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
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.
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) 1-2, 5, 7, 9-11, 14, 18, 22-24, 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Wuerte (US 20130103169)
Wuerte discloses
1. A method for optically transmitting data from a power tool device (100), the method comprising:
transmitting data (par. 34, 44: operating data) stored in a memory of the power tool device (par. 34, 43-44, 47: operating data requires storage for a complete transmission using microprocessor and software) as optical signal data (fig.2: graph in the cone coming out of 50) by modulating light generated by a light emitting diode (50) of the power tool device (Fig. 2, par. 34), wherein the light emitting diode has a primary function that is different from optical data transmission (par. 34: "(LED) 50, which, during standard operation, is used to illuminate a workspace, ... ");
receiving, by an optical receiver device (40, Fig.2), the optical signal data by detecting the light generated by the optical transmitter of the power tool device (par. 34: " ... output operating data being acquired by a data acquisition device 40 by means of a photo-sensitive unit, ... "); and
storing the received optical signal data in a memory of the optical receiver device (par. 34, 39: " ... and then transmitted to a display device 46 for a graphical display ... a storage medium … recorder which records all operating data of power tool 100 over a defined period of time.")
2.1, wherein the power tool device comprises a power tool battery charger, a power tool battery pack, a power tool, or a work light (par. 34: “light-emitting diode (LED) 50, which, during standard operation, is used to illuminate a workspace”.
5.1, wherein the power tool device comprises a power tool battery pack and the primary function of the light emitting diode comprises indicating a state-of-charge of the battery pack (par. 34: provided with a light-emitting diode (LED) 50, which, … to indicate a charge state of the accumulator of power tool 100”).
7.1, wherein the power tool device comprises a power tool and the primary function of the light emitting diode comprises indicating a mode of operation of the power tool (i.e. charge mode, standard operation mode, par. 34).
9.1, wherein the power tool device comprises a work light and the primary function of the light emitting diode comprises illuminating a space (par. 34).
10.1, wherein transmitting the data stored in the memory of the power tool device as optical signal data comprises: accessing the data from the memory of the power tool device; encoding the data using an electronic processor of the power tool device, generating encoded data that include control parameters for modulating the light generated by the light emitting diode; and transmitting the optical signal data using the electronic processor to modulate the light generated by the light emitting diode based on the control parameters in the encoded data (Figs. 4-5, par. 40-43).
11.10, wherein encoding the data using the electronic processor comprises encoding the data using at least one selected from a group of a binary encoding or a line code (Fig. 4, par. 40-41).
14.10, wherein the control parameters indicate at least one selected from a group of an analog modulation of the light generated by the light emitting diode, a digital modulation of the light generated by the light emitting diode, modulating an amplitude of the light generated by the light emitting diode, modulating a color of the light generated by the light emitting diode (par. 34, 41-43).
18.1, wherein the optical receiver device comprises at least one selected from a group of a camera or a photodetector (photosensitive unit, par. 34).
22.1, wherein the optical receiver device comprises a photodetector, and wherein the photodetector is coupled to a second power tool device (par. 34-35: data acquisition device 40 as optical receiver comprises a photosensitive unit).
23. A power tool device comprising:
a housing; an optical transmitter (50) coupled to the housing and configured to transmit optical signal data as light signals in a visible spectrum (Fig. 2);
a memory configured to store power tool device data (par. 34, 43-44, 47); an electronic processor (par. 47) coupled to the optical transmitter and the memory, the electronic processor being configured to: retrieve the data from the memory; encode the data as optical signal data for transmission by the optical transmitter; and control the optical transmitter to transmit the optical signal data (Figs. 4-5, par. 34, 43-44, 47).
24.23, wherein the optical transmitter comprises a light emitting diode (50) and the electronic processor is configured to: encode the data as the optical signal data by determining control parameters for modulating light generated by the light emitting diode; and control the light emitting diode to transmit the optical signal data by modulating light generated by the light emitting diode based on the control parameters (Fig. 2-5, par. 34, 41).
31.23, wherein the power tool device comprises at least one selected from a group of a power tool,_a power tool battery pack, a power tool battery charger, or a work light (par. 34).
Claim(s) 25, 29-30, 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sojic (EP 3339996)
Sojic discloses
25. A power tool device comprising:
a housing (Fig. 1-2);
a flat panel display (33) coupled to the housing and configured to transmit optical signal data (par. 41: data from optical QR code is sent to smartphone 81);
a memory configured to store power tool device data (par. 20, 34, 38);
an electronic processor coupled to the flat panel display and the memory, the electronic processor being configured to:
retrieve the data from the memory (par. 34);
encode the data as optical signal data indicating an encoded representation of the data retrieved from the memory (par. 34); and control the flat panel display to generate the optical signal data as a display element on the flat panel display (Fig. 4, par. 41).
29.25, wherein the electronic processor is configured to generate the display element as an image (Fig. 1, 4C-4D).
30.29, wherein the electronic processor is configured to encode the data as optical signal data indicating the encoded representation of the data as a quick response (QR) code (Fig. 1, 4C-4D).
32.25, wherein the power tool device comprises at least one selected from a group of a power tool, a power tool battery pack, a power tool battery charger, or a work light a battery pack (abstract, Fig. 1-2, par. 34).
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wuerte (US 20130103169) in view of Wenger (US 20160226278)
Re claim 3.1, Wuerte discloses primary function of the light emitting diode comprises indicating a charging status for the power tool battery charger of the power tool (par. 34)
Wuerte is silent to the power tool being a charger.
Wenger discloses it is well known for power tools 200 and charger 210 to communicate with a computer 250 using wireless communication system 126, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, infrared light, RF, etc. Persons skilled in the art will recognize that other communication schemes may be used that do not require a direct wired connection between computing device 250 and the power tools 200, battery packs 100, non-motorized sensing tools 220, portable power supply 215 and/or chargers 210. Such communication schemes may involved transmitting audio signals, using capacitive codes and/or visual codes (par. 109).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend Wuerte’s teachings by having LED such as that in Wuerte installed in a charger to enable wireless communication between the charger and the computer for exchanging data.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wuerte (US 20130103169) in view of Jang (US 20200235813)
Re claim 19.18, Wuerte is silent to wherein the optical receiver device comprises a camera, and wherein the camera is coupled to at least one selected from a group of a mobile device or a standalone security camera.
Jang discloses [0091] Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system may include a plurality of communication nodes 110 and 120. The plurality of communication nodes 110 and 120 may perform communication using communication methods defined in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.7 (for example, IEEE 802.15.7m). For example, each of the plurality of communication nodes 110 and 120 may include an LED and a camera, transmit a signal by blinking the LED, and acquire a signal based on a blinking state of the LED photographed by the camera. Each of the plurality of communication nodes 110 and 120 may be a sensor node, an Internet of Things (IoT) node, a smart phone, etc. Each of the plurality of communication nodes 110 and 120 may have the following structure.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Jang in order for the on/off pattern of the LED can be analyzed more effectively by a camera.
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wuerte (US 20130103169) in view of JP885 (JP 4932885 B2)
Re claim 26.25, Wuerte is silent to wherein the flat panel display comprises at least one selected from a group of a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or an electrophoretic display. However, this is an obvious extension of the prior art’s teachings as the features are well known. See i.e. JP885 that discloses an LCD capable of displaying QR code
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MAI whose telephone number is (571)272-8283. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights