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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8-10 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (2017/0350188) in view of Campagna et al (2021/0262286).
Huang figures 13-14, shows a resistance mechanism for a cordless roller blind, adapted to be installed between a winding shaft and a fixed seat of the cordless roller blind that are rotatable relative to each other, the resistance mechanism comprising: a housing(22) adapted to be co-rotatably mounted to the winding shaft, the
housing including a tubular wall that is hollow and that surrounds an axis which
extends in a left-right direction, and an end wall(figure 14 the wall at end of part 22 to the left of where 22 points to) that is connected to one end of the tubular wall, an inner circumferential surface of the tubular wall being provided with a teeth structure that surrounds the axis; and a resistance module(21) including a shaft(figure 13, the shaft at left end to part 21 to be inserted into 41) that extends along the axis through the end wall and that is surrounded by the tubular wall, and the shaft being adapted to be non-rotatably inserted into the fixed seat.
Huang does not show and a plurality of gears(the flanges along the length of part 21) each of which is mounted to the shaft (figure 13, the shaft at left end to part 21 to be inserted into 41) and rotatable relative to the shaft about a rotation axis extending in the left-right direction, the gears being spaced apart from each other along a periphery of the shaft and meshing with the teeth structure, each of the gears being driven to rotate relative to the shaft by rotation of the teeth structure of the tubular wall when the tubular wall rotates.
Campagna et al figure 9, shows a plurality of gears(665, 672) each of which is mounted to the shaft (677) and rotatable relative to the shaft about a rotation axis extending in the left-right direction, the gears being spaced apart from each other along a periphery of the shaft and meshing with the teeth structure(676) of a housing, each of the gears being driven to rotate relative to the shaft by rotation of the teeth structure of the tubular wall when the tubular wall rotates.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Huang’s structures to show a plurality of gears(665, 672) each of which is mounted to the shaft (677) and rotatable relative to the shaft about a rotation axis extending in the left-right direction, the gears being spaced apart from each other along a periphery of the shaft and meshing with the teeth structure(676) of a housing, each of the gears being driven to rotate relative to the shaft by rotation of the teeth structure of the tubular wall when the tubular wall rotates as taught by Campagna et al with a reasonable expectation of success in order to provide smooth rotation of the housing around the shaft as the multiple gears provide for smooth and controlled rotations due to the numerous amount of gear teeth to housing teeth.
Per claim 2, Huang as modified further shows the shaft has a fixed section that extends along the axis through the end wall and that is adapted to be fixedly inserted into the fixed seat (41), and a mounting section that is coaxially connected to one end of the fixed section and that is located in the tubular wall(figure 13), the mounting section having a first mounting wall and a second mounting wall that are spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction, each of the gears being rotatably connected between the first mounting wall and the second mounting wall( as taught by Campagna figure 9 where gears 672, 665 are located).
Per claim 3, Huang as modified further shows the mounting section of the shaft further has a plurality of accommodating grooves(Campagna figure 9, the grooves where gears ends fit therein) that are formed in an outer circumferential surface thereof and that are located between the first mounting wall and the second mounting wall, the gears being respectively accommodated in the accommodating grooves.
Per claim 8, Huang as modified further shows an inner circumferential
surface of the winding shaft(11) being formed with a first locking structure, wherein the
tubular wall is coaxially inserted into the winding shaft, and an outer circumferential
surface of the tubular wall is formed with a second locking structure(the ribs on part 22) that is adapted to be co-rotatably connected to the first locking structure.
Per claim 9, Huang as modified further shows the first locking structure
of the winding shaft having a plurality of locking grooves (figure 14, the grooves mating with the corresponding ribs of part 22) that are spaced apart from each other, that surrounds the axis, and that extend in the left-right direction, wherein the second locking structure of the tubular wall has a plurality of convex ribs(the ribs appear convex as it is narrower at top) that protrude radially about the axis and that respectively engage the locking grooves.
Per claim 10, Huang(figures 1, 13) as modified further shows a cordless roller blind adapted to be mounted to a wall surface, the cordless roller blind comprising: a fixed seat and a hanging seat(40, 51) spaced apart from each other in a left-right direction and adapted to be mounted to the wall surface; a roller blind mechanism including a winding shaft(11) that extends in the left-right direction and that is disposed between the fixed seat and the hanging seat, a shade cloth(203) that is wound around the winding shaft, a winding unit( 53) that is disposed between the hanging seat and one end of the winding shaft, and a counterweight member(205) that is connected to one end of the shade cloth, the winding unit exerting a winding resilient force on the winding shaft to urge the winding shaft to rotate such that the shade cloth is wound on the winding shaft, the counterweight member having a weight that matches the winding resilient force; and the resistance mechanism as claimed in claim 1, the resistance mechanism being disposed between the fixed seat and another end of the winding shaft.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 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.
Per claims 4-6, prior art does not provide sufficient motivation to further modify Huang’s modified structure to show a plurality of first connecting grooves that are arranged along an outer periphery thereof, that are recessed inwardly from an outer circumferential surface thereof, and that extend therethrough in the left-right direction,
a blocking section that has a diameter greater than a diameter of the first connecting section and that is limited at one side of the first mounting wall opposite to the gear section, the first mounting wall further having a plurality of position-limiting portions that extend into the first connecting grooves such that the first connecting section of each of the gears is limited in the respective one of the first connecting grooves and is separable from the respective one of the first connecting grooves in a radial direction of the mounting section of the shaft in combination with other claimed limitations.
Per claim 7, prior art does not provide sufficient motivation to modify Huang’s modified structures to show the second mounting wall has a plurality of second connecting grooves that are spaced apart from each other along an outer periphery thereof, that are recessed inwardly from an outer circumferential surface thereof, and that extend therethrough in the left-right direction in combination with other claimed limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art shows different cordless roller blind mounting mechanism.
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/PHI D A/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633