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
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, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated over CN215385793 issued to He.
Regarding claim 1,
He discloses a massage device with a replaceable massage head thereof (He: FIGS. 1-3 (100)) comprising: a housing with an opening formed at least one end thereof; (He: FIGS. 3,8 (10) having 101 opened at an end) a seat arranged at the opening (He: FIG. 3 (102)) and comprising a hollow receiving room arranged thereon; (He: FIG. 3 (102) is disposed around through-hole 101 and is illustrated as an annular hollow structure having a central receiving space communicating with 101) a connecting member hermetically arranged at a bottom of the receiving room; (He: FIGS. 3-5 (20) made of “silica gel” covering through-hole 101, lower portion carrying 22 which is disposed at the lower end of the hollow space and receives the head of push rod 123 and sleeved over 102, thereby closing/sealing an end of the hollow receiving space see page 5 of He which talks about compressing air or extruding air) a massage head detachably arranged on the seat and selected to detachably connect with the connecting member; (He: FIGS. 1-3 (30) sleeved over 21) and a driving member received in the housing and connected with the connecting member to drive the connecting member to partially reciprocate up and down. (He: FIGS. 1-5 ( 111, 112, 113, 12, 123) drive connected to the bottom of 20 all received within (100))
Regarding claim 4,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving member comprises a motor, (He: FIGS. 1-5 (111, 16)) an eccentric wheel, (He: FIG 5 (121)) an eccentric shaft (He: FIG. 5 (122)) and a pushing rod, (He: FIG. 5 (123)) one end of the eccentric wheel fixedly connected with an output shaft of the motor and rotating along with a rotation of the motor, (He: FIG. 5 unlabeled but (111) has a shaft protruding therefrom and therefore rotates with that shaft) the other end of the eccentric wheel connected with the eccentric shaft, the eccentric shaft rotating eccentrically along with the rotation of the eccentric wheel, one end of the pushing rod sleeved around the eccentric shaft and connected with the pushing rod for relative rotation, the other end of the pushing rod in transmission connection with the bottom of the connecting member, and the eccentric shaft eccentrically rotating to drive the connecting member to reciprocate up and down. (He: FIG. 5 shows this relationship)
Regarding claim 7,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a hard inner shell with an inner cavity and a soft outer shell covering on the hard inner shell, (He: FIG. 9 (105, 104)) the hard inner shell comprising a plurality of buckle grooves formed around the opening, and the seat comprising a plurality of hooks engaged with the plurality of buckle grooves to connect the seat and the hard inner shell. (He: FIG. 9 (1051) at the upper end of (105); hooks 1061 extending downward from (102) to connect with (1051))
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN215385793 issued to He in view of CN216168748 issued to Jin.
Regarding claim 2,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1.
He does not appear to disclose wherein the seat comprises a clamping groove formed at an upper end thereof, and the massage head is provided with a clamping portion formed at a bottom end thereof and a clamping block set at an edge of the clamping portion; the massage head sleeved around the upper end of the seat through the clamping portion, and the clamping block engaged with the clamping groove to fix the massage head and the seat.
However, Jin discloses wherein the seat (Jin: FIG. 2 (2)) comprises a clamping groove formed at an upper end thereof, (Jin: FIG. 4 (9)) and the massage head is provided with a clamping portion formed at a bottom end thereof (Jin: FIG. 3 (6)) and a clamping block set at an edge of the clamping portion; (Jin: FIG. 4 (8)) the massage head sleeved around the upper end of the seat through the clamping portion, (Jin: FIG. 3 (3) is sleeved around (2) via (8)) and the clamping block engaged with the clamping groove to fix the massage head and the seat. (Jin: claims 3-4 see FIGS. 1-5)
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide He’s seat with a clamping groove and the bottom of nozzle with a cooperating clamping block in order to provide a snap engagement that prevents axial separation while remaining easy to remove by hand i.e. substituting a snap engagement for He’s friction engagement both well-known types of attachments.
Claims 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN215385793 issued to He in view of U.S. Publication No. 20180296433 issued to Danby.
Regarding claim 3,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1.
He does not appear to disclose wherein a connecting portion is received in the massage head, at least one first magnet arranged at a bottom of the connecting portion, at least one second magnet arranged on the connecting member, the connecting portion inserted into the receiving room, and the first magnet magnetically attracted to the second magnet.
