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 .
Response to Amendment
Regarding objections to the claims:
Claims 2-8 were objected to due to multiple informalities. The Applicant amended claims 2-8 to correct the informalities, therefore the objections were withdrawn.
Regarding rejections of the claims under §112:
Claims 5-7 were rejected as being of improper dependent form. The Applicant amended claim 4 to correct the dependency, therefore the rejections were withdrawn.
Regarding rejections of the claims under §103:
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 8-9 were rejected as being obvious over Chen ‘505 in view of Lin and Chen ‘290. Claim 3 was rejected as being obvious over Chen ‘505 in view of Lin, Chen ‘290, and Sugioka. Claim 7 was rejected as being obvious over Chen ‘505 in view of Lin, Chen ‘290, and Tamaki. The Applicant amended claim 1.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-9, filed 12/12/2025, with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0035414 to Hsieh and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0197015 to Anderson et al.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-2, 406, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0035414 to Hsieh in view of Chinese Patent No. 104338284 to Lin, Chinese Patent No. 104426290 to Chen and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0197015 to Anderson et al. (hereinafter Anderson).
Regarding claim 1, Hsieh teaches a flywheel power generation system (Paragraph [0002]) comprising:
a rotating shaft (FIG. 5, 10);
a flywheel fixedly connected to said rotating shaft (FIG. 5, 20), said flywheel comprising a circular accommodating chamber (FIG. 5, 21);
a magnet set (FIG. 5, 22) fixedly installed on a circumferential inner chamber wall of said accommodating chamber (Paragraph [0025]);
a bracket (FIG. 5, 30) rotationally connected to said rotating shaft (Paragraph [0027]);
a stator coil (FIG. 5, 331) fixedly installed on the bracket;
a first brake member (FIG. 5, 41, left) arranged in an arc shape, said first brake member comprising a first fixed end (FIG. 5, 411, left) and a first movable end (FIG. 5, 412, left), said first fixed end being rotatably arranged on said bracket;
a second brake member (FIG. 5, 41, right) arranged in an arc shape, said second brake member comprising a second fixed end (FIG. 5, 411, right) and a second movable end (FIG. 5, 412, right), said second fixed end being rotatably arranged on said bracket, said second brake member cooperating with said first brake member to describe a brake arc similar to a magnet set arc;
a driving device set (FIG. 8, 50) installed on the bracket in the accommodating chamber and configured to drive said first movable end and said second movable end of the first and second brake members, respectively, toward or away from each other and to move the brake arc toward or away from the magnet set arc to adjust a resistance between the first and second brake members and the magnet set (Paragraph [0030]).
Hsieh does not teach a first gear and a second gear both rotatably arranged on said bracket, said first gear and said second gear rotating in opposite directions, said first gear comprising a first eccentric shaft, said second gear comprising a second eccentric shaft; and a friction resistance between the first and second brake members and the magnet set.
However, Lin teaches a flywheel braking system with a first gear (FIG. 1, 152) and a second gear (FIG. 1, 153) arranged on a bracket, said first gear and said second gear rotating in opposite directions (Paragraph [0041]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flywheel power generation system of Hsieh with the gear system of Lin to achieve a more evenly positionable system for positioning the brake members.
Hsieh in view of Lin does not teach said first gear comprising a first eccentric shaft and said second gear comprising a second eccentric shaft and a friction resistance between the first and second brake members and the magnet set.
However, Chen teaches a gear system for a flywheel braking system having a gear (FIG. 3, 72) driving a brake member (FIG. 3, 73) via an eccentric shaft (FIG. 3, 721 attachment portion to 72).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flywheel power generation system of Hsieh in view of Lin with the eccentric shaft of Chen as it may result in a more reliable connection between the gear and the brake member due to less friction compared to a direct toothed gear connection.
Hsieh in view of Lin and Chen does not teach a friction resistance between the first and second brake members and the magnet set.
