DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Supplemental Final Office Action is in response to the claims filed on 12/15/2025. This supplemental final office action supersedes the final office action filed on 01/27/2026.
Claims 1-5 and 7-21 are currently pending and have been examined below. Claim 6 has been cancelled.
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 1-5, 7-14, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nicholson (US 9341022).
Claim 1
(Nicholson discloses) A movable barrier system (figures 1-23) for operating a movable barrier (102) comprising:
a torsion tube (152; cylindrical tube shown in figures 4 and 13) configured to rotate;
a cable drum (122) on the torsion tube (‘on’ was interpreted to indicate proximity per the definition below), the cable drum configured to rotate relative to the torsion tube (figures 19-20; lines 35-40 of col. 40);
a cable (101) disposed on the cable drum and configured to connect to the movable barrier (figure 1);
a sensor (160) which detects an angular displacement between the rotation of the torsion tube and the rotation of the cable drum (angular displacement as 122 continues to rotate relative to 152 as shown in figures 19-20; figure 23; Excerpt 1 from col. 5 and Excerpt 2 from col. 6 below) or a force between the torsion tube and the cable drum and sends a signal when the angular displacement or the force changes (Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 below; note that this was interpreted as an “or” clause therefore only one of the two options is required to be taught by the prior art); and
a controller (108) in communication with the sensor and configured to stop rotation of the torsion tube in response to the signal (Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 below).
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Source: American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Claim 2
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the angular displacement and configured to send the signal when the angular displacement exceeds a threshold (angular displacement threshold defined by the detents 114; figures 18-22).
Claim 3
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 1, further comprising an anchor assembly (158 and 154; figure 13) and a displacement coupler (134), the anchor assembly comprising an anchor (158) and a bearing (154), the anchor being coupled to the torsion tube in a manner that the anchor, the bearing, and the torsion tube rotate with an about equal angular velocity (figures 18-22), and the displacement coupler configured to oppose rotation of the cable drum when the cable drum rotates relative to the anchor, the bearing, and the torsion tube (lines 62-67 of col. 4 to lines 1-4 of col. 5).
Claim 4
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 2, wherein the sensor is configured to send an initial signal to the controller to rotate the torsion tube (steps 2302, 2304, and 2310 in figure 23), the initial signal being transmitted from the sensor to the controller unless the angular displacement exceeds the threshold (steps 2302, 2304, and 2310 in figure 23).
Claim 5
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 1, wherein the signal is further configured to communicate at least one angular displacement value to the controller (Excerpt 1 above).
Claim 7
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 3, further comprising a track (125), the track being coupled to the cable drum in a manner that the track rotates with an about equal angular velocity as the cable drum (figure 12), and the sensor configured to determine the angular displacement based on a position of the sensor and the track (Excerpts 1 and 2 above).
Claim 8
(Nicholson discloses) A movable barrier system (figures 1-23) for operating a movable barrier (102) comprising:
a torsion tube (152; figure 4) configured to rotate a first direction (figures 19-20);
a cable drum (122) on the torsion tube, the cable drum configured to rotate in the first direction and a second direction (CCW and CW rotations shown in figures 19-22) and configured to rotate relative to the torsion tube in a manner that changes an angular displacement between the torsion tube and the cable drum (figures 19-20; lines 35-40 of col. 40);
a cable (101) disposed on the cable drum and configured to connect to the movable barrier (figure 1);
a displacement coupler (134; figure 4) configured to oppose rotation of the cable drum in the second direction when the cable drum rotates relative to the torsion tube (lines 62-67 of col. 4 to lines 1-4 of col. 5); and
a sensor (160) which communicates a signal to a controller (108) when the angular displacement between the rotation of the torsion tube and the rotation of the cable drum or a force between the torsion tube and the cable drum changes (Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 above; note that this was interpreted as an “or” clause therefore only one of the two options is required to be taught by the prior art).
Claim 9
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 8, further comprising a mechanical limit (157) configured to cause the cable drum to rotate in the first direction with an about equal angular displacement as the torsion tube (figures 19-20).
Claim 10
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 8, further comprising an anchor assembly (158 and 154; figure 13), the anchor assembly comprising an anchor (158) and a bearing (154), the anchor being coupled to the torsion tube in a manner that the anchor, the bearing, and the torsion tube rotate with an about equal angular velocity (figures 18-22), the bearing being configured to allow the cable drum to rotate in the second direction (figures 18-22).
Claim 11
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 8, wherein the sensor is configured to communicate the signal when the angular displacement exceeds a threshold (angular displacement threshold defined by the detents 114; figures 18-22).
Claim 12
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 10, wherein the displacement coupler further comprises a spring (134; figure 4) coupled to the cable drum and the anchor assembly.
Claim 13
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 8, further comprising a motor (106) configured to cause the torsion tube to rotate in the first direction.
Claim 14
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 10, further comprising at least one set screw (screw shown in figure 10) securing the anchor to the torsion tube (‘to’ was interpreted as --to indicate appropriation or possession--).
Claim 21
(Nicholson discloses) The movable barrier system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is positioned on the cable drum and is configured to send the signal (figure 20), the signal indicating the cable drum is rotating at a different angular velocity than the torsion tube (Excerpt 1 above).
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 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Olmsted (US 6883579) in view of Colson et al. (US 9399888) (hereinafter “Colson”).
Note that the previous rejection for claim 15 referred to excerpts 1-2 and 4 which was written with the previous rejection of claim 1. However, since the rejection of claim 1 above was changed, excerpts 1-2 and 4 were deleted. Therefore, excerpts A-C below were attached for reference. Note that the excerpts below were the same as referred excerpts 1-2 and 4.