However, Danby discloses wherein a connecting portion is received in the massage head, (Danby: FIGS. 5-6 (621) received in (622)) at least one first magnet arranged at a bottom of the connecting portion, (Danby: FIGS. 5-6 (624)) at least one second magnet arranged on the connecting member, (Danby: FIGS. 5-6 (606)) the connecting portion inserted into the receiving room, (Danby: FIGS. 5-6 (608)) and the first magnet magnetically attracted to the second magnet. (Danby: FIGS. 5-6 (624) attracted to (606) see also [0050])
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have retained the replaceable massage head of He by a magnet pair in the manner of Danby, in order to implement “a quick-connect system” that allows for “switching massaging heads to work on different muscles or different portions of the muscles during the massage … without turning off the massage device.”
Claims 5-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN215385793 issued to He in view of U.S. Publication No. 20210393475 issued to He referred to as He475.
Regarding claim 5,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 4.
He does not appear to disclose wherein the pushing rod comprises a post formed at a middle thereof, a sleeve arranged at a bottom of the post and a convex cap arranged at a top of the post, and drive the eccentric shaft to rotate relative to the sleeve, and the convex cap is connected to a bottom of the connecting member in a transmission way.
However, He475 discloses wherein the pushing rod comprises a post formed at a middle thereof, (He475: FIG. 3 (63)) a sleeve arranged at a bottom of the post (He475: FIG. 3 (632)) and a convex cap arranged at a top of the post, (He475: FIG.4 (633)) wherein the sleeve is hollow to install the eccentric shaft therein (He475: FIG. 3 (62)) and drive the eccentric shaft to rotate relative to the sleeve, and the convex cap is connected to a bottom of the connecting member in a transmission way. (He475: FIG. 4)
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the push rod of He with the post, hollow sleeve, and convex cap geometry as taught by He475. A PHOSITA would have been motivated to make this combination since the sleeve at the interface between the push rod and gel body would improve fixing stability between them and prevent the device from failing to operate normally due to accidental detachment.
Regarding claim 6,
He in view of He475 discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 5, wherein a clamping cavity is formed at the bottom of the connecting member, and the convex cap is embedded into the clamping cavity to fix within the clamping cavity. (He475: see claim 5 and FIG. 2 (212) as well as [0062])
Regarding claim 10,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1.
He does not appear to disclose wherein the upper end surface of the massage head is closed, and a massage protrusion is arranged on the closed surface of the massage head.
However, He475 discloses wherein the upper end surface of the massage head is closed, and a massage protrusion is arranged on the closed surface of the massage head. (He475: FIG. 2 (211) see claim 5 and [0062])
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the device of He with a replaceable head having a closed upper surface bearing such a massaging protrusion. A PHOSITA would have been motivated in order to provide multiple uses i.e. using different massaging heads to massage different areas of the body by removing and installing different heads, the knocking function obtained when the head is removed and the sucking function when it is installed.
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide He’s seat with a clamping groove and the bottom of nozzle with a cooperating clamping block in order to provide a snap engagement that prevents axial separation while remaining easy to remove by hand i.e. substituting a snap engagement for He’s friction engagement both well-known types of attachments.
Claim 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN215385793 issued to He in view of CN114587953 issued to Wu.
Regarding claim 9,
He discloses the massage device as claimed in claim 1.
He does not appear to disclose wherein an upper end surface of the massage head is concave inward to form an air cavity, and a through-hole is provided at a bottom of the air cavity and connected to the receiving room.
However, Wu discloses wherein an upper end surface of the massage head is concave inward (Wu: FIGS. 12-15 (61)) to form an air cavity, (Wu: FIGS. 12-15 (62)) and a through-hole is provided at a bottom of the air cavity and connected to the receiving room. (Wu: FIGS. 12-15 (63) connected to receiving room (33))
It would have been obvious for a PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure He’s head as a through-cavity head seated in the fixed seat, as taught by Wu in order to obtain the suction mode while gaining the sealed head-to-seat air path to keep the airflow strong and the negative pressure from weakening. (Wu: page 15)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM C ORTIZ whose telephone number is (303)297-4378. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am-3:30 pm.
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/ADAM C ORTIZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673
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