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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: a dependent claim cannot depend from itself. 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iverson; Myren L (US 4109998 A, hereafter referred to as Iverson) and Herold; Mark D. Et al. (US 6327327 B1, hereafter referred to as Herold).
Rejection of claim 1-2 and 10:
Figure 3 in Iverson provides an optical slip ring comprising an annular (circular) array of optical emitters/LED or Laser Diodes and receiving cells/Photodiodes for transferring data across a gap. That is, Iverson teaches a transmitter having a plurality of emitters/LED or Laser Diodes positioned in a substantially annular pattern, wherein said plurality of emitters/LED or Laser Diodes are operable to transmit a signal; a receiver located a distance from said transmitter, wherein said receiver includes a plurality of cells/Photodiodes operable to receive said signal across a non-contacting interface; and a signal source Input Signal in communication with said transmitter.
Iverson does not teach a plurality of data channel listed in the plurality of emitters/LED or Laser Diodes. However, the Examiner would like to point out redundancy in data and/or hardware is one of the fundamental building blocks for fault-tolerant communications. Providing redundancy is a design choice in any communication system.
Claims 1 and 5-6 in Herold, in an analogous art, teaches that high-speed rotary data slip ring is improved by selectively using a subset of redundant contacts to mitigate rotation based interference (up command).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Iverson with the teachings of Herold by including use of selectively using a subset of redundant emitters to form a plurality of data channels less than the number of redundant emitters. This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that use of selectively using a subset of redundant emitters to form a plurality of data channels less than the number of redundant emitters would have provided improved fault tolerance (column 1, lines 47-60 in Herold).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iverson; Myren L (US 4109998 A, hereafter referred to as Iverson) and Herold; Mark D. Et al. (US 6327327 B1, hereafter referred to as Herold) and Bowman; Anthony L. (US 6907161 B).
Rejection of claim 3:
Claim 1 in column 6 of Bowman, in an analogous art, teaches a plurality of light transmitters position to admit an optical signal to ensure that at least one transmitter will always be operatively arranged to transmit the optical signal.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Iverson and Herold with the teachings of Bowman by including use of a plurality of light transmitters position to transmit a single optical signal so that the plurality of light transmitters provide a single channel for the single optical signal. This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that use of a plurality of light transmitters position to transmit a single optical signal so that the plurality of light transmitters provide a single channel for the single optical signal would have provided improved connectivity by ensuring the at least one optical transmitter is available to provide an optical signal (Claim 1 in column 6 of Bowman).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iverson; Myren L (US 4109998 A, hereafter referred to as Iverson) and Herold; Mark D. Et al. (US 6327327 B1, hereafter referred to as Herold) and Deo; Hrishikesh et al. (US 6907161 B, hereafter referred to as Deo).
Rejection of claim 7:
Column 5, lines 28-44 in Deo, in an analogous art, teaches a gap between movable parts in a stationary housing with a rotating rotor can be 4 mm to 6 mm. The Examiner would like to point out that Iverson, Herold a Iverson and Deo all teach slip ring and/or stationary housing with a rotating rotor. Iverson and Herold are silent to the size of the gap. However, implicit in the design, is that one of ordinary skill in the art can select the gap size as a design choice. Optimizing the gap size for a particular application is nothing more than a design choice implicit in the actual design expressly taught in Iverson and Herold (MPEP 2144.01).
Claim(s) 13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iverson; Myren L (US 4109998 A, hereafter referred to as Iverson) and Herold; Mark D. Et al. (US 6327327 B1, hereafter referred to as Herold) and Kaempfer; Gideon Raananaet al. (US 20120237101 A1, hereafter referred to as Kaempfer).
Rejection of claim 13:
Paragraph [0062] in Kaempfer teaches a PCB for use in a compressor for a slip ring. The Examiner can point them that PCBs are the building blocks of electronic devices. Using the PCB in a particular electronic equipment is a design choice.
Rejection of claim 15:
Optimizing a mounting space for a particular application is nothing more than a design choice implicit in the actual design expressly taught in Iverson and Herold (MPEP 2144.01).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14 and 16 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, b0ut would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the rejection of claims 1-3, 7, 10, 13 and 15, above highlight the differences between the prior art and that which is considered nonobvious and/or novel in claims 4-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14 and 16 since dependent claims inherit all the limitations of the claims from which they depend and any intervening claims.
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20040008720 A1 is directed to a network where multiple nodes/emitters carry the same data simultaneously in a ring configuration and establishes that using a “ring” of emitters to carry the same data for the purposes of redundancy is a known technique.
US 6292919 B1 is directed to solving problems involving massive data rates generated by multi-slice CT detectors (the “rotor”) that must be passed through a slip ring to the computer; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 11056849 B2 is directed to a modular slip ring where a single unit can be detached from the power unit, and suggests the single unit could use noncontact transmission (optical/inductive) to avoid wear and tear; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 8779928 B2 is directed to systems and methods to detect generator collector flashover using sensors in the computing device to passively monitor a collector ring (slip ring) for sparking and potential failures; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 7339302 B2 is directed to improving brush and fiber technology to physically improve contact and reduce noise; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 4708024 A is directed to A gyro apparatus comprising: (a) a gyro casing incorporating therein a gyro the spin axis of which is made substantially horizontal; (b) a supporting apparatus for supporting said gyro casing with a freedom of three axes; (c) a north-seeking apparatus for giving a north-seeking action to said gyro; (d) a follow-up ring having a follow-up shaft at its center which follows said gyro casing around its substantially vertical axis; (e) a binnacle for supporting said follow-up shaft; (f) a servo motor for rotating said follow-up shaft and a slip ring for supplying power to said gyro through said slip ring, said follow-up ring being formed as fork-shaped and having a downwardly protruded skirt portion at the outer peripheral portion of said servo motor and being rotatably supported by said binnacle with a first ball bearing which is located at the outer periphery of said skirt portion, in a cantilever fashion, and said follow-up shaft being rotatably supported by said binnacle through a second ball bearing which has a smaller diameter than said first ball bearing; said servo motor being of a pancake-type servo motor of a direct drive system, a rotor of said servo motor being fixed to said follow-up shaft between said first and second ball bearings, a stator of said servo motor being attached to said binnacle at a position corresponding to said rotor; and (g) a slip ring attached to the outer periphery of said skirt portion; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 8167623 B2 is directed to multi contact brushes for slip rings describing a brush with a “multiplicity of slide wires” to ensure at least one is always in contact and that a plurality of contact points (emitters) should serve as a single electrical path (channel) to solve a problem of intermittent contact; and, is a good teaching reference.
US 7461798 B1 is directed to using a collector ring (slip ring) to Route communication signals (like radio/antenna wires) past the rotating span in a way so as to avoid signal degradation; and, is a good teaching reference.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH D TORRES whose telephone number is (571)272-3829. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-7 PT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Albert Decady can be reached at 571-272-3819. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH D TORRES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2112