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 .
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
3. The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is more than 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
4. Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 8, 12, 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak US 20220335869 A1 in view of Seo CN-107818735.
8. Consider claim 1. Kwak teaches an electronic device comprising: a first housing (fig 3a; 310); a second housing (fig 3b; 320) coupled to the first housing so as to slide (0074,0076) in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction; a flexible display (fig 3a and 3b; 210) including an exposed region exposed on a front surface of the electronic device, the exposed region being varied in size in response to sliding of the second housing (0075-0076); a sensing substrate (PCB 930) disposed in the first housing (0101, 0103); and a conductive rotating unit (reads on the dielectric body 1320 (0131)when disposed on the rotating unit 940 (0138)) disposed in the second housing so as to be rotatable, wherein a plurality of sensing pads (fig 9a; first sensing unit 931 and second sensing unit 932) are disposed on one surface of the sensing substrate (PCB 930), wherein the conductive roller is configured to make contact with a part of the plurality of sensing pads (fig 13, 1311-1314)as the second housing slides relative to the first housing (figs 12 and 13, (0126), (0128)), and wherein the plurality of sensing pads (fig 13, 1311-1314) include a plurality of position pads configured to make contact with the conductive rotating unit (…. Each of the plurality of sensing units 1311, 1312, 1313, and 1314 may sense movement information when the dielectric body enters within the first distance.…) in a state in which the exposed region of the flexible display is formed in one or more specified sizes (…Based on the movement information, the processor 120 may calculate the movement distance of the display 210 and/or the size of a screen displayed on the display 210….). Although Kwak teaches a conductive rotating unit which allows the moving of the display to be calculated, he fails to teach a “roller” as claimed. However, Seo teaches a roller (20 in fig 15) that works with a motor (44 in fig 5) to expand his display device. It would have been obvious, before the effective date, to substitute the roller taught by Seo for the rotating unit of Kwak which would allow for smoother expansion of the unit.
9. Regarding claim 8. Kwak teaches (fig 7) wherein the first housing includes a fixed cover (760) configured to form at least a portion of side (curved) and rear surfaces of the electronic device and a first support member (fig 9a; 910) coupled to the fixed cover, and wherein the sensing substrate (PCB 930) is disposed on the first support member (910).
Regarding claim 12. Kwak (fig 13) teaches, wherein the plurality of sensing pads (1311-1314) protrude from the one surface of the sensing substrate (930) by a certain height (to allow electrical contact).
10. Regarding claim 13. Kwak teaches one or more processors (120) operatively connected with the plurality of position pads, memory (130) storing one or more computer programs including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: sense contact between the conductive roller and the plurality of position pads, and determine a position of the conductive roller based on a signal recognized by the contact and a change in the signal (from 0129…. Each of the plurality of sensing units 1311, 1312, 1313, and 1314 may transfer the sensed movement information to a processor (e.g., the processor 20 of FIG. 1). Based on the movement information, the processor 120 may calculate the movement distance of the display 210 and/or the size of a screen displayed on the display 210….)
11. Consider claim 19. Kwak teaches wherein the conductive unit includes an elastic material (the dielectric body 1320 allows for rotation (0102) so it inherently must be “elastic” to some degree.
Claim Objections
12. Claims 2-7, 9-11, 14-18, 20 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.
Regarding claim 2. The prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious wherein the conductive roller moves relative to the sensing substrate as the second housing slides relative to the first housing, wherein the electronic device is changed to a plurality of states in which the exposed region of the flexible display has different sizes, based on the sliding of the second housing, wherein the plurality of states of the electronic device include: a first state in which the exposed region has a first size, a second state in which the exposed region has a second size greater than the first size, and a third state in which the exposed region has a third size greater than the first size and smaller than the second size, and wherein the plurality of position pads include: a first pad set brought into contact with the conductive roller in the first state, a second pad set brought into contact with the conductive roller in the second state, and a third pad set brought into contact with the conductive roller in the third state. Dependent claims 3-7 are objected to since the depend upon claim 2.
Regarding claim 9. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious wherein the sensing substrate includes a first surface coupled to the first support member and a second surface on which the sensing pads are disposed, the second surface being configured to face away from the first surface, and wherein the sensing substrate is disposed such that the first surface and the second surface are perpendicular to the front surface or the rear surface of the electronic device.
Regarding claim 10. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious wherein the second housing includes a sliding cover disposed in an inner space of the fixed cover so as to slide and a second support member coupled to the sliding cover so as to integrally move with the sliding cover, and wherein the conductive roller is disposed on the second support member. Dependent claim 11 is objected to since it depends upon claim 10.
Regarding claim 14. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious: a drive member configured to move the second housing relative to the first housing, wherein the drive member includes a motor operatively connected with the processor, and wherein the one or more computer programs further comprise computer-executable instructions to: sense a trigger operation for changing a state of the electronic device, detect a part of the plurality of position pads as a target pad in response to the sensed trigger operation, move the second housing by driving the motor such that the conductive roller is brought into contact with the target pad, and sense contact between the conductive roller and the target pad.
Regarding claim 15. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious wherein the sensing pads further include a one or more pre-position pads disposed at positions spaced apart from the plurality of position pads by a first distance in at least one of the first direction or the second direction, wherein the one or more pre-position pads are operatively connected with the processor, and wherein the one or more computer programs further comprise computer-executable instructions to: compare expected time it takes the conductive roller to make contact with an adjacent pre-position pad corresponding to the target pad and contact time spent in actual contact, compensate for a moving distance by difference by controlling driving of the motor when a difference between the expected time and the contact time is within a first range, and drive in an abnormal case when the difference between the expected time and the contact time exceeds the first range. Dependent claim 16-18 are objected to since they depend upon claim 15.
Regarding claim 20. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious wherein the plurality of position pads further include a fourth pad set corresponding to a fourth state defined as a state between the third state and the second state, and wherein the one or more pre-position pads further include a fourth pre-pad set disposed at a position spaced apart from the fourth pad set by the first distance in the second direction and a fifth pre-pad set disposed at a position spaced apart from the fourth pad set by the first distance in the first direction.
13. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Park KR 20200139551 A1 teaches a method of moving a part of an electronic device and an electronic device supporting the same, capable of allowing a housing accommodating at least one electronic component to slidably move in a normal manner. According to the present invention, the electronic device includes: a first housing; a second housing configured to move between a first position in which the second housing is at least partially accommodated inside the first housing and a second position in which the second housing protrudes from the first housing in a first direction extending from the first position to the second position or in a second direction opposite to the first direction; a driving unit; a first sensor configured to detect a position of the second housing; at least one processor; and a memory.
Kwak et al US 2023/0288962 A1 teaches an electronic device includes a first housing; a second housing configured to be sliding relative to the first housing; a flexible display, wherein at least part of the flexible display is supported by the second housing and a size of the flexible display viewable from a front surface of the electronic device changes in accordance with a sliding of the second housing; a guide member configured to operatively connect at least part of the first housing and at least part of the second housing for the sliding of the second housing; and a conductive layer disposed between a portion of the second housing and the flexible display, wherein the second housing includes a first support portion supporting a first portion of the flexible display; and a second support portion supporting a second portion of the flexible display and allowing the second portion of the flexible display to be bent, and wherein the conductive layer is configured to electrically connect at least a part of the flexible display and the second support portion.
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CURTIS A KUNTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7499. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th from 530am to 3pm and Fri from 530am to 10am.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D Anderson, can be reached at telephone number 5712724177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CURTIS A KUNTZ/Primary examiner, Art Unit 2646