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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final First Office Action on the Merits in application 18/724,731, filed 6/27/2024.
Claims 2, 7, 18 and 21 were amended and claims 3, 5, 8-9, 19, 22 and 27 canceled in the preliminary amendment filed.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-7, 10-18, 20-21 and 23-26 are pending and examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/27/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in Figs. 4-11 the fabric roller 210 appears to show rotatable member 230 spaced from friction roller/surface 220, yet in Figs. 12-13 the rotatable member 230 is shown within friction roller/surface 220. It is not clear how the features of Figs. 12-13 interrelate with the features of Figs. 4-11. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 10 depends from rejected claim 8. Claim 10 should be amended to depend from claim 7. Claim 10 will be considered to depend from claim 7 for examination purposes. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 1-2, 4, 6-7, 11-14,16-18, 20-21 and 23-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Certain(U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. 2014/0262066; cited on IDS filed).
Regarding claims 1 and 23, Certain discloses an apparatus/method(10, see Fig. 1) comprising:
a fabric supply roller(40, see Figs. 3 and 7-12) having an outer surface;
a window shading(22, see Fig. 2) including:
a first facing(34; see Figs. 2 and 7-12) coupled to the fabric supply roller at a first position on the outer surface of the fabric supply roller;
a second facing(30, see Figs. 2 and 7-12) coupled to the fabric supply roller at a second position on the outer surface of the fabric supply roller; and
a plurality of vanes(38, see Fig. 2) extending between the first facing(34) and the second facing(30) and coupling the facings; and
a friction surface(109, 209, 309, 409, see paras. [0053], [0069], [0072], [0074] and [0079] and Figs. 4 and 7-16) positioned to selectively engage/engaged with the first facing and restrain substantially downward movement of the first facing during substantially downward movement of the second facing(the first facing held stationary while the second facing moves downward to open up the vanes, see paras. [0053, [0067], [0069], [0072] and [0079]), and to allow substantially upward movement of the first facing during substantially upward movement of the second facing(see Fig. 12), the roller rotated to extend and retract the facings to adjust angular position of the vanes(see paras. [0067] and [0069] and [0079]).
Regarding claim 17, Certain discloses an apparatus comprising:
a friction surface(109, 209, 309, 409) configured to selectively restrain movement of a first facing(34) of a window shading(22), the first facing being coupled to a fabric supply roller(40) of the window shading(10) at a first position on an outer surface of the fabric supply roller(see Fig. 7), and coupled to a second facing(30) of the window shading through a plurality of vanes(38) extending between the first facing and the second facing(see Fig. 2),
wherein rotating the fabric supply roller of the window shading to extend or retract the second facing, while restraining movement of the first facing with the friction surface, adjusts an angular position of the plurality of vanes(see para. [0069] as discussed above).
Regarding claim 2, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the friction surface(109, 209) is on a friction roller(104, 204, see Figs. 4 and 9-12), and the friction roller is operatively coupled to the fabric supply roller(see Figs. 4 and 9-12).
Regarding claims 4 and 18, Certain discloses the apparatus of claims 1 and 17, wherein the friction surface is selectable between: a first operative state permitting the first facing to move freely; and a second operative state restraining substantially downward movement of the first facing(see para. [0069] and Figs. 11-12), wherein the friction surface is on a friction roller configured to rotate freely in the first operative state and remain stationary in the second operative state(see para. [0069]).
Regarding claims 6 and 20, Certain discloses the apparatus of claims 1 and 17, wherein the friction surface is moveable between:
a first position in which the friction surface is disengaged from the first facing to permit the first facing to move freely; and a second position in which the friction surface engages the first facing to restrain substantially downward movement of the first facing(see para. [0069] and Figs. 11-12).
Regarding claims 7 and 21, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 1, as best understood, further comprising a locking mechanism(136, 106, 110) coupled to the friction surface(see Figs. 5 and 7-8) and a rotatable member(104) operatively coupled to the fabric supply roller(40, see Figs. 4-5), wherein the friction surface(109, 209, 309, 409) is mounted on the rotatable member(104, 204, see Figs. 7-16, via 114), and the locking mechanism selectively prohibits rotation of the rotatable member(see para. [0066]).
Regarding claim 11, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the friction surface is operationally independent of the rotatable member and the fabric supply roller(see para. [0083] and Figs. 15-16).
Regarding claim 12, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first facing and the second facing are adjustable between a fully retracted position, a fully deployed position, and a plurality of partially deployed positions, wherein the friction surface is configured to selectively restrain movement of the first facing from one of the plurality of partially deployed positions(see paras. [0100] and [0115] and [0116]).
Regarding claim 13, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a motor(see para. [0051]) operatively coupled to the fabric supply roller, wherein the motor is configured to incrementally rotate the fabric supply roller to move the second facing from one of the plurality of partially deployed positions while the friction surface restrains movement of the first facing(the motor receives commands and is therefore considered to meet the claim limitation).
Regarding claim 14, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein a material composition of the friction surface(considered 209 and 213, see Figs. 11-12) imparts a first frictional force(on 213) on the first facing during retraction of the first facing onto the fabric supply roller(see Fig. 12) and imparts a second frictional force(on 209) on the first facing during extension of the first facing from the fabric supply roller(see Fig. 11), wherein the second frictional force is greater than the first frictional force(the orientation of the surfaces is changeable, see paras. [0070] - [0072], thereby allowing the differing forces during different operations meeting the claim limitation).
Regarding claim 16, Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first facing(34) is between the friction surface(109, 209) and the second facing(30), and the second facing(30) does not contact the friction surface(109, 209, see Figs. 7-12).
Regarding claim 24, Certain discloses the method of claim 23, further comprising moving the first facing and the second facing of the window shading to one of a plurality of partially deployed positions before engaging the first facing of the window shading with the friction surface(see para. [0069]).
Regarding claim 25, Certain disclose the method of claim 23, further comprising moving the friction surface to a first position adjacent the roller in which the friction surface is disengaged from the first facing to permit of the first facing to move around the roller(see para. [0069] and Fig. 11), wherein engaging the first facing with the friction surface includes moving the friction surface to a second circumferential position between the roller and the second facing(see Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 26, Certain discloses the method of claim 23, further comprising incrementally extending the second facing from the roller while engaging the first facing of the window shading with the friction surface to incrementally adjust an angular orientation of the plurality of vanes(see paras. [0067] and [0069]).
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.
Claims 10 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Certain.
Certain discloses the apparatus of claim 8, but lacks the specific locking mechanism used.
Applicant’s disclosure lends no criticality to the specific locking mechanism used(see paras. [0066] and [0067] where two different locking mechanisms are described).
Therefore, the specific locking mechanism used is considered a feature best determined by a skilled artisan given the intended use of the apparatus and design requirements thereof.
Prior ART
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETH A. STEPHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4:30p.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at 571-272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
BETH A. STEPHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/Beth A Stephan/