DETAILED ACTION
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(s) 1-3, 6-10, 13, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carty et al. (GB518279) and Stefan (DE 10209355A1).
Regarding claim 1 , Carty discloses an adjustable windshield for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a windshield (1) rotatably attached to the vehicle wherein said windshield is positionable at any angle relative to the vehicle including and between a fully closed position and a fully open position (abstract, figs 1-4); a component (3, 8, 12) connected between said windshield and the vehicle (abstract, figs 1-4), wherein the component comprises a barrel portion (8), an arm portion (3) and an actuator (5) defining a first position (left end of rack 5, fig 2) and a second position (right end of rack 5, fig 2), wherein the arm portion is movable relative to the barrel portion when the actuator is in the first position and wherein the arm portion is fixed relative to the barrel portion when the actuator is in the second position (fig 2 shows that as bar 3 moves up, pin 4 move from left end of 5 to right end of 5 until 3a is rotated to end portion of teeth 10, see fig 2), wherein movement of the arm portion relative to the barrel portion adjusts the angle of the windshield relative to the vehicle (abstract, figs 1-4); and a controller (18) operatively connected to the actuator (abstract, figs 1-4), wherein the controller is spaced apart from said locking strut (abstract, figs 1-4).
Carty is silent regarding the fact that the actuating component is a locking strut.
Stefan teaches the use of a locking strut (32) used to move the windshield forwardly (abstract).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Carty and Stefan before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Carty to include the locking strut as taught by Stefan in order to tilt the windshield (abstract)
Regarding claims 2 and 16, Carty further discloses that the controller is operatively connected to the actuator via a cable (12) (abstract, figs 1-4).
Regarding claims 3 and 17, Carty further discloses that he controller comprises a lever (18) configured to rotate about a central axis (abstract, figs 1-4), wherein rotation of said lever moves said actuator between the first position and the second position (abstract, figs 1-4).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Carty further discloses that the adjustable windshield comprises a second locking strut, including a second actuator operatively coupled to the controller via a second cable, wherein the controller is also spaced apart from said second locking strut, and wherein the second locking strut is spaced apart form the first locking strut (fig 1 shows two identical locking struts on opposite ends of the windshield, also see abstract, figs 2-4).
Regarding claim 7, Carty further discloses that the cable comprises a Bowden cable (12) (figs 1-4).
Regarding claims 8-9, Carty is silent regarding a spring that biases the actuator toward the second position.
Stefan teaches the use of a spring that biases the actuator ( page 4 paragraph 6, discloses the use of a special spring device with the actuator).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Carty and Stefan before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Carty to include the locking strut as taught by Stefan in order to allow movement back to normal position (page 4, 2nd to last paragraph)
Regarding claim 10, Carty further discloses that said lever is coupled to said windshield (figs 1-4).
Regarding claim 13, Carty discloses A method of utilizing the apparatus of claim 3, comprising: rotating the lever of the controller about its central axis in a first direction placing the actuator in the first position (abstract, figs 1-4); rotating the windshield to a discrete position (abstract, figs 1-4); and rotating the lever about its central axis in a second direction, said second direction opposite the first direction placing the actuator in the second position (figs 1-4, abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5,11-12, 14-15 and 19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANY E AKAKPO whose telephone number is (469)295-9255. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/DANY E AKAKPO/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
05/28/2026
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