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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
Figure 7 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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
Claims 1-4 are objected to because of the following informalities. Examiner suggestions are made based on correction of typographical and grammatical errors, for improvement of clarity, and to correct lack of antecedent basis for claims which appear to be definite.
Claim 1, Ln. 10, “the spring member” should read --the U-shaped spring member--
Claim 1, Ln. 12, “the spring member” should read --the U-shaped spring member--
Claim 1, Ln. 15, “a reverse rotation prevention state” should read --the reverse rotation prevention state--
Claim 1, Ln. 16-17, “a reverse rotation permission state” should read --the reverse rotation permission state--
Claim 1, Ln. 17, “the spring member” should read --the U-shaped spring member--
Claim 2, Ln. 2, “the spring member” should read --the U-shaped spring member--
Claim 3, Ln. 3, “an outer surface of the support shaft” should read --the outer surface of the support shaft--
Claim 4, Ln. 6, “the spring member” should read --the U-shaped spring member--
Claim 4, Ln. 8, “a drive gear shaft” should read --the drive gear shaft--
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-4 are 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.
Regarding Claim 1,
Claim 1, Ln. 14-17, “the support shaft is distributed and held at a reverse rotation prevention position where the reverse rotation prevention device is in a reverse rotation prevention state and a reverse rotation permission position where the reverse rotation prevention device is in a reverse rotation permission state by abutment of the spring member” is vague and indefinite.
How is the support shaft distributed? The use of “distributed” implies that the support shaft is being divided but it is unclear what is being divided and how and where the division is taking place.
Is the support shaft held at two distinct positions? It is unclear whether the positions are the same.
Abutment of the spring member is taking place with which component?
Examiner suggests “the support shaft is distributed and held at a reverse rotation prevention position where the reverse rotation prevention device is in a reverse rotation prevention state and a reverse rotation permission position where the reverse rotation prevention device is in a reverse rotation permission state by abutment of the spring member” should read --the support shaft is configured to be held at a reverse rotation prevention position when the reverse rotation prevention device is in the reverse rotation prevention state and held at a reverse rotation permission position when the reverse rotation prevention device is in the reverse rotation permission state by abutment of the spring member with the support shaft--
Regarding Claim 3,
Claim 3, Ln. 2-5, “another of the straight portions abuts on an outer surface of the support shaft from a side opposite to a side on which the one of the straight portions is arranged to distribute and hold rotation of the support shaft between the reverse rotation prevention position and the reverse rotation permission position.” is vague and indefinite. The claim limitation is grammatically confusing and it is unclear which components and locations relative to said components are being referred to. For examination purposes, the “side opposite to a side on which the one of the straight portions is arranged” is assumed to refer to a surface on the support shaft which is on the opposite side of the U-shaped spring member relative to the side which abuts the reel body.
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected due to their dependency on claim 1.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuda (JP 2007267707A), hereinafter Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito (US 6,007,012).
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Figure 1. Annotated Figure 3(C) from Matsuda '707
Regarding Claim 1, Matsuda ‘707, Figures 1-5 and annotated Figure 1 above, teaches a fishing spinning reel 10 comprising:
a rotor 16 that rotates forward by a winding operation of a handle 26 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0011, Ln. 5-7);
a reverse rotation prevention device 46 that prevents reverse rotation of the rotor 16 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0018, Ln. 1-3); and
a switching mechanism 66’ that switches between a reverse rotation prevention state and a reverse rotation permission state in the reverse rotation prevention device 46 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0023, Ln. 1-4), wherein
the switching mechanism 66’
comprises a support shaft 66 rotatably supported by a body 12 of a reel main body (reel body; See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0010, Ln. 1-2), an operation lever 68 attached to the support shaft 66, and a U-shaped spring member 72 attached to the body 12 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0023, Ln. 5-9, Para. 0025, Ln. 3-4),
an inside of the spring member 72, the inside being recessed in a U-shape (See Matsuda ‘707, Fig. 2),
the spring member 72 is biased and abuts on an outer surface 70 of the support shaft 66 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0025, Ln. 3-4), and
the support shaft 66 is distributed and held at a reverse rotation prevention position where the reverse rotation prevention device 46 is in a reverse rotation prevention state and a reverse rotation permission position where the reverse rotation prevention device 46 is in a reverse rotation permission state by abutment of the spring member 72 (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0025, Ln. 5-13).
Matsuda ‘707 teaches all the elements of the fishing spinning reel except for the support shaft being disposed in the inside of the spring member and the spring member being biased toward the inside of the U shape.
Although Matsuda ‘707 does not explicitly teach the spring member being biased toward the inside of the U shape, Matsuda ‘707 discloses “the positioning portion 70 of the operating rod 66 is formed with a first flat surface 70a, a second flat surface 70b, and a third flat surface 70c, which are formed in sequence along the circumferential direction and abut against the elastic body 72 to maintain the respective positions when the rotor 16 is in the clutch-off position, the weak on position, or the strong on position,” (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0025, Ln. 9-13), which implies that the spring member should be biased in such a way that the spring force will cause engagement between the outer surface of the support shaft and the spring member.
