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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1)as being anticipated by Lin (CN 113318896).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a quick disassembly and assembly structure of a shower head, comprising:
a shower head main body (2) having a water outlet channel (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) and a water outlet cover (242), wherein the water outlet cover is provided with a number of water outlet holes connected with the water outlet channel (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), and a side of the shower head main body away from the water outlet cover is provided with a mounting portion (21); and
a fixed base (1) having a water supply channel connected with the water outlet channel (Lines 188-190), wherein the fixed base is provided with a connecting portion (142) correspondingly (Figure 6);
wherein, one of the mounting portion (21) and the connecting portion (142) is provided with a movable member (221), and the other of the mounting portion and the connecting portion is provided with a control unit (11), and the control unit comprises a limiting member (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) and a guide member (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1);
when the shower head main body moves to a first position, the movable member moves to a limiting position that is limited and matched with the limiting member, and then the shower head main body is fixedly mounted on the fixed base (Lines 259-263); and
when the shower head main body moves to a second position, the movable member moves to a yielding position that matches the limiting member under the action of the guide member, thereby separating the shower head main body from the fixed base (Lines 254-259).
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Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1
Regarding claim 2, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 1, further comprising a first elastic member (231) that provides elastic force to the movable member (221) (Lines 260-261), wherein the movable member reciprocates between the limiting position and the yielding position under the action of the first elastic member (Lines 231-233, 260-261, 201-203).
Regarding claim 3, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 2, wherein the movable member (221) is provided with a first guide surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), and in a process of the shower head main body moves to the first position, the movable member moves to the yielding position under the action of the first guide surface (Lines 259-263, as the shower moves to the first position, the slope of the control unit slides about the slope of the first guide surface, moving the movable member to the yielding position);
when the movable member crosses the limiting member, the movable member is reset to the limiting position under the action of the first elastic member, and then limitingly cooperates with the limiting member (Lines 261-262 and Figure 5, when the movable member crosses the limiting member, the elastic member moves the movable member into the groove, cooperating with the limiting member to lock the head into position).
Regarding claim 4, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 3, wherein the limiting member is provided with a first matching slope corresponding to the first guide surface, and in the process of the shower head main body moves to the first position (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), the movable member moves to the yielding position under the action of the first guide surface and the first matching slope (Lines 259-263, as the shower moves to the first position, the slope of the limiting member slides about the slope of the first guide surface, which moves the movable member to the yielding position).
Regarding claim 5, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 3, wherein a side of the guide member away from the limiting member is provided with a second guide surface (13), and in the process of the shower head main body moves from the first position to the second position, the movable member moves to the yielding position under the action of the first guide surface (As the head is removed from the base, the guide surface pushes the movable member to a yielding position), and when the movable member crosses the guide member, the movable member is reset to the limiting position under the action of the first elastic member, and at this time, the movable member moves to the yielding position under the action of the second guide surface (At the time of movement from the first position to the second position, the movable member slides horizontally about the base of the second guide surface to move from the limiting position to the yielding position).
Regarding claim 6, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 5, wherein a side of the guide member facing the limiting member is provided with a second matching slope (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) that guides and cooperates with the first guide surface (Figure 5), and in the process of the shower head main body moves from the first position to the second position, the movable member moves to the yielding position under the action of the first guide surface and the second matching slope (The first guide surface of the movable member slides about and disengages from the second matching slope, as it moves to the yielding position, during transition from the first to the second position).
Regarding claim 9, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion is a concave cavity recessed inward (Figure 5), the shower head main body is further provided with an assembly cavity cross-communicated with the concave cavity (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), and the movable member is movably mounted in the assembly cavity (Lines 254-263) and moves along the radial direction of the concave cavity (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1).
Regarding claim 10, Lin discloses the quick disassembly and assembly structure of the shower head according to claim 9, wherein the connecting portion (142) is a plug-in shaft (Figure 6) that is plug-fitted with the concave cavity (Figure 5), and the limiting member and the guide member are all arranged on the plug-in shaft (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The limitations “wherein the guide member is movably arranged relative to the limiting member, and when the shower head main body moves to the first position, the guide member is separated from the limiting member to form a gap for the movable member to snap in; when the shower head main body moves to the second position, the guide member is in contact with the limiting member, thereby eliminating the gap” are not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art. ‘896 discloses a device that includes a stationary guide member and limiting member. Even changing the material of the device to be a flexible material would not anticipate or made obvious the claimed structure. The amended structure would put forth the inclusion of the gap, but fail to disclose structure that eliminates a gap through movement of the guide member.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE whose telephone number is (571)270-1505. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 9am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O. Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/CHRISTOPHER R DANDRIDGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752