DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8 recites “and when the door is not normally moved during movement of the door”. This limitation is unclear (i.e. how can the door not be moved during movement of the door? Additionally, what is considered “normal”?). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Subramanian (US 2021/0363811).
Regarding claim 1, Subramanian discloses a door opening and closing mechanism of an entrance of an aircraft lavatory unit, the door opening and closing mechanism comprising: a door (element 102) manually movable (paragraph [0050]) between a closed position for closing an entrance of a lavatory and an open position for opening the entrance and always biased to be at the closed position (paragraph [0034], “a biasing member (e.g. a helical or gas spring, or the weight of the extendible actuator 122 in the extended position) connects the door 102 to the doorframe 114, biasing the door 102 into the closed position relative to the door frame 114”); and a powered door opening mechanism (considered at least elements 110, 122, 124, 138, and 140) [configured to move the door from the closed position to the open position]*; the powered door opening mechanism comprising an outdoor non-contact sensor (element 138) provided outside the lavatory and [configured to detect in a non-contact manner operation of a person holding a hand over the outdoor non-contact sensor]* (paragraph [0039]), a human detecting sensor (considered either of element 142 or 146) [configured to detect presence of a person inside the lavatory]*, an actuator (element 122) [configured to move the door]*, and a control unit (element 124) [configured to control the actuator]*, and the control unit causing, in a case where the human detecting sensor detects nothing, the actuator to move the door from the closed position to the open position when the outdoor non-contact sensor detects a person (See at least paragraph [0036]).
Examiner’s note: *The above/below statements in brackets are examples of an intended use statement that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to the structure of a door opening and closing mechanism, the prior art must only be capable of meeting the structural recitation in order to be applicable, and in this case, the examiner maintains that the door opening and closing mechanism disclosed by Subramanian is entirely capable of the intended use statement. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Regarding claim 2, Subramanian discloses wherein when the human detecting sensor detects a person, the control unit prohibits the actuator from moving the door from the closed position to the open position regardless of whether the outdoor non-contact sensor detects a person (See at least paragraph [0048]).
Regarding claim 3, Subramanian discloses wherein when the human detecting sensor detects a person, the door is located at the open position, and a first predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit causes the actuator to move the door from the open position to the closed position (Examiner notes that the door system of Subramanian is entirely capable of the above functionality. See at least paragraph [0036], “the controller 124 can be configured to actuate the latch actuator 110 and extendible door actuator 122 upon receipt of a gesture by user 101 on either of the exterior or interior sensors 138, 140, to hold the door 102 in the open position for a threshold amount of time, for example, until a close command is issued from the controller 124. The threshold amount of time can be a predetermined amount of time where the close command is automatically issued at the expiration of the threshold amount of time, or the threshold amount of time can include the amount of time for a user to clear the frame, as described below, or any suitable combination thereof can be used”. Examiner notes that if a user enters the lavatory, sensor 146 would detect presence of the user and the controller would automatically issue the close command after a threshold amount of time).
Regarding claim 4, Subramanian discloses an indoor non-contact sensor (element 140) provided inside the lavatory and [configured to detect in a non-contact manner operation of a person holding a hand over the indoor non-contact sensor]*, wherein when the human detecting sensor detects a person (See paragraphs [0040-0043], “the interior sensors 146 can include sensors to detect presence and consciousness (e.g. passive infrared sensors and/or any proximity sensors). For example, the interior sensor 146 can be configured to scan the interior space 108 at chosen time intervals (e.g. every 10 seconds) to confirm the occupancy and the consciousness of the user 101”), the door is located at the open position, and the indoor non-contact sensor detects a person, the control unit causes the actuator to move the door from the open position to the closed position (See paragraphs [0035-0039]). Examiner notes that the door system of Subramanian is entirely capable of the above functionality (i.e. if sensor 146 detects a person, a door close command from sensor 140 can cause the controller 124 to close the door).
Regarding claim 5, Subramanian discloses an indoor non-contact sensor (element 140) provided inside the lavatory and [configured to detect in a non-contact manner operation of a person holding a hand over the indoor non-contact sensor]*, wherein when the human detecting sensor detects a person (See paragraphs [0040-0043]), the door located at the closed position, and the indoor non-contact sensor detects a person, the control unit causes the actuator to move the door from the closed position to the open position (See paragraphs [0034-0041]). Examiner notes that the door system of Subramanian is entirely capable of the above functionality (i.e. if sensor 146 detects a person, a door open command from sensor 140 can cause the controller 124 to open the door).
