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 . This Office action is based on the communications filed June 20, 2024. Claims 1 – 15 are currently pending and considered below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 20, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 15, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “near” in claim 12 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “near” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Since the term near is unclear the relationship of the diameter is also unclear and therefore for examination purposes the claim will be interpreted as the second rotating body comprising a step having different outer diameter portions.
Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 12, 14, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Watanabe (JP 2008021379 A), with English citations from the provided machine translation, hereinafter Watanabe.
Claim 1: Watanabe discloses a rotary operator comprising:
a first rotating body rotatable around an imaginary rotation axis (see at least, “27 denotes a disc,” Watanabe [0014], “The first optical sensor unit 36 detects the slit portion of the scale portion 38, generates a first pulse signal corresponding to the rotation state (rotation angle and rotation direction) of the disk portion 27, and inputs the first pulse signal to the control unit 10,” Watanabe [0022], Watanabe FIG. 2);
a second rotating body (see at least, “30 denotes an operation disc,” Watanabe [0014], “operation discal unit 30 rotates,” Watanabe [0019], “The second optical sensor unit 33 detects the 35a of the slit portion of the scale unit 35, generates a second pulse signal corresponding to the rotation state of the operation discal unit 30, and inputs the second pulse signal to the control unit 10,” Watanabe [0022], Watanabe FIG. 2) being detachably attached (see at least, “Since the audio reproduction apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to hold the operation discal unit 30 by inserting the rotation shaft 32 into the notch 31a formed in the holding unit 31, the holding unit 31 can be easily attached and detached. Therefore, the Slipmatt 29 can be easily replaced,” Watanabe [0044] and therefore operation disc 30 is also detachably attached since it is on top of Slipmatt 29), the second rotating body being configured to rotate integrally with the first rotating body (see at least, “When the audio reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment reproduces audio data recorded on a recording medium, the motor 22 rotates at a predetermined speed (for example, the angular velocity of the turntable at the time of reproduction of an analog record player). The driving force of the motor 22 is transmitted to the belt 26 wound around the pulleys 25 and 28 to rotate the disc 27, thereby rotating the Slipmatt 29, the operation disc 30, the scale 35, and the scale 38 at the same speed as the disc 27,” Watanabe [0024]) and also being rotatable around the rotation axis independently of the first rotating body (see at least, “The DJ places his / her hand on the operation discal unit 30 rotating at a predetermined speed, and gradually decreases the rotation speed of the operation discal unit 30. At this time, since the frictional coefficient of the Slipmatt 29 is small, the disc portion 27 rotates at a predetermined rotation speed without being affected by the rotation speed of the operation disc portion 30,” Watanabe [0026]); and
a friction adjusting member covered by the second rotating body as viewed from a side of the second rotating body with respect to the first rotating body (see at least, “29 denotes a Slipmatt,” Watanabe [0014], “FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the jog dial provided in the operation section 9,” Watanabe [0014], “The Slipmatt 29 is placed on the upper surface of the disc portion 27. The Slipmatt 29 is made of plastic or plastic fiber,” Watanabe [0018], Watanabe FIG. 2), the friction adjusting member being configured to adjust friction force between the first rotating body and the second rotating body (see at least, “In the audio reproduction device 1 of the present embodiment, the friction force generated between the operation discal unit 30 and the Slipmatt 29 may change when the thickness of the Slipmatt 29 or the operation discal unit 30 is not uniform, when the Slipmatt 29 is replaced, or when a sheet on which a figure or the like is designed is added between the operation discal unit 30 and the Slipmatt 29 when the operation discal unit 30 is transparent. In such a case, the DJ can adjust the friction force generated between the operation discal unit 30 and the Slipmatt 29 by rotating the adjustment unit 32a,” Watanabe [0045]), wherein the first rotating body (see at least, “27 denotes a disc,” Watanabe [0014]) comprises:
an installation portion (see at least, “upper surface of the disc portion 27,” Watanabe [0018]) to which the friction adjusting member is detachably attached (see at least, “The Slipmatt 29 is placed on the upper surface of the disc portion 27,” Watanabe [0018]); and a first engagement portion (see at least, “scale holding part 37 attached to the back surface of the disk part 27 by a screw 40… scale holding portion 37 is formed integrally with the bearing 43. The scale holding portion 37 is inserted into a bearing 41,” Watanabe [0016], Watanabe FIG. 2);
and the second rotating body (see at least, “30 denotes an operation disc,” Watanabe [0014]) comprises a second engagement portion engageable with the first engagement portion (see at least, “rotation shaft 32, which is a holding shaft of the operation discal unit 30. The rotating shaft 32 is inserted and held in a bearing 41,” Watanabe [0017], Watanabe FIG. 2).
