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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 24 May 2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN 202421157492.0 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-14 are pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to for the following informalities:
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following features must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
the “plug cover” of claim 5;
the “reptile box frame comprising a plurality of horizontal rods (200), a plurality of vertical rods (300), a plurality of upright rods (400)” of each of claims 9-13 (Examiner notes that, while Fig. 1 shows a single one of each of a horizontal rod (200), a vertical rod (300), and an upright rod (400), none of the figures show a plurality of each of these arranged together into a reptile box frame); and
the “reptile box” including “wall panels” of claim 14.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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 Interpretation – Functional Language
From the outset, it should be noted that some of the language in the claims is functional in nature. For example, in claims 9-14 the language related to “reptiles” is functional in nature and limited patentable weight is given to this section of the claim. Additionally, Examiner notes that while features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does and thus, a prior art device must only be capable of performing the stated function in order to read on the functional limitation. In this instance, the prior art discloses every structural limitation of the claim and thus this limitation fails to distinguish the claimed apparatus from that of the prior art. Please see MPEP 2114.
[Examiner notes that this section of the Office Action does not constitute a rejection or objection, but is merely meant to indicate the manner in which the claims have been interpreted by the Examiner.]
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: Appropriate correction is required.
Re Claim 4: In line 4 of claim 4, “a stepped hole (a)” should be replaced with --the stepped hole (a)-- since the stepped hole (a) was previously introduced in the claim.
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 1-4, 6-7, 9-12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Altman (US Patent 6,969,211).
Re Claim 1: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), comprising:
a connection body (40),
an X-axis connection part (connector end 50 attached at the connector slot 120), arranged in an X direction (see annotated Figs. 4 and 19 below) of the connection body (40) and used for being fittingly engaged to a horizontal rod (320; see Fig. 19);
a Y-axis connection part (connector end 50 attached at the connector slot 120), arranged in a Y direction (see annotated Figs. 4 and 19 below) of the connection body (40) and used for being fittingly engaged to a vertical rod (320; see Fig. 19); and
an expansion connection part (140), arranged in a Z direction (see annotated Fig. 4 below) of the connection body (40) and used to cooperate with a radial force-applying component (60) to achieve a friction locking connection with an inner tube wall of an upright rod (320; see Figs. 17 and 18) having a tubular end.
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Re Claim 2: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), wherein the connection body (40) is provided with a through hole (130; Fig. 5) along the Z direction; wherein the expansion connection part (140) is an expansion sleeve (140) coaxially arranged with the through hole and has an inner hole with a taper (170); wherein the radial force-applying component is a screw (310; Fig. 16) passing through the through hole, and a nut (60) is threadedly connected to the screw 310) and relatively fixed by an inner circumference of the expansion sleeve (140) in a rotation direction, and used for expanding or contracting the expansion sleeve (140) during movement along a Z axis.
Re Claim 3: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), wherein a tube wall of the expansion sleeve (140) has axial notches (see annotated Fig. 16 above) that are spaced apart from each other, and an inner diameter (at 170; Fig. 5) of the expansion sleeve (140) gradually increases from a connecting end to a free end; wherein the nut (60) has an outer circumferential wall with a taper matching the inner diameter (at 170) of the expansion sleeve (140) to expand the expansion sleeve (140) during downward movement along the Z axis and contract the expansion sleeve (140) during upward movement along the Z axis.
Re Claim 4: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), wherein the expansion sleeve (140) is in the form of a square tube (see Fig. 16), the through hole (130 in combination with countersunk fastener aperture 260 of connector cap 70; Examiner notes that the connector cap 70 along with the connector body 40 can be considered the “connection body”) is a stepped hole (specifically at countersunk fastener aperture 260), and the expansion sleeve (140) is arranged on a smaller-diameter side (i.e. the left-hand side in Fig. 17) of the stepped hole (the smaller-diameter being that of the minimum diameter of the countersunk fastener aperture 260).
Re Claim 6: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), wherein at least one of the X-axis connection part and the Y-axis connection part (connector end 50 attached at the connector slot 120) is an insertion protrusion formed by protruding outward from the connection body (40; see Fig. 19), and a free end of the insertion protrusion has a guiding chamfer (at 200).
Re Claim 7: Altman discloses a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 1-19), wherein at least one of the X-axis connection part and the Y-axis connection part (connector end 50 attached at the connector slot 120) has slots (see annotated Figs. 6 and 7 below) that are spaced apart from each other along an axial direction.