Regarding claim 6, Subramanian discloses wherein when the human detecting sensor detects nothing and a second predetermined time has elapsed in a state where the door is located at the open position, the control unit causes the actuator to move the door from the open position to the closed position (See at least paragraph [0036], “the controller 124 can be configured to actuate the latch actuator 110 and extendible door actuator 122 upon receipt of a gesture by user 101 on either of the exterior or interior sensors 138, 140, to hold the door 102 in the open position for a threshold amount of time, for example, until a close command is issued from the controller 124. The threshold amount of time can be a predetermined amount of time where the close command is automatically issued at the expiration of the threshold amount of time”. Examiner notes, for example, if a user exits the lavatory, sensor 146 would detect nothing, and the controller would close the door after a predetermined amount of time).
Regarding claim 7, Subramanian discloses wherein when a third predetermined time has elapsed in a state where the door is located at the open position and the human detecting sensor detects a person, the control unit causes the actuator to move the door from the open position to the closed position (Examiner notes that the door system of Subramanian is entirely capable of the above functionality. See at least paragraph [0036], “the controller 124 can be configured to actuate the latch actuator 110 and extendible door actuator 122 upon receipt of a gesture by user 101 on either of the exterior or interior sensors 138, 140, to hold the door 102 in the open position for a threshold amount of time, for example, until a close command is issued from the controller 124. The threshold amount of time can be a predetermined amount of time where the close command is automatically issued at the expiration of the threshold amount of time, or the threshold amount of time can include the amount of time for a user to clear the frame, as described below, or any suitable combination thereof can be used”. Examiner notes that if a user enters the lavatory, sensor 146 would detect presence of the user and the controller would automatically issue the close command after a threshold amount of time).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Subramanian (US 2021/0363811) in view of Boren et al. (US 2014/0196372) (hereinafter Boren).
Regarding claim 8, as best understood, Subramanian discloses wherein the actuator moves the door with a driving force, and when the door is not normally moved during movement of the door (Examiner notes that, as best understood, the door of Subramanian normally moves in a similar manner as Applicants door), the control unit cuts off energization to the actuator to set the driving force applied from the actuator to the door to zero. Examiner notes that the driving force applied from the door actuator 122 is necessarily zero when the door is closed.
Although Subramanian does not explicitly disclose that the door actuator is an electric motor, Boren teaches that it is known in the art to configure a door opening and closing mechanism of an entrance of an aircraft lavatory unit (See at least paragraph [0001]), the door opening and closing mechanism comprising: a door (element 26) movable between a closed position for closing an entrance of a lavatory and an open position for opening the entrance; and a powered door opening mechanism (at least element 38, see paragraph [0020]) configured to move the door from the closed position to the open position; the powered door opening mechanism comprising an outdoor non-contact sensor (element 40) provided outside the lavatory and configured to detect in a non-contact manner operation of a person holding a hand over the outdoor non-contact sensor, a human detecting sensor (element 62) configured to detect presence of a person inside the lavatory (See at least paragraph [0024]), an actuator (element 38) configured to move the door, and a control unit (Considered combination of at least elements 38, 40, 62) configured to control the actuator, wherein the actuator moves the door with a driving force of an electric motor (See at least paragraph [0020], “The motor assembly 38 is operable to selectively move the door 26 to its open position out of the doorway 24, and its closed position in the doorway. The motor assembly 38 is electrically operated and could include a rotary motor, a solenoid motor or some other type of motor that is operable to selectively open and close the door 26”), and when the door is not normally moved during movement of the door, the control unit cuts off energization to the electric motor to set the driving force applied from the electric motor to the door to zero. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the door actuator of Subramanian such that it includes an electric motor, since electric motors are extremely well-known in the art for use as electrical actuators, and since configuring the system of Subramanian such that it uses an electric motor for driving the door to open and closed positions would function as intended, and since it is prima facie obvious to choose from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions with a reasonable expectation of results (MPEP 2143(E)). Additionally, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art as evidenced above, and one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed, or substituted one known element for another, using known methods with no change in their respective functions. Such a combination or substitution would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made, since the elements perform as expected and thus the results would be expected. See MPEP 2143.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN B REPHANN whose telephone number is (571)270-7318. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN B REPHANN/Examiner, Art Unit 3634