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 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 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sokol (CN 103732175).
Sokol teaches a cleaning and caring appliance, comprising: a housing, in which a chamber is formed; a motor (32), which includes an output shaft having a first axis, the output shaft performing a rotational motion, and the motor being arranged in the chamber; a drive shaft (20), which has a second axis and extends out of the chamber; and a connecting rod mechanism (52), which is connected to both the output shaft and the drive shaft and is configured to convert the rotational motion of the output shaft around the first axis into reciprocating rotation of the drive shaft around the second axis; wherein the cleaning and caring appliance comprises a frame (26), the frame being arranged adjacent to the motor in the housing, the frame includes a frame bottom wall (see figure below) and a first boss (see figure below) and a second boss (see figure below) which protrude from the frame bottom wall, at least part of the output shaft being accommodated in a first boss cavity (see figure below; cavity is the opening in the first boss) formed by the first boss, the second boss being provided with a hole portion (21), the drive shaft (11) being accommodated in the hole portion (see figure below) to perform the reciprocating rotation, and the second boss being overlapped above the first boss such that the hole portion is located above the first boss cavity.
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With regards to claim 10, the frame bottom wall is provided with a boss bottom hole (see figure above) on one side of the first boss close to the motor, and the output shaft of the motor extends into the first boss cavity through the boss bottom hole.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sokol (‘175).
Sokol teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention however fails to teach that the second boss is formed separately from the first boss and the second boss is snap fitted onto the first boss. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sokol so that the first and second bosses are formed separately and snap fit together since making parts separable is a modification that has been considered to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04. Further, having them separate would allow the user to ability to replace parts rather than replace the entire device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 includes the limitation that the second boss is overlapped the above the first boss wherein the first axis of the output shaft is substantially aligned with the second axis of the drive shaft.
Claim 3 includes the limitation that the boss hole bottom abuts against a first end of the drive shaft and the boss hole bottom is integrally formed with at least one of the first or second boss.
Claim 4 includes the limitation that a driving wheel is provided on the output shaft of the motor, and at least part of the driving wheel is accommodated in the first boss cavity; and the connecting rod mechanism further comprises: a driven wheel being in gear engagement with the driving wheel; a driven wheel eccentric rod connected to the driven wheel, with a central axis of the driven wheel eccentric rod being eccentrically arranged relative to an axis of rotation of the driven wheel; a connecting rod, which has one end connected to the driven wheel eccentric rod; a drive shaft eccentric rod connected to the other end of the connecting rod; and a drive shaft connection rod, which has one end connected to the drive shaft eccentric rod and the other end fixed to the drive shaft.
None of the prior art teach these limitations nor would it have been obvious to modify the prior art to achieve the claimed invention. Therefore, these claims are free from the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAY LYNN KARLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1268. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (6am-5pm).
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/SHAY KARLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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