However, Anderson teaches a bicycle with an adjustable friction resistance (Paragraph [0108]) between first (FIG. 13, 812-1) and second (FIG. 13, 812-2) brake members and the interior surface of a drum (FIG. 13, 810).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flywheel power generation system of Hsieh in view of Lin and Chen with the friction braking of Anderson as a friction brake could be simpler and less expensive to implement compared to a magnetic brake.
Regarding claim 2, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein Hsieh further teaches said magnet set comprising multiple pairs of NS magnetic poles (FIG. 5, 22; Paragraph [0025]; [0027]) arranged annularly on an axial chamber wall of said accommodating chamber, N poles and S poles of said NS magnetic poles being distributed in a staggered manner (FIG. 5, 22)
Regarding claim 4, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a first gear (Lin FIG. 1, 152) and a second gear (Lin FIG. 1, 153) are both rotatably arranged on said bracket to rotate in opposite directions (Lin Paragraph [0041]), said bracket also having said driving device set thereon the bracket, said first gear comprising a first eccentric shaft, said second gear comprising a second eccentric shaft (Chen FIG. 3, 721 attachment portion to 72); and a first link member and a second link member (Chen FIG. 3, 721), said first link member having one end thereof fixedly connected to said first movable end (Chen FIG. 3, 732) and an opposite end thereof rotationally connected to said first eccentric shaft (Chen FIG. 3; 72, 721), said second link member having one end thereof fixedly connected to said second movable end (Chen FIG. 3, 732) and an opposite end thereof rotationally connected to said second eccentric shaft (Chen FIG. 3; 72, 721).
Regarding claim 5, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first gear meshes with said second gear (Lin FIG. 8; 152, 153); said driving device set comprises a motor (Chen FIG. 3, 71) arranged on said bracket, and a transmission gear set (Chen FIG. 3, three gears between leftmost gear and motor of 72) so configured that forces from said first gear or said second gear and said motor are transmitted through said transmission gear set (Chen Paragraph [0081]).
Regarding claim 6, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 5, wherein Chen further teaches said transmission gear set comprising a worm (FIG. 3, 711) coaxially fixed on an output shaft of said motor; and a plurality of intermediate gears (FIG. 3, three gears between leftmost gear and motor of 72), said intermediate gears engaging and transmitting one by one to form a transmission path arranged along a preset direction, so that said worm meshes with the said intermediate gear located at the beginning of said transmission path, and said first gear or second gear meshes with the said intermediate gear located at the end of said transmission path (Paragraph [0081]).
Regarding claim 8, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein Hsieh further teaches a fixing member (FIG. 5, 32) being configured to cooperate with said bracket to fix components located on said bracket.
Regarding claim 9, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches an exercise bike (Chen Paragraph [0002]) comprising the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson and in further view of Japanese Patent No. 2011-045635 to Sugioka.
Regarding claim 3, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1.
Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson does not teach a battery disposed on said bracket, said battery being configured to store the generated electrical current.
However, Sugioka teaches a flywheel (FIG. 1, 15) and a generator (FIG. 1, 16) attached to the flywheel and a battery disposed within the generator configured to store the generated electrical current (Paragraph [0032]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flywheel power generation system of Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson with the battery of Sugioka to further stabilize the output of the generator.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson and in further view of Japanese Patent No. 2011-107059 to Tamaki.
Regarding claim 7, Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson teaches the flywheel power generation system as claimed in claim 1.
Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson does not teach an angle sensor for detecting a rotation angle of said first gear or second gear.
However, Tamaki teaches a gear system (FIG. 1; 110, 120) having an angle sensor (FIG. 1; 112, 122) for detecting a rotation angle of the gear system (Paragraph [0014]-[0016]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flywheel power generation system of Hsieh in view of Lin, Chen, and Anderson with the angle sensor of Tamaki to provide a potentially more accurate positioning of the gears and the brake members.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 JOSHUA KIEL MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-9881. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30am - 7:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached at (571) 272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHUA KIEL M RODRIGUEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834