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
1. 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.
2. Claims 1, 4-9, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN112282547A (XIA, using US 2022/0259904 A1 for translation).
With respect to claim 1, XIA shows a box device, comprising: a box body (10, Fig.1), internally defining an accommodating space with an opening; a door body (20, Fig.1), configured to block the opening; and a hinge assembly (30, Fig.4, Fig.5), disposed on a pivoting side (P, FIg.1) of the box body (10) and pivotally connecting the box body (10) to the door body (20, Fig.6-Fig.19); wherein the hinge assembly comprises a first connecting member (31, FIg.5) and a second connecting member (32, FIg.5), the first connecting member (31) is disposed on the box body, and the second connecting member (32, FIg.5) is disposed on the door body; the first connecting member (31) is at least provided with a first sliding shaft (311) and a second sliding shaft (312), and the second connecting member (32) is at least provided with a first sliding rail (321, Fig.7) and a second sliding rail (322); the first sliding shaft (311) is connected to the first sliding rail (321) and is able to move along the first sliding rail (Fig.7-Fig.19), and the second sliding shaft (312) is connected to the second sliding rail (322) and is able to move along the second sliding rail (322); and wherein the first sliding rail (321) linearly extends (FIg.7), and the second sliding rail (322) extends along an ellipse (see annotated figure below); when the door body (20) blocks the opening (Fig.6), the first sliding rail (321) tilts relative to a plane where the opening is located (Fig.7-Fig.19), a part of the second sliding rail (322 at L2, Fig.7) away from the box body (10) is close to the pivoting side (P, Fig.1, FIg.6) relative to the first sliding rail (321, Fig.7), so that the door body (20) moves towards a target side of the box body (10, Fig.8) during a process from blocking the opening by the door body (Fig.6) to opening the door body relative to the box body (Fig.8, door 20 moves in the Y direction, Fig.6, from pivot side P towards the other side when moved from position in figure 6 to figure 8; sections 0064 and 0065); and the opening comprises two opposite sides (Fig.6), the pivoting side (P, Fig.1/at 13, Fig.6) is disposed on one of the two opposite sides (Fig.1), and the target side is disposed on the other of the two opposite sides (other side); and wherein a center of the ellipse is located on the first sliding rail (321, see annotated figure below); wherein the first sliding shaft (311) and the second sliding shaft (312) are both away from the pivoting side (at 13, FIg.6, see annotated figure below) relative to the center of the ellipse (see annotated figure below) when the door body blocks the opening (Fig.6, Fig.7).
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With respect to claim 4, wherein the second sliding rail (322) is located on a side of a connecting line (dashed line L1 see below) between the second sliding shaft (312) and the center of the ellipse away from the box body when the door body blocks the opening.
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With respect to claim 5, wherein the second sliding rail (322) is located on a side of a connecting line (dashed line L1, see above) between the second sliding shaft (312) and the center of the ellipse close to the box body (10) when the door body (20) blocks the opening (Fig.7; the second rail 322 is located on either side of the connecting line L1 one side away from the box body and the other side close to the box body 10).
With respect to claim 6, wherein the second sliding rail (322) bends along a direction close to the pivoting side (at L2, FIg.7) and the direction away from the box body (10) when the door body blocks the opening (Fig.6, Fig.7).
With respect to claim 7, wherein the first sliding rail (321) extends along a direction (at A1, Fig.7) close to the target side and a direction away from the box body when the door body blocks the opening (Fig.7).
With respect to claim 8, wherein an end surface of the door body facing the hinge assembly comprises an inner edge (at 22 in Fig.6) and an outer edge (at 23 in FIg.6), the inner edge and the outer edge are disposed at intervals along a first direction (X, Fig.6) and extend along a second direction (Y, Fig.6), the first direction (X) is perpendicular to the second direction (Y, FIg.6), and the inner edge is close to the box body (10) relative to the outer edge when the door body blocks the opening (Fig.6).
With respect to claim 9, wherein the end surface of the door body facing the hinge assembly further comprises a side edge (at 24, FIg.6), the inner edge is connected to the outer edge by the side edge (24, Fig.6), and the side edge extends along the first direction (X).
With respect to claim 11, XIA shows the second sliding rail (322) where the second sliding shaft (312) is located has a tangent (P2, see annotation below), and an included angle between the first slide rail (at P1) and the second tangent (P2) is greater than or equal to 10 degrees.
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With respect to claim 12, wherein the second sliding rail (322) intersects with a major axis (solid horizontal line in annotated figure below) of the ellipse at an inflection point (see figure below).
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With respect to claim 13, wherein the second sliding rail (322) has a target point (see annotation above), and the target point is located on a side of a minor axis of the ellipse facing the inflection point (see figure above).
With respect to claim 14, wherein an included angle between the major axis of the ellipse and a connecting line (see annotation above) between the target point and the inflection point is greater than or equal to 10 degrees (see angle between the two lines above).
With respect to claim 15, wherein the second connecting member (32) defines a reference circle (see annotation below, green circle outside ellipse), a center of the reference circle is located on a center line (see annotation below) of the first sliding rail (321), and a center of the ellipse coincides with the center of the reference circle (see annotation below).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 10, 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN112282547A (XIA) alone.
