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 § 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 1, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isenberg et al. (EP3313698B1; as cited by Applicant) in view of Osanai et al. (USPub 2016/0293360).
With respect to claim 1, Isenberg et al. disclose a switch module for controlling operations of an engine of a vehicle, the switch module comprising: a switch carrier (9) disposed within a housing (8) of the switch module; a plurality of microswitches (12, 13, 14) disposed within the housing, the plurality of microswitches comprising first microswitches (12, 13) and a second microswitch (14); an engine stop knob (3) disposed at a first end of the housing and operatively coupled to the switch carrier (Fig 2), wherein the engine stop knob is configured to be rotated between a neutral position (7) and an active engine stop position (0-position; [0019]), in which when the engine stop knob is rotated from the active engine stop position to the neutral position, the engine stop knob rotates the switch carrier to disengage from the first microswitches to facilitate closing an electric current circuit for allowing a transmission of current from a power source to the engine of the vehicle ([0028], microswitch connected to start relay 15), and when the engine stop knob is rotated from the neutral position to the active engine stop position, the engine stop knob rotates the switch carrier to engage with the first microswitches to facilitate opening the electric current circuit for preventing the transmission of current from the power source to the engine of the vehicle ([0019 and 0028], radio and electronic systems receive power in the R-position but not to the engine, and the 0-position does not transmit power to any assembly); and an engine start knob (2) disposed at the first end of the housing and operatively coupled with the second microswitch (14), wherein the engine start knob is actuatable to engage with the second microswitch in the neutral position of the engine stop knob to start power generation process of the engine [0028], but Isenberg et al. do not disclose wherein the engine stop knob rotates the switch carrier within the housing. Osanai et al., however, disclose posts extending from the back side of a rotating switch carrier (72; Fig 8), wherein the rotary movement is detected by microswitches (74). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to have the switch carrier (9) of Isenberg et al. rotate along with the engine stop knob (3) as taught by Osanai et al. so the microswitches can properly detect the rotary position of the engine stop knob and provide power accordingly.
With respect to claim 17, wherein the plurality of microswitches is electrically coupled with an engine control unit (4, 10, and 11) of the vehicle and is configured to transmit signals to the engine control unit upon actuation of the microswitches ([0028] of Isenberg et al.).
With respect to claim 18, Isenberg et al. disclose the claimed invention discussed above but do not disclose a vehicle frame; a front wheel and a rear wheel; an engine unit and a transmission unit; a steering assembly operatively coupled with the front wheel; the switch module adapted to be coupled with a handlebar of the steering assembly and configured to control operations of the engine unit of the vehicle. Osanai et al., however disclose utilizing a switch module of a handlebar of a motorcycle (Fig 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Isenberg et al. to utilize the switch on a motorcycle as taught by Osanai et al. in order to improve a similar invention in a similar way; namely, that the motorcycle would have a rotary/push switch combination for turning the engine on so as to reduce the number of controls in the vehicle while creating a user friendly design.
Claims 2 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isenberg et al. (EP3313698B1; as cited by Applicant) in view of Osanai et al. (USPub 2016/0293360), as applied to claim 1 discussed above, and further in view of Rathore et al. (441/DEL/2013; as cited by Applicant).
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Isenberg et al. and Osanai et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the switch module comprises a biasing member disposed between the engine start knob and the switch carrier, wherein the biasing member is configured to bias the engine start knob away from the switch carrier and facilitate actuation of the engine start knob. Rathore et al., however, disclose a biasing member (11) disposed between the engine start knob and a switch carrier, wherein the biasing member is configured to bias the engine start knob away from the switch carrier and facilitate actuation of the engine start knob (second to last paragraph of page 10 of attached translation). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Isenberg et al. in view of the teachings of Rathore et al. to bias the engine start knob away from the switch carrier in order to prevent accidentally starting of the engine.
With respect to claim 15, the combination of Isenberg et al. and Osanai et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the housing comprises a housing bracket disposed at the first end of the housing, and the housing bracket includes a bracket stem and a plurality of tabs extending from a surface of the housing bracket for mounting the engine start knob and the engine stop knob on the housing. Rathore et al. disclose a housing (8 and 9; Fig 4) that is located on a handlebar of a motorcycle, wherein the housing comprises a housing bracket (8) disposed at the first end of the housing, and the housing bracket includes a bracket stem and a plurality of tabs (stem and tabs shown in Fig 6) extending from a surface of the housing bracket for mounting the engine start knob and the engine stop knob on the housing (as modified by details on knob shown in Fig 6 of Osanai et al.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Isenberg et al. in view of the teachings of Rathore et al. to use a plurality of tabs and stems to connect the housing to the stop knob, since such a combination of stems and tabs are conventional in the art as a means to snap mechanical components together.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-14 and 16 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.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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