Claim 15
(Olmsted discloses) A method for operating a movable barrier (20) in a movable barrier system (figures 10-16), the method comprising:
providing a torsion tube (30) and a cable drum (205; figure 11), the cable drum being positionable on the torsion tube (figure 10);
rotating the torsion tube and the cable drum in a first direction (opening direction) with an about equal angular velocity (figure 10);
allowing the angular velocity of the cable drum to decrease in a manner that an angular displacement between the rotation of the torsion tube and the rotation of the cable drum increases (Excerpt A below; this is taught as long as part 215 is not abutting the limits 235 or 237).
Olmsted fails to disclose selectively communicating a signal from a sensor to a controller to stop movement of the movable barrier when the angular displacement reaches a threshold.
(However, Colson teaches) A method for operating a movable barrier (figures 1-4) providing a sensor (410) that can detect angular displacement (Excerpt B below) and a controller (404) that can stop movement of the movable barrier (420; Excerpt B from col. 11 and Excerpt C from col. 10 below).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the movable barrier system of Olmsted with the sensor and controller of Colson, with a reasonable expectation of success, to monitor the rotational behavior of the torsion tube and the cable drum relative to each other to determine potential obstruction, dislodging, or any other unfortunate events that can occur when the movable barrier is operating.
(i and ii) (Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) selectively communicating a signal (signal based from one of the angular displacement values gathered by the sensor) from a sensor (410) to a controller (404) to stop movement of the movable barrier when the angular displacement reaches a threshold (the threshold can be the angular displacements of the drum relative to the tube right before it hit its limits 235 or 237 shown in figure 11).
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Claim 16
(Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) The method of claim 15, further comprising;
determining the angular displacement with the sensor (Excerpt 2 above); and
communicating the signal with the sensor when the angular displacement reaches the threshold (this is taught via the combination above; note that sensor 410 is continuously monitoring the angular displacement as disclosed on Excerpt 3 above).
Claim 17
(Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) The method of claim 15, further comprising:
providing an anchor assembly (209) and a displacement coupler (207), the anchor assembly comprising an anchor and a bearing (both shown in Annotated figure 11 above);
coupling the anchor to the torsion tube in a manner that the anchor, the bearing, and the torsion tube rotate with an about equal angular velocity (lines 7-9 of col. 17); and
coupling the displacement coupler to the cable drum and the anchor in a manner that the displacement coupler is configured to oppose rotation of the cable drum in a second direction (rotation correlated to the closing direction of the barrier) when the cable drum rotates relative to the torsion tube (via the elastic properties of the spring displacement coupler 207), the second direction being opposite the first direction.
Claim 18
(Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) The method of claim 16.
Modified Olmsted fails to disclose:
(i) further comprising communicating an initial signal from the sensor to the controller to rotate the torsion tube;
(ii) the initial signal being transmitted from the sensor to the controller unless the angular displacement reaches the threshold.
(i) (However, Colson teaches) communicating an initial signal from a sensor (416; figure 4) to a controller (404; diagram in figure 4) to rotate a torsion tube (lines 38-43 of col. 10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the sensor of modified Olmsted with the function of communicating an initial signal from the sensor of Colson, with a reasonable expectation of success, to improve automation of the movable barrier system and to significantly improve the ease of operating the barrier.
(ii) (Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) the initial signal being transmitted from the sensor to the controller unless an angular displacement exceeds the threshold (this is taught in light of the combination above).
Claim 19
(Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) The method of claim 15, further comprising communicating with the signal at least one angular displacement value to the controller (Excerpt 2 above).
Claim 20
(Olmsted, as modified above, discloses) The method of claim 15, further comprising:
providing an anchor assembly (209) comprising an anchor and a bearing (both shown in Annotated figure 11 above), the anchor being coupled to the torsion tube in a manner that the anchor, the bearing, and the torsion tube rotate with an about equal angular velocity (lines 7-9 of col. 17);
coupling a track (233; figure 11) to the cable drum in a manner that the track rotates with an about equal angular velocity as the cable drum (figure 11); and
configuring the sensor to determine the angular displacement based on a position of the sensor and the track (this is taught via the combination above).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments directed to the drawing objections have been considered and the objections were withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/15/2025 have been fully considered.
Regarding the arguments directed to the independent claims 1 and 8, they are moot as the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Regarding claim 15, applicant notes "Independent claims 8 and 15 recite features similar to those recited in claim 1". However, as pointed out below, claim 15 does not recite similar features to those recited in claim 1.
(1) The signal in claim 1 is dependent to the angular displacement/force change between the tube and the drum whereas the signal in claim 15 is dependent on when an angular displacement reaches a threshold.
(2) The sensor of claim 15 is not required to detect angular displacement unlike the sensor in claim 1. Claim 15 merely requires a signal communicated between the sensor to the controller. The sensor of claim 1 requires two functions: (i) detect angular displacement/force and (ii) send a signal based on the angular displacement/force change - neither of which are functions of the sensor of claim 15.
Applicant’s arguments on the Remarks filed on 12/15/2025 were specifically directed to the limitations of claim 1 which, as noted above, are not recited in claim 15.
However examiner notes, regarding “When referring to a "reference point" (i.e., "reference position" - see Colson 11 :34-35), Colson is referring to tracking the position of the covering ( e.g., open, closed, partially open/closed). Thus, Colson fails to teach or suggest the above-referenced claim features” (page 3 of the Remarks section), this argument is moot in light of claim 15 because the sensor of claim 15 is not required to detect an angular displacement. The recitations of claim 15 merely recites communicating a signal from a sensor to a controller, it is not recited whether the signal was sent by the sensor itself.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK B PONCIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-9910. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Cahn can be reached at (571) 270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK B. PONCIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634