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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species A in the reply filed on 2025-12-16 is acknowledged.
In addition to withdrawn claim 3, claim 2 is also withdrawn as reciting features of a non-elected species. Note that claim 3 recites “a linkage member” and that the only “linkage member”s (303) recited in the present specification are contained in either species B or species C.
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:
"length sensor, position-limiting linkage controller, linkage rotation driver" of claim 4
"scroll driver" of claim 5
"elastic element, two ends of the elastic element are connected to the first connection structure and the second connection structure" of claim 6
"rotation angle detector, damping linkage controller " of claim 7
"friction chamber, inner wall, damping driver, damping linkage controller" of claim 8
"weight sensor" of claim 9
"second damping assembly" of claim 10
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
Claim 6 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6 line 3 recites “structure is arranged a the position-limiting…”
the “a” appears to be improper and appears that it should be “at”.
Claim 6 first line at top of page 4 recites: “the position-limiting structure bis a first connection structure…”
the “bis” appears to be improper and appears that it should be “is”.
Whatever the case may be, 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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SHIRASAKA et al. (US 2014/0092566).
Regarding claim 1 SHIRASAKA discloses:
An electronic device comprising:
a first body (e.g. 2 FIG.1);
a second body (e.g. 3 FIG.1);
a linkage control assembly (e.g. 4 FIG.1) including:
a rotation shaft (e.g. Ax FIG.1) configured to rotatably connect the first body and the second body (e.g. shown FIG.1);
a position-limiting linkage member (e.g. 10c FIG.5) arranged at the rotation shaft; and
a position-limiting mating member (e.g. 10b FIG.5) arranged at a side of the rotation shaft close to the first body, the position-limiting linkage member being configured to cooperate with the position-limiting mating member to perform position-limiting on the rotation angle of the second body (e.g. shown FIG.7-FIG.8);
wherein:
the position-limiting linkage member rotates based on an extension length and/or a weight increase value along a first direction (e.g. described paragraph [0069]); the
position-limiting linkage member rotates along a second direction based on the retraction length of the second body and/or a weight decrease value (e.g. described paragraph [0069]);
the first direction and the second direction are opposite directions (e.g. described paragraph [0069]).
Regarding claim 4 SHIRASAKA discloses:
the linkage control assembly further includes:
a telescopic length sensor (e.g. 11a2 FIG.3) configured to sense a telescopic length of the second body (e.g. via lateral translation);
a position-limiting linkage controller configured to transmit a signal to the telescopic length sensor (e.g. via 10d FIG.4) ; and
a linkage rotation driver configured to control the position-limiting linkage member to rotate (e.g. 10a FIG.4), the linkage rotation driver transmitting a signal to the position-limiting linkage controller to cause the linkage rotation driver to control the rotation angle of the position-limiting linkage member according to the telescopic length of the second body (e.g. via mechanical link shown FIG.4).
Regarding claim 5 SHIRASAKA discloses:
the second body includes a flexible screen (e.g. 5 FIG.3), the first body includes a scroll driver (e.g. 10d FIG.4) configured to scroll a flexible screen; and
the telescopic length sensor (e.g. 11a2 FIG.3) reuses a scroll driver to enable mutual linkage between the scroll driver and the position-limiting linkage piece (e.g. shown/indicated FIG.3).
Regarding claim 6 SHIRASAKA discloses:
a position-limiting structure (e.g. left 10e FIG.4) is arranged at the position-limiting linkage member, and a positioning structure (e.g. right 10e FIG.4) is arranged a(t) the position-limiting mating member;
one of the position-limiting structure and the positioning structure is a concave member (e.g. concave sections between teeth FIG.5), and the other is a convex member (e.g. teeth FIG.5), and position is limited through a cooperation between the concave member and the convex member (e.g. shown FIG.5);
one of the position-limiting structure and the positioning structure is a magnetic absorber, and the other one is an absorbed member, and the position is limited through a magnetic absorption between the magnetic absorber and the absorbed member;
the position-limiting structure and the position structure are a first friction piece and a second friction piece, respectively, and the position is limited through the friction between the first friction piece and the second friction piece; or
the position-limiting structure bis(es) a first connection structure, the positioning structure is a second connection structure, the position-limiting linkage control assembly further includes an elastic element, two ends of the elastic element are connected to the first connection structure and the second connection structure, respectively, and damping is provided through a deformation force of the elastic element to limit the position.