Furthermore, Ito, Figures 1-7, teaches wherein the support shaft 22a is inserted and disposed in an inside of the spring member 30 (See Ito, Fig. 6-7).
Although Ito does not explicitly teach the spring member being biased toward the inside of the U shape, Ito discloses “the engaging recessed portion 22c of the operation rod 22a is pressed against the corresponding one end portion of the plate spring 24 so that the plate spring 24 is caused to increase its energizing force against the engaging recessed portion 22c of the operation rod 22a,” (See Ito, Col. 9, Ln. 44-48). This disclosure implies that a configuration having a U or V shaped plate spring like those which are disclosed in Matsuda ‘707 and the first embodiment of Ito (See Ito, Fig. 1-5) combined with the modification taught by the second embodiment of Ito (See Ito, Fig. 6-7) which places the support shaft within the spring member, would require a spring biasing force which is directed toward the inside of the spring in order for the spring member to abut the outer surface of the support shaft and to provide the energizing force toward the outer surface of the support shaft which keeps these surfaces engaged.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda ‘707 with a support shaft disposed inside the spring member and the spring member being biased such that it creates a pressing force on the support shaft, as taught by Ito, for the purpose of preventing fishing line entanglement (i.e. “eliminat[ing] the possibilities that the spool or rotor can be rotated reversely at high speeds [or] the fishing line can be played out excessively to be thereby entangled”) (See Ito, Col. 2, Ln. 33-36).
Regarding Claim 2, Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito are advanced above.
Matsuda ‘707 further teaches wherein the spring member 72
comprises a bent portion 72a having an arc shape and straight portions 72b, 72c respectively continuous with both ends of the bent portion 72a, and
is attached to the body 12 from a distal end side of the straight portion 72b (See Figure 1 above).
Regarding Claim 3, Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito are advanced above.
Matsuda ‘707 further teaches wherein one of the straight portions 72b abuts on a wall surface 12’’ formed in the body 12 and is held by the body 12, and another of the straight portions 72c abuts on an outer surface 70 of the support shaft 66 from a side opposite to a side on which the one of the straight portions 72b is arranged to distribute and hold rotation of the support shaft 66 between the reverse rotation prevention position and the reverse rotation permission position (See Matsuda ‘707, Para. 0025, Ln. 5-13).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuda ‘707 (JP 2007267707A) in view of Ito (US 6,007,012) as applied to claims 1-3 above, and further in view of Matsuda (JP 201565900A), hereinafter Matsuda ‘900, and Shimizu (JP 6871142B2).
Regarding Claim 4, Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito are advanced above.
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Figure 2. Annotated Figure 1 from Matsuda '707
Matsuda ‘707, annotated Figure 2 above, teaches three screw holes 1a, 1b, 1c that are formed in the body 12 wherein one 1a of the three screw holes 1a, 1b, 1c is formed on a front side of the spring member 72 in the body 12.
Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito teach all the elements of the fishing spinning reel except for a lid member and the switching mechanism being disposed at the lower portion of the body.
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Figure 3. Annotated Figure 11 from Matsuda ‘900
However, Matsuda ‘900, Figures 11-12 and annotated Figure 3 above, teaches a lid member 1A attached to the body 1b from a side of the body 1b and supporting one end side of a drive gear shaft 2 to which the handle 2A is attached, and
three screw holes 1B’ that are formed in the body 1b and into which fixing screws 1B for fixing the lid member 1A are screwed, wherein
the three screw holes 1B’ are formed at equal intervals around a drive gear shaft 2 to which the handle 2A is attached (See Matsuda ‘900, Para. 0053, Ln. 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito with a lid member, equally spaced screw holes, and three fixing screws, as taught by Matsuda ‘900, for the purpose of sealing the reel body without making the handle difficult to rotate (i.e. “prevent the intrusion of foreign matter such as moisture into the reel body and bearings with a simple structure, and that does not reduce the operating feel when rotating the handle”) (See Matsuda ‘900, Para. 0007, Ln. 2-4).
Furthermore, Shimizu, Figures 1-7, teaches wherein the switching mechanism 30 is disposed at a lower portion of the body 1A.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda ‘707 in view of Ito with a switching mechanism disposed at a lower portion of the body, as taught by Shimizu, for the purpose of reducing weight and preventing damage to the switching mechanism (i.e. “the switching operation part that activates the reverse prevention device is rotatably disposed within the contour of the side of the reel body, in an area opposite the rod attachment part relative to the handle shaft, and is not exposed to the outside, reducing the possibility of damage due to external forces during actual fishing, when moving to a fishing spot, or during transportation. In addition, the switching operation unit is connected via a connecting part (shaft) to a reverse prevention mechanism (such as a one-way clutch) located on the front side of the reel body, but by arranging it within the contour of the side of the reel body, it is possible to shorten the length of the connecting part, which improves strength and stability of operation during switching operation and prevents the unit from becoming too heavy”) (See Shimizu, Para. 0008, Ln. 1-10).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Such references include fishing reels which utilize elastic members in anti-reverse mechanisms.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIFFANY DOMONIQUE JEFFERSON whose telephone number is 571-272-0403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am-7:30pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Victoria Augustine can be reached at 313-446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.D.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3619