Claim 2: Watanabe discloses the rotary operator according to claim 1, further comprising a drive device configured to rotate the first rotating body (see at least, “The motor 22 is attached to the panel 21 of the audio reproduction apparatus 1 by screws 40. In the panel 21, the bearing 41 is formed by insert molding, that is, integral molding (the same applies hereinafter). A pulley 24 is attached to a rotating shaft 23 of the motor 22. A belt 26 is wound around a pulley part 25 of a pulley 24 attached to a rotary shaft 23 of a motor 22 and a pulley part 28 of a disk part 27,” Watanabe [0015], “The control unit 10 controls the motor 22 based on the first pulse signal input from the first optical sensor unit 36 so as to keep the rotation speed of the disk unit 27 at a predetermined speed,” Watanabe [0023]).
Claim 3: Watanabe discloses the rotary operator according to claim 1, wherein the friction adjusting member is in an annular shape around the rotation axis, and the installation portion is provided along a circumferential edge of the first rotating body centered at the rotation axis (see at least, “pulley portion 28 is annularly provided on the back surface of the disk portion 27,” Watanabe [0016] “operation disc 30,” Watanabe FIG. 7, and therefore since the shape of Slipmatt 29 coincides with the shape of disk portion 27 and operation disc 30 in Watanabe FIG. 2, Slipmatt 29 is also annular and provided along a circumferential edge of disk portion 27 centered at rotation shaft 32, Watanabe FIG.2).
Claim 12: Watanabe discloses the rotary operator according to claim 1, wherein the second rotating body comprises a step provided for a circumferential edge of the second rotating body, the step having a portion near the first rotating body that has a smaller outer diameter than an outer diameter of a portion opposite the first rotating body (see at least, “The operation discal unit 30 is provided with a recessed 32b to be fitted to a projecting 31c provided on the holding unit 31 when the holding unit 31 is inserted into the insertion hole 30a of the rotary shaft 32,” [0040], FIG. 6, “the holding portion 31 comes into contact with the rotating shaft 32, and the projecting portion 31c of the holding portion 31 is fitted into the recessed portion 30a of the operation disc portion 30. The holding portion 31 holds the operation discal unit 30 by fitting the convex side 31c and the concave side 30a,” [0041], Watanabe FIG. 6, Watanabe FIG. 7).
Claim 14: Watanabe discloses an operation device comprising the rotary operator according to claim 1 (see at least, “FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the jog dial provided in the operation section 9,” Watanabe [0014]).
Claim 15: Watanabe discloses a sound control device comprising the operation device according to claim 14 (see at least, “FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an audio reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an audio reproduction apparatus according to the present embodiment, 2 denotes a reproduction unit, 3 denotes a signal processor, 4 denotes a memory controller, 5 denotes a storage unit, 6 denotes a DAC ( Digital to Analog Converter ), 7 denotes an amplifier, 8 denotes an output device, 9 denotes an operation unit, and 10 denotes a controller,” Watanabe [0011]).
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(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe in view of Onizuka et al. (US 2011/0013498 A1), hereinafter Onizuka.
Claim 13: Watanabe discloses the rotary operator according to claim 1, but does not specifically disclose wherein the friction adjusting member is formed from a resin containing polyethylene terephthalate.
Watanabe does disclose “The Slipmatt 29 is placed on the upper surface of the disc portion 27. The Slipmatt 29 is made of plastic or plastic fiber which has a small frictional coefficient and is unlikely to generate static charge. The operation discal unit 30 is placed on the upper surface of the Slipmatt 29,” Watanabe [0018]. Onizuka discloses a similar operating element and reproducer and further discloses wherein the friction adjusting member is formed from a resin containing polyethylene terephthalate (see at least, “A mat part 50 is disposed between the operating disc part 38 and the conductive cover part 36. The mat part 50 has an outer diameter that is substantially the same as that of the operating disc part 38 and is preferably made of a plastic material (e.g., nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a small friction coefficient, or the like so as to generate little static electricity,” Onizuka [0045]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the material of Onizuka in the invention of Watanabe thereby allowing for the advantage “a plastic material (e.g., nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a small friction coefficient, or the like so as to generate little static electricity,” Onizuka [0045] since it achieves the desired goals of the plastic suggested by Watanabe.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-1063. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R Edwards can be reached at (571)270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH SAUNDERS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692