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 .
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.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 3 recites “a an accommodating cavity” and should recite --an accommodating cavity--. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2024/0047922 A1 to Zhu (Zhu).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu teaches a combined type hand warmer (Figs. 1-5), comprising a first heating unit and a second heating unit ([0024] which states in part “Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, a combined type hand warmer includes a first hand warmer unit 1 and a second hand warmer unit 2), and further comprising a connection portion, wherein the connection portion comprises an insertion block (first buckle slot 41) and a connection block (first buckle 31), the insertion block is arranged on an edge of the first heating unit and extends laterally (Figs. 1-2), the connection block is arranged on an edge of the second heating unit and is provided with an insertion slot with a lateral opening (Figs. 1-2), the insertion block is able to be separated from or inserted into the insertion slot ([0025] which states in part “the first buckle 31 is detachably plugged to the first buckle 41, the second buckle 42 is detachably plugged to the second buckle slot 32.”), and a locking portion, wherein the locking portion comprises a movement hole ([0026] which states in part “The first connection part 3 further includes a first positioning pillar 33…”), a lock hole ([0026] which states in part “…the second connection part 4 further includes a first positioning hole 43…), and an elastic sheet (implicit in that the surface of the heater elements is at least somewhat elastic), the movement hole is arranged on an inner surface of the first heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the lock hole is arranged on an inner surface of the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the elastic sheet is mounted inside the first heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the elastic sheet is provided with a locking piece (Figs. 1-2 and [0026] which states in part “…first positioning pillar 33…”), and the locking piece is located at the movement hole and is able to be separated from or clamped into the lock hole ([0026] which stats in part “…when the first positioning pillar 33 is located in the first positioning hole 43, and the second positioning pillar 44 is located in the second positioning hole 34…”).
Regarding claim 2, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 1 as well as wherein the insertion block on the first heating unit protrudes out of the inner surface of the heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the inner surface of the second heating unit is provided with a first guide port that is inwardly sunken (Figs. 1-2), and the insertion block on the first heating unit is able to pass through the first guide port and be inserted into the insertion slot on the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2 and [0025]).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 1 as well as wherein a hidden slot is arranged on the first heating unit, and when the connection block on the second heating unit is placed in the first hidden slot, the insertion block on the first heating unit is inserted into the insertion slot on the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2 and [0025-0026]).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 1 as well as wherein the combined type hand warmer comprises two connection portions (Figs. 1-2), the insertion blocks of the two connection portions are respectively arranged on an edge of the first heating unit and an edge of the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the connection blocks of the two connection portions are respectively arranged on the first heating unit and the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2), and when the insertion block on the first heating unit is inserted into the insertion hole on the second heating unit, the insertion block on the second heating unit is synchronously inserted into the insertion slow on the first heating unit ([0025-0026]).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 4 as well as wherein the insertion block on the first heating unit protrudes out of the inner surface of the first heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the inner surface of the second heating unit is provided with a first guide port that is inwards sunken (Figs. 1-2), the insertion block on the first heating unit is able to pass through the first guide port and be inserted into the insertion slot on the second heating unit ([0025-0026]), the insertion block on the second heating unit protrudes out of the inner surface of the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2), the inner surface of the first heating unit is provided with a second guide port that is inwards sunken (Figs. 1-2), the insertion block on the second heating unit is able to pass through the second guide port and be inserted into the insertion slot on the first heating unit ([0025-0026]).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 4 as well as wherein a first hidden slot is arranged on the first heating unit, when the connection block on the second heating unit is placed in the first hidden slot, the insertion block on the first heating unit is inserted into the insertion slot on the second heating unit (Figs. 1-2 and [0025-0026]), and a second hidden slot arranged on the second heating unit, and when the connection block on the first heating unit is placed in the second hidden slot, the insertion block on the second heating unit is inserted into the insertion slot on the first heating unit (Figs. 1-2 and [0025-0026]).
Regarding claim 7, Zhu taches the combined type hand warmer of claim 1 as well as comprising two locking portions (Fig. 2 and [0026]), the elastic sheets of the two locking portions are respectively mounted inside the first heating unit and the second heating unit (Fig. 2), and the two elastic sheets are staggered from each other (Fig. 2), and the movement holes and lock holes of the two locking portions are distributed on the inner surface of the first heating unit and the inner surface of the second heating unit to respectively adapt to the locking pieces of the two elastic sheets ([0026] which states in part “…when the first pillar 33 slides into the first positioning hole 43 along the second guide slot 45, and the second positioning pillar 44 slides into the second positioning hole 34 along the first guide slot 35…”).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 7 as well as four locking portions to respectively correspond to top and bottom sides of the first heating unit and top and bottom sides of the second heating unit (33, 34, 35, 43, 44, 45, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 8 as well as wherein the locking pieces are hemispherical (Figs. 4-5).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu in view of US 2024/0382338 A1 to Gao (Gao).
Regarding claim 10, Zhu teaches the combined type hand warmer of claim 1, as well as a shell (Figs. 1-5), a battery (implicit as [0027] discusses power indicators 12/22 used for displaying the battery power of the first and second hand warmer units), a heating element (implicit in that warmth is provided and therefore there must be a heating element in the warmer unit), and the second heating unit having the same structure as that of the first heating unit (see for example Fig. 4). However, Zhu does not specifically disclose a shell cover, the shell cover mounted on the shell and is enclosed to form an accommodating cavity, the battery and the heating element are both mounted in the accommodating cavity, the battery is electrically connected to the heating element, and the second heating unit has the same structure as that of the first heating unit. Gao teaches an analogous device (title “hand warmer”) to that of Zhu where a first heating unit comprises a shell (front housing 31 in combination with back housing 32), a shell cover (heat conducting shell 33), a battery (battery 43), and a heating element (heat generating member 44), the shell cover is mounted to the shell and is enclosed to form an accommodating cavity (Figs. 5 and 6), the battery is electrically connected to the heating element ([0080-0081]), and the second heating unit has the same structure as that of the first heating unit (Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhu with the construction of Gao to allow for good thermal conductivity ([0079]) as well as compact design.
Conclusion
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/KAITLYN E SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794