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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/16/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on 05/16/2024 are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The attempt to incorporate subject matter into this application by reference to PCT/GB2022/052788 is ineffective because the incorporation by reference was filed after the PCT date of 11/04/2022, which considered the filing date of the US application. As such, the incorporation by reference statement must be removed, as it introduces new matter by being filed after the filing date of the application.
See MPEP 608.01(p) I B: For the incorporation by reference to be effective as a proper safeguard, the incorporation by reference statement must be filed at the time of filing of the later-filed application. An incorporation by reference statement added after an application s filing date is not effective because no new matter can be added to an application after its filing date and MPEP 1893.03(b): An international application designating the U.S. has two stages (international and national) with the filing date being the same in both stages. Often the date of entry into the national stage is confused with the filing date. It should be borne in mind that the filing date of the international stage application is also the filing date for the national stage application. Specifically, 35 U.S.C. 363 provides that an international application designating the United States shall have the effect, from its international filing date under Article 11 of the treaty, of a national application for patent regularly filed in the Patent and Trademark Office as well as:
PCT Article 11(3) - ...an international filing date shall have the effect of a regular national application in each designated State as of the international filing date, which date shall be considered to be the actual filing date in each designated State. The specification amendment filed on 05/16/2024 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: the incorporation by reference to PCT/GB2022/052788.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 2, the term may be amended as “[[the ]]princip[[le]]al curvatures” in line 2.
In claim 3, the term may be amended as “the princip[[le]]al curvatures”.
In claim 5, the term may be amended as “[[the ]]princip[[le]]al curvatures of the first curved surface portion” in lines 3-4, and “[[the ]]princip[[le]]al curvatures of the second curved surface portion” in lines 4-5.
In claim 10, line 4, the term may be amended as “[[a]]the cleaning too head”.
In claim 11, line 2, the term may be amended as “the field of view” because the abbreviation FOV is not recited subsequently.
In claim 19, line 2, the term may be amended as “[[the]]a centre of vibration”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 8-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng et al. (TW I738529B, hereinafter Jeng), in view of Sun et al. (CN 202179605U, cited on 05/16/2024 IDS, hereinafter Sun).
Regarding claim 1, Jeng discloses, in fig. 1, a cleaning tool head for a dental cleaning appliance (figs. 1-3 and Jeng English translation, abstract, p. 5:22-32, a dental cleaning member 20 for a smart tooth cleaning device), the cleaning tool head comprising a lens cover (fig. 2 and Jeng English translation, p. 7:11-39, the brush head 21 of the dental cleaning member 20 comprises a first transparent window 212 [corresponds to the recited lens cover], which enters a camera module to generate an image), but does not disclose an outer surface of the lens cover comprises a first curved surface portion.
Sun teaches, in an analogous toothbrush field of endeavor, an outer surface of the lens cover comprises a first curved surface portion (fig. 1 and Sun English translation, p. 4:24-5:2, cleaner head 11 [corresponds to the recited cleaning tool head] comprises a camera lens 2 having a curved surface portion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cleaning tool head of Jeng to provide the lens cover comprising the curved surface portion as taught by Sun. The curved lens cover helps the camera to capture focused images.
Regarding claim 2, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, wherein the principle curvatures of the curved surface portion are both greater than zero (Sun fig. 2, the lens 2 has no flat surface portion, therefore any of its principal curvatures is greater than zero).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cleaning tool head of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the lens cover having greater than zero principal curvatures as taught by Sun. The curved lens cover helps the camera to capture focused images.
Regarding claim 3, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 2, wherein the principle curvatures of the curved surface portion are equal to one another (Sun fig. 1, the convex shape of the lens 2 is symmetrical from a side view, thus the principal curvatures are equal to one another).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cleaning tool head of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the lens cover having equal principal curvatures as taught by Sun. The curved lens cover helps the camera to capture focused images.
Regarding claim 4, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose at least one radius of curvature of the curved surface portion is in a range of from 1.5 to 4.5 mm.
Sun does not disclose a size of the lens 2. However, a curvature radius of the curved portion of the lens cover would affect a focal length in capturing images by the camera, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lens cover of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide its one radius of curvature of the curved surface portion to be in a range between 1.5 and 4.5 mm in order to capture good quality camera images. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05(II).
