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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 6-10, 12-22 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 2026-01-12.
Applicant's election with traverse of invention I and species A in the reply filed on 2026-01-12 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that:
Claims 12-13 are a method of rotatably coupling while 14-21 depend from claim 10 and should be grouped in group II. Applicant is correct, the updated groups are as follows
I claims 1-9
II claims 10, 14-21
III claims 12, 13
IV claim 22
Regarding arguments with respect to “first friction band” and “second friction band”: please see the rejection below.
Regarding arguments with respect to the claimed biasing: please see the rejection below.
Regarding the arguments that the prior art does not disclose a particular limitation of one of the four groups, it must be noted that in a unity of invention restriction the prior art need only disclose the limitations that are common between all of the groups; as such, Hsu need not disclose e.g. applicant’s “operatively press” limitation, as such limitation is not recited in all groups (i.e. is absent in claims 12 and 13). The rejection below does point out where Hsu discloses all the limitations of claims 1-5.
Applicant’s right to rejoinder is acknowledged.
Applicants traversal of the species is addressed above with respect to their traversal of the restriction, and is addressed below by way of the rejection of claims 1-5 under Hsu.
Thus the argument for traversal are not found persuasive.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
(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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hsu et al. (US 2020/0291702).
Regarding claim 1 Hsu discloses:
A hinge assembly for rotatably coupling a first substrate of a computing device to a second substrate of the computing device, the hinge assembly comprising:
a first hinge bracket (e.g. 122 FIG.1) configured to be affixed to the first substrate (e.g. 300 FIG.1) and comprising a first drive gear (e.g. G2 FIG.1) and first drive gear shaft (e.g. 121 FIG.2);
a second hinge bracket (e.g. 112 FIG.1) configured to be affixed to the second substrate (e.g. 200 FIG.1) and comprising a second drive gear (e.g. G1 FIG.1) and second drive gear shaft (e.g. 111 FIG.2);
a first idler gear (e.g. G4 FIG.1) engaging the first drive gear and a second idler gear (e.g. G3 FIG.1), the second idler gear engaging the second drive gear (e.g. shown FIG.1), wherein the first idler gear comprises a first idler gear shaft (e.g. shown not pointed out FIG.2) and the second idler gear comprises a second idler gear shaft (e.g. shown not pointed out FIG.2);
a first friction band (e.g. right K1 K2 K3 P1 P2 FIG.2) comprising a first arcuate contacting surface (e.g. right K3 connecting G2 FIG.2), an opposing second arcuate contacting surface (e.g. right K1 connecting G1 FIG.2), and a first biasing portion (e.g. right K2 FIG.2) between the first arcuate contacting surface and the second arcuate contacting surface, wherein the first biasing portion is biased in a first direction (e.g. clockwise/counterclockwise FIG.2) to operatively press the first arcuate contacting surface against a first portion of the first drive gear shaft and the second arcuate contacting surface against a third portion of the second drive gear shaft (e.g. indicated by dotted lines FIG.2); and
a second friction band (e.g. left K1 K2 K3 P1 P2 FIG.2) separate to the first friction band, the second friction band comprising a third arcuate contacting surface (e.g. left K3 connecting G2 FIG.2), an opposing fourth arcuate contacting surface (e.g. left K1 connecting G1 FIG.2), and a second biasing portion (e.g. left K2 FIG.2) between the third arcuate contacting surface and the fourth arcuate contacting surface, wherein the second biasing portion is biased in a second direction (e.g. counterclockwise/clockwise FIG.2) opposite to the first direction to operatively press the third arcuate contacting surface against a second portion of the first drive gear shaft and the fourth arcuate contacting surface against a fourth portion of the second drive gear shaft (e.g. indicated by dotted lines FIG.2).
Regarding claim 2 Hsu discloses:
the first biasing portion comprises a first arcuate biasing surface about which the first friction band is pivotable (e.g. as shown/indicated FIG.2), and the second biasing portion comprises a second arcuate biasing surface about which the second friction band is pivotable (e.g. as shown/indicated FIG.2).
Regarding claim 3 Hsu discloses:
an enclosure (e.g. 130 FIG.2) in which the first friction band and the second friction band are located (e.g. indicated by dotted lines FIG.2), the enclosure comprising:
a first inner surface (e.g. right inner face FIG.2) contacting the first arcuate biasing surface of the first friction band in an interference fit (e.g. squeezed by 140 as indicated via dotted lines FIG.2); and
a second inner surface (e.g. left inner surface face FIG.2) contacting the second arcuate biasing surface of the second friction band in an interference fit (e.g. squeezed by 140 as indicated via dotted lines FIG.2).
Regarding claim 4 Hsu discloses:
the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to axes of the first drive gear shaft and the second drive gear shaft (e.g. the tangent of the circumference of a cylinder, independent of rotation direction, is orthogonal to the axis of the cylinder as arranged as shown FIG.2).
Regarding claim 5 Hsu discloses:
the first friction band further defines a first idler hole (e.g. hole of right K3 connecting G4 FIG.2) that rotatably receives the first idler gear shaft, and the second friction band further defines a second idler hole (e.g. hole of left K1 connecting G3 FIG.2) that rotatably receives the second idler gear shaft.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional references cited on the PTO-892 disclose/teach similar hinged circuit board housings as those disclosed in the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THERON S MILLISER whose telephone number is (571)270-1800. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6.
Limited examiner interviews are available.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N. Hayman can be reached at (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THERON S MILLISER/Examiner, Art Unit 2841 /IMANI N HAYMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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