Regarding claim 7, Vittore discloses a screen guide frame structure (structure shown in Figure 1), comprising: a plurality of pivot moving members (2), said pivot moving members being pivotally connected in series to form a guide frame (the links 2 are pivotally connected via elastic strip 3 to form the guide frame 1, shown in Figure 2 and described in at least page 4, line 27-page 5, line 3), one end of said guide frame being provided with a guide line securing member (4) thereon, said guide line securing member being provided with at least one threaded hole (hole in the guide line securing member 4 and corresponding nut 6 shown in Figure 43) and an engaging protrusion (8), said engaging protrusion having a pierced hole at a position that corresponds to said threaded hole (as shown in Figures 43 and 45, the pierced hole is formed in the engaging protrusion 8, and aligns with the threaded hole of the securing member 4 such that bolt 7 can extend therethrough), a threaded securing component (7) passing through said pierced hole of said engaging protrusion and being threadedly secured in said threaded hole of said guide line securing member (page 10, lines 8-19) [FIGS. 43, 45].
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (CN 211231432). Note: A copy of a machine translation of the Li patent document has been provided with this Office action. References to the disclosure of Li are directed to the translation.
Regarding claim 20, Li discloses a screen guide frame structure [FIG. 1] (it is noted that the guide frame structure of Li is capable of being used with a screen and therefore meets the requirements of a “screen guide frame structure” given a broadest reasonable interpretation), comprising: a plurality of pivot moving members (individual links formed by members 1-4; a single pivot member is shown in Figure 2 and a plurality are shown in Figure 1), said pivot moving members being pivotally connected in series to form a guide frame [FIG. 1], and at least one elastic pushing device (7, 8, 9; paragraphs 0038-0039 discloses that strip 7 is elastic and includes end 9, which interacts with groove 8 to provide an elastic connection that reads on a broadest reasonable interpretation of an “elastic pushing device”) being each provided between two adjacent ones of said pivot moving members of said guide frame [FIG. 2].
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.
Claims 5, 6, 13, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuji (JP 2017-2477) in view of Li (CN 211231432).
Regarding claims 5, 6, 13, and 14, Tsuji discloses the pivot moving members of said guide frame, but does not disclose an elastic pushing device.
Nonetheless, Li discloses a guide frame structure comprising at least one elastic pushing device (7, 8, 9; paragraphs 0038-0039) provided between two adjacent pivot moving members [FIG. 2]; wherein said elastic pushing device at least has an elastic member (7, 9; paragraph 0038 discloses that strip 7 is elastic and includes end 9), and said elastic member includes a root part (9) and a free end (7), wherein said root part is disposed on one said pivot moving member and said free end is abutted to another said pivot moving member of said guide frame (paragraphs 0038-0039; the free end defined by strip 7 abuts against the walls of groove 8 to provide an elastic damping to the relative movements of the adjacent pivot moving members).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the guide frame structure of Tsuji to include the elastic pushing device taught by Li, in order to reduce rattling or vibration that causes noise during operation of the guide frame structure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABE L MASSAD whose telephone number is (571)272-6292. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00.
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/ABE MASSAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634