Regarding claim 8, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose a maximum height of the lens cover is in a range of from 3 to7 mm.
Sun does not disclose a size of the lens 2. However, a height of the lens cover would affect a focal length in capturing images by the camera, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lens cover of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide its maximum height to be in a range between 3 and 7 mm in order to capture good quality camera images. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05(II).
Regarding claim 9, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, wherein the cleaning tool head is a brush head comprising bristles or other elements for brushing teeth (Jeng English translation, p. 5:22-32 and fig. 1, the brush head 21 [corresponds to the recited brush head] of the dental cleaning member 20 [corresponds to the recited cleaning tool head] comprises a plurality of bristles 23).
Regarding claim 10, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, and further teaches a dental cleaning appliance (Jeng English translation, abstract and fig. 1, the smart tooth cleaning device) comprising: a body (Jeng fig. 1, holding member 10); and an imaging sensor having a field of view (Jeng English translation, p. 7:11-39, a camera module 90 [corresponds to the recited imaging sensor] is used to capture images of the oral cavity and teeth. Thus, the camera module has a field of view).
Regarding claim 11, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 10, wherein a region of interest (ROI) is defined within the field of view (FOV) of the sensor, and wherein the lens cover of the cleaning tool head is arranged to overlay the imaging sensor such that at least a part of the ROI intersects at least a part of the first curved surface portion of the lens cover, when the cleaning tool head is attached as part of the dental cleaning appliance (Jeng English translation, p. 7:11-39 and fig. 2, the camera module 90 disposed on a transmission member 60 corresponds to the first transparent window 212 [corresponds to the recited lens cover] disposed on the brush head 21 when the brush head 21 is attached to the holding member 10 of the tooth cleaning device. Because the camera is used to capture the images of the oral cavity and teeth, the oral cavity and teeth are considered as the recited field of view for the camera. On the other hand, defining a region of interest within the FOV is an intended use. By combining with Sun, the transparent window of Jeng would be modified to have the curved surface portion, and at least a part of the ROI would intersect at least a part of the curved surface portion of the lens cover).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lens cover of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide at least the part of the ROI to intersect at least the part of the first curved surface portion of the lens cover so that the camera can take images of the oral cavity and teeth in order to detect conditions of mouth and teeth of a user.
Regarding claim 12, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 11, wherein the entire ROI intersects the first curved surface portion of the lens cover, when the cleaning tool head is attached as part of the dental cleaning appliance.
As discussed above in claim 11, when the brush head 21 of the dental cleaning member 20 [corresponds to the recited cleaning tool head] of Jeng is attached to the holding member 10 of the tooth cleaning device, the first transparent window 212 [corresponds to the recited lens cover] allows the camera to view the ROI. By combining with Sun, the transparent window 212 of Jeng would be modified to have the first curved surface portion for intersecting with the ROI. Examiner notes defining the ROI is the intended use. In case the ROI is defined to be a small area, the entire ROI would intersect the first curved surface portion of the lens cover).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lens cover of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the entire ROI to intersect the first curved surface portion of the lens cover so that the camera can take detailed images of the oral cavity and teeth in order to detect conditions of mouth and teeth of a user.
Regarding claim 13, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 10, wherein the dental cleaning appliance body comprises a handle portion and a spigot portion, the cleaning tool head being removably connectable to the spigot portion of the dental cleaning appliance body (Jeng, fig. 2, the smart tooth cleaning device comprises the holding member 10 [corresponds to the recited handle portion] and the transmission member 60 [corresponds to the recited spigot portion]; figs. 1-2, the dental cleaning member 20 [corresponds to the recited cleaning tool head] is removably connectable to the transmission member 60).
Regarding claim 14, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 13, wherein the imaging sensor is located within the spigot portion of the dental cleaning appliance body (Jeng fig. 2, the camera module 90 [corresponds to the recited imaging sensor] is located within the transmission member 60 [corresponds to the recited spigot portion]).
Regarding claim 15, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 10, wherein the imaging sensor is a camera (Jeng English translation, p. 7:11, the camera module 90 is used to capture images of the oral cavity and teeth).