With respect to claim 10, XIA shows wherein the first direction (X) is perpendicular to the plane where the opening is located however XIA doesn’t explicitly teach the minimum distances from any one of the first sliding rail and the second sliding rail to the inner edge, the outer edge, and the side edge are all greater than or equal to 6 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to make the minimum distance greater than or equal to 6mm, in order to provide a door hinge that allows the door to rotate a desirable distance and angle and since change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 16, XIA shows wherein the side edge (at 24, Fig.6) is perpendicular to the plane where the opening is located, a radius of the reference circle is defined as R, a distance from the center of the reference circle to the side edge is defined as N, and XIA shows the radius (R ) is less than distance from the center of the reference circle to the side edge (24, FIg.6) but doesn’t explicitly teach that that is less than or equal to100 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to make the distance (N) less than or equal to 100 mm, in order to construct a hinge with sliding rails and shafts at a desired distance from the side edge of the door to allow the door to rotate at a desirable distance and angle and since such a modification would involve a mere change in size which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 17, XIA teaches wherein a radius of the reference circle is defined as R, a length of the side edge (at 24, FIg.6) in the first direction (X direction) is defined as D, a distance from the center of the reference circle to the outer edge is defined as W, but doesn’t explicitly teach R<W<(1/2)D. It would have been obvious matter of design choice to make R<W<(1/2)D, in order to provide a hinge with slide rails and shafts at a desirable distance from the side edge and outer edge of the door to allow the door to rotate at a desirable distance and angle and since such a modification would involve a mere change in size which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 18, XIA shows wherein the side edge (at 24, Fig.6) is perpendicular to the plane where the opening (at 14, FIg.6) is located, a distance from the center of the reference circle to the side edge is defined as N, but doesn’t show that 15 mm<N<100 mm. It would have been obvious matter of design choice to make the distance (N) from the center of the reference circle to the side edge 15 mm<N<100 mm, in order to provide a hinge a desirable distance from the side edge of the door to allow the door to rotate at a desirable distance and angle and since such a modification would involve a mere change in size which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 19, XIA shows wherein a radius of the reference circle is defined as R, a length of the side edge in the first direction is defined as D, a distance from the center of the reference circle to the outer edge is defined as W, but doesn’t explicitly disclose R<W<D. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to make R<W<D, in order to provide a hinge at a desirable distance from the side edge and outer edge of the door to allow the door to rotate at a desirable distance and angle and since such a modification would involve a mere change in size which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 20, XIA shows the second connecting member (32) defines a reference circle, a center of the reference circle is located on a center line of the first sliding rail (see drawing above for claim 15), and a center of the ellipse coincides with the center of the reference circle (see annotation above for Fig.15); a length of the door body in the first direction (X) is defined as H; a length of the door body in the second direction (Y) is defined as L; a radius of the reference circle is defined as R, and R=(1/3)H; and a minimum distance from the reference circle to the outer edge is defined as M. XIA doesn’t disclose 35 mm<H<100 mm, 300 mm<L<700 mm, R=(1/3)H, and 0 mm<M<15 mm. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to make H greater than 35 but less than or equal to 100 mm, 300 mm<L<700 mm, R=(1/3)H, and 0 mm<M<15 mm, in order to provide a desirable door body size and hinge at a desirable distance from the edges of the door body to allow the door to rotate at a desirable distance and angle and since such a modification would involve a mere change in size which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 21, XIA shows wherein the first sliding rail (321) extends along a first reference line (see annotation below), the second connecting member defines a second reference line (see annotated Fig.7 below), and a starting point of the second sliding shaft (312, FIg.7) is located on an intersection point of the ellipse and the second reference line (see annotated figure below).
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With respect to claim 21, XIA doesn’t explicitly disclose an arbitrary point (x,y) of the ellipse in a coordinate system satisfies the relationship X= M/sin(6)*cos(90°-a'-6)-R*sin(a'), y=M/sin(6)*sin(90°-a'-0); where X is a coordinate value of the arbitrary point on a first coordinate axis X, y is a coordinate value of the arbitrary point on a second coordinate axis Y, M is a coordinate absolute value of the starting point of the second sliding shaft on the first coordinate axis X, a' is an opening angle of the door body relative to the box body, and 0 is an angle between the first reference line and the second reference line. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make an arbitrary point (x,y) of the ellipse have the relationship of x= M/sin(6)*cos(90°-a'-6)-R*sin(a'), y=M/sin(6)*sin(90°-a'-0) since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that Xia shows the second shaft 312 is closer to the pivoting side 13 relative to the center of the ellipse. The examiner respectfully disagrees. XIA shows the first and second shafts 311 and 312 are both away from the pivoting side relative to the center of the ellipse (see dotted line). The pivoting side is underneath the center of ellipse line (dotted lines) and as can be seen in the annotated Fig.7 below both shafts 311 and 312 are away from the pivoting side relative to the center of the ellipse (located on the opposite side of the dotted line).
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Conclusion
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/HIWOT E TEFERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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