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 .
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 soldering board of claim 8, the threaded hole of claim 10, and the first and second soft cables of claim 11 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 Objections
Claims 5, 6 and 12 are objected to because “the other” on lines 2, 3 and 3, respectively, lack antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 6 and 7 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. In regard to claim 6, it is unclear how a ring can have an end.
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, 3, 4 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tanaka et al. [Tanaka hereinafter, US 7,141,748].
In regard to claim 1, Tanaka discloses [in Figs. 1-3] an adjustment assembly, comprising: an encoder [9] comprising a fixed seat [9a] and a rotation sleeve [9b] sleeved on the fixed seat [9a]; a fixed connection board [7] connected to the fixed seat [9a] and provided with a cable threading hole [hole through 7]; a display screen [6] connected to a side of the fixed connection board [7] away from the fixed seat [9a]; a display circuit board [6a] connected to a side of the display screen [6] facing the fixed connection board [7]; and a knob assembly [2, 3, 8], wherein an installation chamber is formed in the knob assembly, and the display screen [6], the fixed connection board [7] and the encoder [9] are provided in the installation chamber.
In regard to claims 3 and 4, Tanaka discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the adjustment assembly according to claim 1, wherein the knob assembly comprises a knob ring [3]; the knob ring [3] is formed with the installation cavity, and the knob ring [3] is sleeved on a periphery surface of the display screen [6] and drivingly connected to the rotation sleeve [9b], wherein the knob assembly further comprises a transmission member [8]; the transmission member [8] is provided on the rotation sleeve [9b], and the knob ring [3] is provided on the transmission member [8]; the knob ring [3] is drivingly connected to the rotation sleeve [9b] via the transmission member [8], and the transmission member [8] and the knob ring [3] are enclosed to form the installation cavity.
In regard to claim 12, Tanaka discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the adjustment assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a connection support [7c], wherein one of the connection support [7c] and the fixed seat [9a] is provided with a second restriction protrusion [7c], and an other of the connection support [7c] and the fixed seat [9a] is provided with a second restriction groove [9d]; the connection support [7c] is restricted and installed to the fixed seat [9a] by a cooperation of the second restriction protrusion [7c] and the second restriction groove [9d].
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka et al. [Tanaka hereinafter, US 7,141,748] in view of Hettinger et al. [Hettinger hereinafter, US 2007/0095637]. Tanaka discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the adjustment assembly of claim 1. Tanaka does not disclose that a diameter of the cable threading hole ranges form 15 mm to 25 mm. Hettinger teaches [in Fig. 2] that a diameter of the cable threading hole [112] ranges from 15 mm to 25 mm [par. 0013]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a cable threading hole with a diameter that ranges from 15 mm to 25 mm, since 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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka et al. [Tanaka hereinafter, US 7,141,748] in view of Baker [US 8,198,555]. Tanaka discloses [in Figs. 1-3] the adjustment assembly according to claim 4. Tanaka does not disclose that one of the transmission member and the rotation sleeve is provided with a first clamping catch, and the other of the transmission member and the rotation sleeve is provided with a first clamping groove; the transmission member is connected to the rotation sleeve via the first clamping catch and the first clamping groove. Baker teaches [in Figs. 2 and 3] that one of the transmission member [170] and the rotation sleeve [196] is provided with a first clamping catch [214], and an other of the transmission member [170] and the rotation sleeve [196] is provided with a first clamping groove [210]; the transmission member [170] is connected to the rotation sleeve [196] via the first clamping catch [214] and the first clamping groove [210]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the first clamping catch and first clamping groove of Baker with the adjustment assembly of Tanaka in order to effectively secure the components together to ensure proper actuation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 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.
In regard to claim 8, in combination with other limitations, the fixed connection board provided with soldering holes, a side of the fixed seat facing the fixed connection board provided with a soldering board, and the soldering board being soldered to the soldering holes is neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art.
In regard to claim 9, in combination with other limitations, a side of the display screen facing the fixed connection board provided with restriction columns, and a periphery surface of the display circuit board provided with restriction holes, the restriction columns being restricted to the restriction holes, and the display circuit board adhering to the display screen is neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art.
In regard to claim 11, in combination with other limitations, a first soft cable and a second soft cable, wherein one end of the first soft cable is electrically connected to the display circuit board, and one end of the second soft cable is electrically connected to the fixed seat is neither disclosed nor suggested by the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LHEIREN MAE A CAROC whose telephone number is (571)272-2730. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/LHEIREN MAE A CAROC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833
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