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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 207734097 U using attached machine translation (hereinafter Wu).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses a quick release structure (fig. 1) for a toilet lid (2), comprising: a movement cover (43), a linkage shaft (44), a rotating shaft (41), a slide switch (42) and a protective cover (31), wherein the movement cover defines an insertion hole (note annotated fig. below) and an avoidance slot (note annotated fig. below); the linkage shaft (44) is provided with a clamping slot (431), and the linkage shaft (44) is adapted to be inserted into the insertion hole (fig. 4); the rotating shaft (41) is provided with a connection portion (411), the connection portion (411) is adapted to be clamped into the clamping slot (431) through the avoidance slot (by pressing on cover 31 in the avoidance slot), and the rotating shaft (41) can drive the linkage shaft (44) to synchronously rotate when the connection portion (411) is clamped into the clamping slot (431); the slide switch (42) is mounted in the avoidance slot (fig. 4), the slide switch is slidably disposed between a first position and a second position, the slide switch exposes the clamping slot to allow the connection portion to be clamped into or detached from the clamping slot in the first position, and the slide switch covers the clamping slot to allow the connection portion to be kept in the clamping slot in the second position (“During installation, the lock main body 41 locking piece 42 one end aligned housing 43 and bumps 41 on the lock body 411 alignment housing 43 of the guide groove 432 is inserted, when the bump 411 reaches the hole 431, slightly twisted to hole 431. to make the clamping bump 411 opposite to 431 and limited in the clamping 431, defining points 411 hole 431 the torsion of the relative position, the inside of the shell 43 hole is stepped in order to accurately so as to limit relative axial displacement of shell 43 of buckle body 41.”); and the protective cover (31) is switchably disposed in a locked state and an unlocked state, in the unlocked state, the protective cover exposes the slide switch, in the locked state, the protective cover shields the slide switch, and the protective cover abuts against the slide switch to slide the slide switch from the first position to the second position (“so as to support 1 of bolt 11 to realize self-locking. to be detached, as shown in picture 16 picture 12, pressing key 31, the lower key 31 of ramp 311 and slide block 32 of ramp 321 interact, slider 32 is pulled to the middle key 31 because the lock rod 421 of one end with the slider 32 is locked, the locking piece 42 of the lock rod 421 is also the key 31 the direction of pulling. the locking piece 42 in the process of lifting, semicircular slot lock tongue 423 4231 from the bolt 11 of the lock 110, and the locking tongue 424 of the U-shaped slot 4241 away from the pin 11 of the pin column, at this time, releasing button 31, the U-shaped slot 4241 extending to the inner side of the bulge 4242 by pin 11 of the pin column limiting the reset elastic force of the spring 44 is not sufficient to overcome the convex pin column between 4242 and the friction force to make the lock tongue 423 cannot be reset. so that the locking assembly 4 is unlocked, at this time, the cover plate assembly 2 exerts a pulling force, so that the support 1 and the locking assembly 4.”).
Regarding claim 8, Wu discloses a damper connected to the linkage shaft at an opposite end of the clamping slot (fig. 2).
Regarding claim 10, the protective cover (31) is detachably snapped to the movement cover (43).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of US Patent Application Publication 2021/0113035 (hereinafter Hand).
Regarding claim 9, Wu fails to show wherein the linkage shaft comprises an insertion part and a fixed part which are connected to each other, the insertion part is provided with the clamping slot, the fixed part is limited outside the insertion hole, and the fixed part is connected to the damper. Attention is turned to Hand in the same field of endeavor of quick connect toilet lid hinges which shows including a linkage shaft (55) with an insertion part (85) and a fixed part (70) which are connected to each other, the insertion part (85) is provided in a clamping slot (90), the fixed part is limited outside the insertion hole (80), and the fixed part is connected to the damper (65). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to configure the damper and linkage shaft to couple as described above to ensure the rotatable hinge maintains the desired position in a secure and easy to install manner as evidenced by the teachings of Hand mentioned above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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. Claims 3-6 are similarly objected to as they depend from the claim containing allowable subject matter and thus inherit the allowable subject matter.
Claim 7 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent Application Publication 2024/0188769 is directed to the state of the art of toilet hinges.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANIE M LOEPPKE whose telephone number is (571)270-5208. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at (571) 270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANIE M LOEPPKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754