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 Interpretation
Upon further examination, the term “handle” as used by Applicant in the original disclosure includes more than the grip, but rather entire element 20, inclusive of the grip 21 and the bit 22. Therefore, a prior art “handle” is considered to be a correspondingly large element inclusive of grip, shaft, and torque transferring device.
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.
Claims 1, 7, 12-13, 15-16, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2008/0078979 A1 (hereinafter “Geagan”) in view of US 6,995,682 (hereinafter “Chen”) and US 2018/0016123 A1 (hereinafter “Bruno”).
Regarding claim 24 Geagan teaches a power assist device for a manually operated winch (10), comprising:
an electric motor (28) arranged to be connected to a winch (10), and a winch handle (H, see annotated fig. below) adapted to be temporarily engaged with the winch (10),
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a motor control unit (38),
sensors (22; i.e. 4 load cells, see paragraph 17) configured to sense an amount of force and direction of rotation applied to the winch handle (H) by a user (paragraph 17), and
a microprocessor (26; see paragraph 21) arranged to send [signals] to the motor control unit (38), thereby controlling the electric motor (28) to apply an amount torque to the winch (10), in a particular direction, based on the wireless signals from (i.e. physical rotation of) the winch handle (H).
Geagan teaches a remote control (see fig. 1), but fails to teach wireless connections including a first/second transmitting and receiving means as claimed, or an internal power supply.
Chen teaches a motor control unit (22) which controls an electric motor (27) which drives a drum (32). Chen further teaches a first radio transmitting and receiving means (12) that transmit wireless control signal to second transmitting and receiving means (18/20) in a motor control unit (see 18-22 in fig. 1), the first radio transmitting and receiving means (12) having an internal power supply (134) for operating the first radio transmitting and receiving means (12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the controller of Geagan wireless, as taught by Holmberg, with a reasonable expectation of success. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination in order to allow remote control of the winch without wires.
The combination of Geagan and Chen (above) fails to teach the remote control elements being part of the winch handle.
Bruno teaches a handle (2) for a capstan style winch similar to Geagan. Bruno further teaches the handle (2) comprises a control system (21, 22, 23) for activating a motor to turn the winch. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to move the wireless control of the above combination (of Geagan and Chen) to the handle of the winch, as is taught by Bruno, with a reasonable expectation of success. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination in order to provide the user with easier control of the winch due to already using the handle portion of Geagan to turn the winch drum.
Regarding claim 1 the combination of Geagan, Chen, and Bruno advanced above in relation to claim 24 teaches: a power assist system for a manually operated winch (Geagan 10), the power assist system comprising:
a winch (Geagan 10) having a central winch shaft (Geagan 20), an electric motor (Geagan 28) with a drive shaft (Geagan 30) and a motor control unit (Geagan 38), a winch handle (Geagan H) adjusted for manually operating the winch (Geagan 10), and a control input device (Geagan 26), wherein
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Annotated Geagan Figure 1
the electric motor (Geagan 28) and the drive shaft (Geagan 30) are connected to the winch (Geagan 10) and the central winch shaft (Geagan 20) through a connection module (“casing,” see Geagan paragraph 30) placed (at least partially) below said winch (Geagan 10), and
the winch handle (Geagan H) is arranged to temporarily and mechanically connect with an upper end of the central winch shaft (Geagan 20) to allow manual operation of the winch (Geagan 10), and
the control input device (Geagan 26) comprises (is) one or more electronic units, built into, or mounted onto said winch handle (as per Bruno and Chen, see above combination) and
the control input device (Geagan 26) is further arranged to send wireless control signals through first radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 12) in the winch handle (Geagan H, as modified above per Chen and Bruno) to second radio transmitting and receiving means (18/20) in the motor control unit (Geagan 38), and
the wireless control signals (i.e. control signals of Geagan as modified per Chen) are arranged to be temporarily but uniquely linked (Chen col. 3 lines 9-16) to the motor control unit (Geagan 38) to selectively control the winch (Geagan 10) that the winch handle (Geagan H as modified per Chen and Bruno) is temporarily connected to, and
the control input device (Geagan 26) is adjusted to send the wireless control signals (per Chen 12 and 18/20) to the motor control unit (Geagan 38), where the wireless control signals indicate a direction the winch (Geagan 10) is manually operated in (Geagan paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 16 the combination of Geagan, Chen, and Bruno advanced above in relation to claim 24 teaches a method for providing power assist to a winch (Geagan 10) comprising:
providing an electric motor (Geagan 28) having a drive shaft (Geagan 30) connected to the winch (Geagan 10) and a motor control unit (Geagan 38) for controlling a turning force and direction of the electric motor (Geagan 28), thus turning the winch (Geagan 10) via the drive shaft (Geagan 30), and
providing a winch handle (Geagan H, see annotated fig. below as modified per Bruno and Chen above) comprising:
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a control input device (Geagan 26) including a force sensor (Geagan 22; i.e. 4 load cells, see paragraph 17) arranged to measure a force applied to the handle (Geagan H) by a user, and
first radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 12) for transmitting a wireless control signal representing the turning direction and force measured by the force sensor (see Geagan 22 and par. 17) to second radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 18/20) in the motor control unit (Geagan 38), and
configuring the motor control unit (Geagan 38) to cause the electric motor (Geagan 28) to apply the turning force to the winch (Geagan 10) based upon the wireless control signal (per Chen 12 and 18/20) transmitted by the control input device (Geagan 26), and
configuring the control input device (Geagan 26) to send wireless control signals (Geagan par. 17 as modified per Chen 12 and 18/20) to the motor control unit (Geagan 38), where the wireless control signals (Chen 12/18/20) indicate a duration and amount of force being measured by said force sensor (Geagan 22, see par. 17) when the winch (Geagan 10) is manually operated, and the force is applied to the winch handle (Geagan H).