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Re Claims 9-12: Altman discloses a reptile (see note above related to this functional element) box frame (see for example, 10, 20, 30; Figs. 1-3), comprising a plurality of horizontal rods (320), a plurality of vertical rods (320), a plurality of upright rods (320), the triaxial connection structure as claimed in claims 1-4 (see rejections of these claims above), and a radial force-applying component (60) matching the triaxial connection structure, wherein two ends of a same horizontal rod (320) are respectively connected to the X-axis connection parts (50) of adjacent triaxial connection structures, two ends of a same vertical rod (320) are respectively connected to the Y-axis connection parts (50) of adjacent triaxial connection structures, and two ends of a same upright rod (320) are respectively connected to the expansion connection parts (140) of adjacent triaxial connection structures in cooperation with the radial force-applying component (60).
Re Claim 14: Altman discloses a reptile (see note above related to this functional element) frame (see for example, 10, 20, 30; Figs. 1-3), comprising the reptile box frame as claimed in claim 9 (see rejection of claim 9 above), and wall panels (at least shown for walls 20 in Fig. 2) arranged on the reptile box frame.
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 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US Patent 6,969,211), as applied to claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-12, and 14 above, and further in view of Laverone (US Patent 3,695,649).
Re Claim 5: Altman, as discussed for claim 4 above, discloses a triaxial connection structure significantly as claimed except for further comprising a plug cover, wherein a plug hole is coaxially provided on a side of the stepped hole away from the expansion sleeve, and the plug cover is inserted into the plug hole to cover the screw.
Laverone teaches the use of a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 9-12), comprising a connection body (15; Fig. 9), an X-axis connection part (18a); a Y-axis connection part (18b); and an expansion connection part (19, 19) used to cooperate with a radial force-applying component (2d, 4d) to achieve a friction locking connection with an inner tube wall of an upright rod (3d); and further comprising a plug cover (25; Fig. 12, wherein a plug hole (the opening at the top of junction head 15) is coaxially provided on a side of a stepped hole (at 20; see Fig. 10) away from the connection part (19, 19), and the plug cover (25) is inserted into the plug hole to cover a screw (4d) of the radial force-applying component (2d, 4d), for the purpose of covering an end of the connection body.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Altman, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that it further comprises a plug cover, wherein a plug hole is coaxially provided on a side of the stepped hole away from the expansion sleeve, and the plug cover is inserted into the plug hole to cover the screw, as taught by Laverone, for the purpose of covering an end of the connection body.
Re Claim 13: Altman, as modified in view of Laverone above, discloses a reptile (see note above related to this functional element) box frame (see for example, 10, 20, 30; Figs. 1-3), comprising a plurality of horizontal rods (320), a plurality of vertical rods (320), a plurality of upright rods (320), the triaxial connection structure as claimed in claim 5 (see rejections of claim 5 above), and a radial force-applying component (60) matching the triaxial connection structure, wherein two ends of a same horizontal rod (320) are respectively connected to the X-axis connection parts (50) of adjacent triaxial connection structures, two ends of a same vertical rod (320) are respectively connected to the Y-axis connection parts (50) of adjacent triaxial connection structures, and two ends of a same upright rod (320) are respectively connected to the expansion connection parts (140) of adjacent triaxial connection structures in cooperation with the radial force-applying component (60).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US Patent 6,969,211), as applied to claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-12, and 14 above, and further in view of Comens (GB 1515297).
Re Claim 8: Altman, as discussed for claim 4 above, discloses a triaxial connection structure significantly as claimed except wherein at least one of the X-axis connection part and the Y-axis connection part has reinforcing ribs arranged axially on a side away from the slots.
Comens teaches the use of a triaxial connection structure (see Figs. 6 and 9, for example), comprising a connection body (15; Fig. 9), an X-axis connection part (10); a Y-axis connection part (10); and an expansion connection part (10) used to cooperate with a radial force-applying component (41) to achieve a friction locking connection with an inner tube wall of an upright rod (19); and further wherein at least one of the X-axis connection part and the Y-axis connection part (10) has reinforcing ribs (28; Fig. 6) arranged axially on a side away from slots (25) formed thereon, for the purpose of ensuring a tight connection with a tube (17).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Altman, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that at least one of the X-axis connection part and the Y-axis connection part has reinforcing ribs arranged axially on a side away from the slots, as taught by Comens, for the purpose of ensuring a tight connection with a tube.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R MCMAHON whose telephone number is (571)270-3067. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber Anderson can be reached at (571) 270-5281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW R MCMAHON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
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