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 .
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 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.
Status of Claims
Claims 1 – 15 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/02/2026 were filed before the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 – 3, 5, 8 – 9 and 11 – 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ye (CN 116492096 A) citing U. S. equivalent (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0366352 A1).
Regarding Independent Claim 1, Ye teaches a motor holder (holder assembly, 100), configured to be arranged on a motor module (Paragraph [0023]); wherein the motor holder (100) comprises: a first surface (inner enclosure wall, 138) facing the motor module (Paragraph [0058]); a rigid body (main body portion, 111; Fig. 4), being a hard rubber part (Paragraph [0044]); and a vibration damping structure (cushioning member, 130), being a soft rubber part (Paragraph [0044]); wherein the vibration damping structure (130) and the rigid body (111) are in a one-piece structure (Paragraph [0044]); the vibration damping structure (130) comprises a bonding portion (133) and a plurality of vibration damping protrusions (115) arranged on the bonding portion (133); the bonding portion (133) is connected to the rigid body (111; Fig. 2), the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) are arranged at intervals (Fig. 5), and the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) protrude from the first surface (138).
Regarding Claim 2, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein the first surface (138) is arranged with an adhesive compartment (119), and the bonding portion (133) is embedded in the adhesive compartment (119).
Regarding Claim 3, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein a side of the bonding portion (133) back away from the adhesive compartment (119) is flush with the first surface (138; Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 5, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein a groove bottom (Fig. 7) of the adhesive compartment (119) defines a restriction groove (Fig. 7), and a portion of the bonding portion (133) is embedded in the restriction groove (Paragraph [0054]).
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Regarding Claim 8, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein the rigid body (111) is of a cylindrical shape (Fig. 7), and the vibration damping structure (130) is arranged on a peripheral wall of the rigid body (111; Figs. 1 and 7); the vibration damping structure (130) comprises a plurality of vibration damping sections (133) spaced apart along a peripheral direction of the rigid body (111); each vibration damping section (133) extends along an axial direction of the rigid body (111) and is arranged with at least some of the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 9, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein the vibration damping structure (130) further comprises a connecting section (Annotated Fig. 1) extending along the peripheral direction of the rigid body (111) and connecting the plurality of vibration damping sections (Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 11, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein the connecting section (Annotated Fig. 1) comprises a plurality of connecting sections (Annotated Fig. 1) spaced apart along the peripheral direction of the rigid body (111), each connecting section (Annotated Fig. 1) connecting at least some of the plurality of vibration damping sections (133).
Regarding Claim 12, Ye teaches the motor holder (holder assembly, 100), wherein the plurality of vibration damping sections (133) are uniformly distributed along the peripheral direction of the rigid body (111), each vibration damping section (133) is arranged with at least some of the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (Fig. 1), and the at least some of the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (Fig. 1) disposed on each vibration damping section (133) are uniformly distributed along an axial direction of the rigid body (111).
Regarding Independent Claim 13, Ye teaches a motor assembly (Paragraph [0003]), comprising: a motor module (Paragraph [0023]), comprising a motor housing (114; Paragraph [0042]), a stator (Paragraph [0023] – Ye teaches a motor and a stator is a component of the motor), and a rotor (Paragraph [0023] – Ye teaches a motor and a rotor is a component of the motor); wherein the motor housing defines a receiving cavity (motor mounting cavity, 132), and the stator and the rotor are disposed inside the receiving cavity (Paragraph [0046] – Ye teaches a motor being disposed in a cavity thus teaches the stator and rotor disposed in the receiving cavity); and a motor holder (100), disposed on an outer side of the motor housing (Fig. 9); wherein the motor holder (100) comprises: a first surface (inner enclosure wall, 138) facing the motor module (Paragraph [0058]); a rigid body (main body portion, 111; Fig. 4), being a hard rubber part (Paragraph [0044]); and a vibration damping structure (cushioning member, 130), being a soft rubber part (Paragraph [0044]); wherein the vibration damping structure (130) and the rigid body (111) are in a one-piece structure (Paragraph [0044]); the vibration damping structure (130) comprises a bonding portion (133) and a plurality of vibration damping protrusions (115) arranged on the bonding portion (133); the bonding portion (133) is connected to the rigid body (111; Fig. 2), the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) are arranged at intervals (Fig. 5), and the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) protrude from the first surface (138); wherein the rigid body (111) is fixed to the motor housing (114), and the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) face an outer surface of the motor housing (114).
Regarding Claim 14, Ye teaches the motor assembly (Paragraph [0003]), wherein the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133) directly abut against the outer surface of the motor housing (114); or the motor assembly further comprises a vibration damping sleeve (130); the motor housing (114), the vibration damping sleeve (130), and the motor holder (100) are disposed in a sleeving manner in sequence (Figs. 1 and 4); the vibration damping sleeve (130) abuts against the motor housing (114) and the plurality of vibration damping protrusions (133), respectively (Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 15, Ye teaches an electric toothbrush (Fig. 8), comprising: a handle (brush handle assembly, 10; Fig. 8), comprising a housing (Paragraph [0081]); wherein the housing defines a mounting cavity (cavity of handle, 10); and the motor assembly (Paragraph [0003]), disposed in the mounting cavity (Fig. 9); wherein the motor holder (100) is fixed to the housing (Fig. 9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6 and 10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Although Ye teaches the motor holder and further teaches the main body portion, is integrally formed by injection molding, the reference fails to teach, suggest or make obvious an end of the rigid body defines an adhesive injection hole; the adhesive compartment comprises a first groove extending along an axial direction of the rigid body, and an end of the first groove is in communication with the adhesive injection hole; a width of the first groove gradually increases in a direction away from the adhesive injection hole as required by claim 4; the first end face defines an adhesive injection hole, and the adhesive injection hole is in communication with the adhesive compartment; the restriction groove passes through the second end face; as required by claim 6; wherein the rigid body defines a plurality of adhesive injection holes spaced apart along the peripheral direction of the rigid body; for each of the plurality of adhesive injection holes, the adhesive injection hole faces a corresponding vibration damping section; an end of the corresponding vibration damping section is disposed within the adhesive injection hole, and another end of the vibration damping section is connected to the connecting section; as required by claim 10.
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependents of claim 6.
Conclusion
Art made of record, however, not relied upon for the current rejection is as follows: CN 217138316 U to Zhou teaches a brush handle assembly of electric toothbrush and electric toothbrush, the brush handle assembly comprises: a brush handle shell, a driving motor, a mounting bracket and a first elastic piece, the driving motor comprises a driving unit, a driving shaft and a supporting seat, the mounting bracket comprises a first bracket section, the first bracket section comprises two first mounting parts arranged along the axial interval of the driving motor, a containing space for containing the driving unit is formed between the two first mounting parts, each supporting seat respectively with the first mounting part corresponding to the side, at least one side matched with the supporting seat and the first mounting part is provided with the first elastic piece, the rigidity of the supporting seat and the rigidity of the first mounting part are greater than the rigidity of the first elastic piece, The first elastic member is elastically compressed and deformed by the extrusion of the supporting seat and the first mounting part, which are matched with each other. The brush handle assembly of the utility model can reduce the holding vibration feeling and noise of the electric toothbrush.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATINA N HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday; 5:30am to 3:30pm.
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/KATINA N. HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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