Regarding claim 16, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 10, wherein the dental cleaning appliance further comprises a light source arranged for illumination of at least part of the field of view of the imaging sensor (Jeng English translation, p. 7:11-12 and fig. 2, a first light-emitting module 110 [corresponds to the recited light source] generates light for illuminating the oral cavity).
Regarding claim 17, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 10, wherein the dental cleaning appliance is operable to apply vibration to the cleaning tool head (Jeng English translation, p. 6:15 and fig. 1, the dental cleaning member 20, which includes the brush head 21 and a connecting portion 22, vibrates to clean the teeth).
Regarding claim 19, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 17, wherein the centre of vibration lies along a longitudinal central axis of the cleaning tool head (Jeng English translation, p. 5:12-15 and fig. 2, the dental cleaning member 20 vibrates orthogonal to an extension direction of the transmission member 60 wherein the dental cleaning member 20 and the transmission member 60 share the same longitudinal axis. Therefore, the vibration center or the movement center lies along a longitudinal direction axis of the brush head 21 as described in specification of the instant application, p. 5:38-6:2).
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng in view of Sun, as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Chan et al. (US 2005/0050659, cited on 05/16/2024 IDS, hereinafter Chan).
Regarding claim 5, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose the lens cover comprises a second curved surface portion immediately adjacent to the first curved surface portion, wherein the principle curvatures of the first curved surface portion differ from the principle curvatures of the second curved surface portion.
Chan teaches, in an analogous toothbrush field of endeavor, the lens cover comprises a second curved surface portion immediately adjacent to the first curved surface portion, wherein the principle curvatures of the first curved surface portion differ from the principle curvatures of the second curved surface portion (see annotated Chan fig. 23 below, a toothbrush head comprises a lens 1904 [corresponds to the recited lens cover]. The lens can be defined to include the recited first curved surface portion and the recited second curved surface portion wherein the two curved surface portions are disposed immediately adjacent to each other. The two curved surface portions have different curvatures, therefore, their principal curvatures are different).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lens cover of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the first and second curved surface portions as taught by Chan. The two curved surface portions can provide greater illuminating area in illuminating brushing area (Chan ¶ 0002).
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Annotated Chan Fig. 23
Regarding claim 6, Jeng as modified by Sun and Chan teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 5, wherein the first curved surface portion comprises a domed surface portion, and the second curved surface portion comprises a cylindrical surface portion (see annotated Chan fig. 23 above, the recited first curved surface portion comprises a domed surface portion and the recited second curved surface portion comprises a cylindrical surface portion).
Regarding claim 7, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the cleaning tool head as in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose explicitly the lens cover is attached to the cleaning tool head by one or more of: an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, laser welding, or an attachment structure.
Chan teaches, in an analogous toothbrush field of endeavor, the lens cover is attached to the cleaning tool head by an attachment structure (¶ 0071 and fig. 4, a lens is fixed in an aperture of a light-emitting element formed in a middle of a bristle holder 97. Thus, the aperture can be considered as an attachment structure to fix the lens).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the cleaning tool head of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the lens cover attachment as taught by Chan in order to attach the lens cover in the toothbrush head so that it is securely fixed during operation in the oral cavity.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng in view of Sun, as applied to claim 17 above, and in further view of Motahedy (US 2017/0055694).
Regarding claim 18, Jeng as modified by Sun teaches the dental cleaning appliance as in the rejection of claim 17, but does not disclose explicitly the vibration is sinusoidal vibration.
Motahedy teaches, in an analogous cleaning system field of endeavor, the vibration is sinusoidal vibration (fig. 1 and ¶ 0043, a brush cleaning system can be a toothbrush including bristles; ¶ 0057, the bristles vibrate as an extension of a sinusoidal wave).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the dental cleaning appliance of Jeng as modified by Sun to provide the sinusoidal vibration as taught by Motahedy. The motorized cleaning system allows combining amplitudes of sinusoidal waves so that an end of the brush experiences the increased vibrations for better cleaning effect (¶ 0057).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hu et al. (US 2021/0282632) discloses a toothbrush comprising a camera disposed on a spigot portion of a dental cleaning appliance body.
Lu et al. (US 2012/0019940) teaches a lens can be attached by adhesive.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUKWOO JAMES CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7402. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00a-5:00p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at (313) 446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUKWOO JAMES CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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