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 § 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 1-4, 8, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ditty in US Publication 2015/0259185 in view of Rosenegger et al. in US Publication 2020/0232820.
Ditty teaches a lift device comprising: a base assembly (24); a lift assembly (coupled with the base assembly and configured to raise or lower a platform (80) coupled with an end of the lift assembly, the lift assembly comprising; an arm (70) supported by the base assembly; and a first pivot including a pivot pin (the “load pin” – see Paragraph 0026), the arm rotatably relative to the base assembly by the first pivot (see Paragraph 0022); a rotary sensor (90) supported by the base assembly, the rotary sensor configured to monitor a rotation of one of the arm or the first pivot pin about an axis,
Ditty is silent on details of the pivot pin. Rosenegger teaches a rotary sensor comprising: a pivot pin (13/15), a mounting cup (12) configured to receive at least a portion of the first pivot pin, wherein the first pivot pin is in contact with and rotatable relative to the mounting cup; an indicator (9) coupled to one of the portion of the first pivot pin or the mounting cup; an electronic sensor (2) coupled to the other of the portion of the first pivot pin or the mounting cup, the electronic sensor configured to monitor a rotation of the indicator; and a resilient member (formed by slots 5.21-24) configured to exert at least one of an axial force or torsional force on the mounting cup along the axis, wherein the resilient member is at least one of a spring (the slots are “elastically deformed”) or a foam, the rotary sensor further comprising, relative to the mounting cup, a non-rotatable member (11) engaged with the mounting cup and configured to counteract the torsional force, wherein the non-rotatable member is an external cup fixedly coupled to the lift assembly, wherein the external cup at least partially surrounds the mounting cup, wherein the resilient member is coupled at a first end to the mounting cup and at a second end to the external cup (the resilient member is sandwiched therebetween), wherein the contact between the mounting cup and the first pivot pin maintains an axial distance (D) between the electronic sensor and the indicator, and that the resilient member is configured to cause the mounting cup to exert an axial force against the first pivot pin (see Paragraph 0059). 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 Ditty by using a rotary sensor as taught by Rosenegger in order to provide an accurate and compact sensor for the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 23 is allowed.
Claims 5-7 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Please see amended rejections set forth above: Rosenegger teaches the mounting cup in contact with the pivot pin as recited by the applicant.
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 NOAH C. HAWK whose telephone number is (571)272-1480. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5:30pm.
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NOAH C. HAWK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3636
/Noah C. Hawk/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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