Regarding claim 23 the combination of Geagan, Chen, and Bruno advanced above in relation to claim 24 teaches a power assist system for a manually operated winch (Geagan 12), the power assist system comprising:
an electric motor (Geagan 28) with a drive shaft (Geagan 30) and a motor control unit (Geagan 38), a winch handle (Geagan H, see annotated fig. below) configured for manually operating a winch (Geagan 12) with a central winch shaft (Geagan 20) protruding down below said winch (Geagan 12) and a control input device (Geagan 26),
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wherein:
the electric motor (Geagan 28) and the drive shaft (Geagan 30) are connected to the winch (Geagan 12) and the central winch shaft (Geagan 20) through a connection module (Geagan “casing,” see paragraph 30) placed (at least partially) below said winch (Geagan 12), and
the winch handle (Geagan H) is configured to temporarily and mechanically connect with an upper end of the central winch shaft (Geagan 20) to allow manual operation of the winch (Geagan 12), and
the control input device (Geagan 26) comprises a microprocessor (Geagan 26; see paragraph 21) and a force sensor (Geagan 22; par. 17), and is built into, or mounted onto said winch handle (Geagan as modified per Bruno and Chen, above), and
the control input device (Geagan 26) is further configured to send wireless control signals through first radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 12) in the winch handle (per Bruno) to second radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 18/20) in the motor control unit (Geagan 38), and
the wireless control signals (Chen 12/18/20) are configured to be temporarily and uniquely linked (Chen col. 3 ll. 9-16) to the radio transmitting and receiving means (Chen 18/20) in the motor control unit (Geagan 38) to selectively control the winch (Geagan 10) that the winch handle (Geagan H) is temporarily connected to, and
the control input device (Geagan 26) is configured to send the wireless control signals (Geagan par. 17) to the motor control unit (Geagan 38) depending on a direction the winch handle (Geagan H) is manually operated in, and
the winch handle (Geagan H as modified per Chen and Bruno, above) is configured to store energy (see Chen 134) to operate the control input device (Geagan 26).
Regarding claim 7 modified Geagan teaches the above system (see claim 1), but fails to teach the NFC antenna and unique address as set forth in claim 7. Official Notice was given in the action of 01/23/26 that NFC antennas and unique addresses are old and well known in the art. This assertion was not traversed by Applicant, and is therefore taken as admitted prior art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the NFC antennas and unique addresses in Geagan, as is known in the art, with a reasonable expectation of success. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination in order to better communicate with the winch drive system.
Regarding claim 12 modified Geagan teaches the above system, including the battery of Chen (134) powering the control input device of Geagan (26). Geagan fails to teach a rechargeable battery. Bruno teaches the use of a rechargeable battery (Bruno 33). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a rechargeable battery with a reasonable expectation of success. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination in order to be able to recharge the battery.
Regarding claim 13 modified Geagan teaches the above system (see claim 12), and further teaches where the control input device (Geagan 26) comprises a wireless charging means (Bruno paragraph 36) adjusted to charge the rechargeable battery (Bruno 33).
Regarding claim 15 modified Geagan teaches the above system, but fails to teach the LED light as set forth in claim 15. Chen teaches an LED indicator (40) on the front of the remote control, the LED indicator’s control circuit is adjusted to give status information through said LED light (see Chen col. 6 ll. 43-54). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the LED of Chen to the control input device of Geagan with a reasonable expectation of success. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination in order to apprise a user of the on or off status of the device (per Chen col. 6 ll. 43-54).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, 8-11, 14, and 17-22 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Specifically, Chen is used to teach the newly added recitations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nathaniel L Adams whose telephone number is (571)272-4830. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 Pacific Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Victoria P Augustine can be reached at (313) 446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/N.L.A/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/Victoria P Augustine/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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