Regarding claim 7 SHIRASAKA discloses:
a damping adjustment mechanism including:
a rotation angle detector (e.g. 10a FIG.5) configured to detect a rotation angle of the second body (e.g. via direct connection with 4 FIG.4);
a damping linkage controller (e.g. disk spring paragraph [0037]); and
a first damping assembly configured to increase rotation damping of the second body (e.g. described paragraph [0037]);
wherein:
the first damping assembly and the rotation angle detector transmit a signal to the damping linkage controller (e.g. via torque described paragraph [0037]), when the rotation angle detector detecting that the rotation angle of the second body is in a predetermined closed angle range (e.g. via physical interference described paragraph [0037]), the damping linkage controller controls the first damping assembly to increase rotation damping (e.g. described paragraph [0037]).
Claim(s) 1, 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HUANG et al. (US 2020/0218315).
Regarding claim 1 HUANG discloses:
An electronic device comprising:
a first body (e.g. 20 FIG.1);
a second body (e.g. 10 FIG.1);
a linkage control assembly (e.g. 30 FIG.1) including:
a rotation shaft (e.g. 122 FIG.3) configured to rotatably connect the first body and the second body;
a position-limiting linkage member (e.g. 125 FIG.3) arranged at the rotation shaft; and
a position-limiting mating member (e.g. 127 FIG.3) arranged at a side of the rotation shaft close to the first body, the position-limiting linkage member being configured to cooperate with the position-limiting mating member to perform position-limiting on the rotation angle of the second body (e.g. indicated FIG.3);
wherein:
the position-limiting linkage member rotates based on an extension length and/or a weight increase value along a first direction (e.g. user opens paragraph [0003]); the
position-limiting linkage member rotates along a second direction based on the retraction length of the second body and/or a weight decrease value (e.g. user closes paragraph [0003]);
the first direction and the second direction are opposite directions (e.g. as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art).
Regarding claim 7 HUANG discloses:
a damping adjustment mechanism (e.g. FIG.4) including:
a rotation angle detector (e.g. 111 FIG.4) configured to detect a rotation angle of the second body (e.g. via magnetic field);
a damping linkage controller (e.g. 141 FIG.4); and
a first damping assembly (e.g. column between 141 and 111 FIG.4) configured to increase rotation damping of the second body;
wherein:
the first damping assembly and the rotation angle detector transmit a signal to the damping linkage controller (e.g. via magnetic force), when the rotation angle detector detecting that the rotation angle of the second body is in a predetermined closed angle range, the damping linkage controller controls the first damping assembly to increase rotation damping (e.g. friction described paragraph [0027]).
Regarding claim 8 HUANG discloses:
the first damping assembly includes:
a damping adjustment member (e.g. upper 122 FIG.4), the rotation shaft includes a friction chamber (e.g. 122A FIG.4) configured to accommodate the damping adjustment member (e.g. shown FIG.4), an area of a cross-section of the damping adjustment member gradually increasing along a first movement adjustment direction (e.g. shown FIG.4), and the first movement adjustment direction being a direction from inside of the friction chamber to outside of the friction chamber (e.g. from center to right of 100 FIG.4) and parallel to the axis of the rotation shaft;
an elastic damper (e.g. 131 FIG.4) arranged between the damping adjustment member and an inner wall of the friction chamber (e.g. shown FIG.4); and
a damping driver (e.g. 112 FIG.4) configured to drive the damping adjustment member to move along a direction parallel to an axis of the rotation shaft (e.g. shown FIG.4-FIG.5A), and the damping driver and the damping linkage controller are connected to each other through signals (e.g. magnetic fields paragraph [0027]);
wherein:
when the rotation angle of the second body is in the predetermined closed angle range, the damping linkage controller controls the damping driver to cause the damping adjustment member to move along a second movement adjustment direction, and the second movement adjustment direction is a direction opposite to the first movement adjustment direction to increase pressure between the elastic damper and the inner wall of the friction chamber to increase friction resistance. (e.g. opposing motion described paragraph [0027])
Regarding claim 9 HUANG discloses:
the first damping assembly further includes a weight sensor (e.g. force through 141 FIG.4) arranged at the second body;
the weight sensor is configured to sense the weight of the second body (e.g. force through 141 FIG.4); and
the weight sensor and the damping linkage controller send signals to each other to cause the damping linkage controller to control the movement distance of the damping adjustment member according to the weight of the second body (e.g. through mechanical connection shown FIG.4).
Regarding claim 10 HUANG discloses:
the damping adjustment mechanism further includes a second damping assembly (e.g. column between 142 and 111 FIG.4) configured to provide fixed rotation damping for the second body.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional references cited on the PTO-892 disclose/teach similar hinged circuit board housings as those disclosed in the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THERON S MILLISER whose telephone number is (571)270-1800. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6.
Limited examiner interviews are available.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N. Hayman can be reached at (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THERON S MILLISER/ Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/IMANI N HAYMAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Prosecution Insights