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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Status of Claims
In preliminary amendment filed 4/16/2024, Applicant amended the abstract and amended claims 1-3, 5, and 10. This amendment is acknowledged. Claims 1-10 are pending and are currently being examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/16/2024 was filed before the mailing date of the first office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “A driving device” should read “A driving device for a spinning top accelerator” to more clearly define the invention and differentiate from generic gear driving devices. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “both sides” in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Additionally, it is unclear what the limitation “both sides” is exactly defining as no sides are defined and no shape is defined for the gravity block.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “the other side” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “the other side” in line 2, “both sides of the gravity block” in line 3, and “both sides of the case” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Additionally, it is unclear what the limitation “both sides” is exactly defining as no sides are defined and no shape is defined for the gravity block and for the case.
Therefore claims 2-4, 6-8, and 10 are rejected as they depend from a rejected claim.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objections and rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: in addition to the other claim limitations, the specific limitations of a driving device for a spinning top accelerator comprising:…both sides of the gravity block are provided with a first driving rack and a second driving rack opposite to each other; the acceleration gear set includes a first active gear, a first clutch gear, a second active gear, a second clutch gear and a driving gear, the second active gear and the second clutch gear are respectively arranged symmetrically with the fist active gear and the first clutch gear with respect to the driving gear, the first active gear meshes between the first driving rack and the first clutch gear, and the second active gear meshes between the second driving rack and the second clutch gear, the gravity block is able to slide back and forth between a first end and a second end, when the gravity block slides to the first end, the first clutch gear meshes with the driving gear, and when the gravity block slides away from the first end, the first clutch gear and the driving gear do not contact each other; when the gravity block slides to the second end, the second clutch gear meshes with the driving gear, and when the gravity block slides away from the second end, the second clutch gear and the driving gear do not contact each other are not anticipated by or found obvious by the cited prior art.
Brief Discussion of Other Prior Art References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the references cited page for publications that are noted for containing similar subject matter as the applicant. For example, Xie (10,641,579), Huang (CN114832396), Zhang (CN 216456875), Wang (CN 215505465), Li (CN 211912704), Ming (CN 209997181), Choi (9,180,379), Horikoshi (8,715,032), Ujita (2011/0177750), Moomaw (4,867,728), and Gandy (2,375,986) teach similar gear driven driving devices for spinning top accelerators.
Conclusion
If the applicant or applicant’s representation has any questions or concerns regarding this office action or the application they are welcome to contact the examiner at the phone number listed below and schedule and interview to discuss the outstanding issues and possible amendments to expedite prosecution of this application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER R NICONOVICH whose telephone number is (571)270-7419. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8-6 MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Weiss can be reached at (571) 270-1775. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER R NICONOVICH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711