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
Applicant’s claim for domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 10/25/2024 and 06/05/2025 have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1-3, 17, and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cho (US 20220317730 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Cho teaches a foldable electronic device (read as electronic device 100) (Cho – Figure 1A, Figure 1B, [0044]) comprising at least the following:
a first middle frame part (read as first housing 110), a second middle frame part (read as second housing 120), and a rotating shaft assembly (read as hinge structure 200 (e.g., a first hinge structure 200a and a second hinge structure 200b) (Cho – Figure 1A, Figure 1B, [0044]), wherein
the first middle frame part and the second middle frame part are rotatably connected to each other by using the rotating shaft assembly (read as at least a portion of the second part 200_2 of the hinge structure 200 may be rotated in correspondence to rotation of the first housing 110 and the second housing 120) (Cho – Figure 1A, [0054]);
the foldable electronic device further comprises a flexible circuit board (read as printed circuit board) (Cho – [0046]) and at least one shaft cover assembly, and the shaft cover assembly is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft assembly (read as hinge housing 150) (Cho – Figure 1A, Figure 1C, Figure 13, [0044], [0047], [0050], [0133]); and
the flexible circuit board is fixedly connected to the shaft cover assembly, and in a process in which the first middle frame part and the second middle frame part are folded or unfolded relative to each other, the shaft cover assembly moves back and forth relative to the rotating shaft assembly in a thickness direction of the foldable electronic device (read as housing 101 may be at least a pair of housings that may be rotated about a specific axis; housing 101 may include the first housing 110 and a second housing 120; first housing 110 may be disposed to be continuous to the second housing 120 when a central portion 163 of the display 160 is spread flat or the housing 101 is in an unfolded state, or may be disposed in parallel to the second housing 120 depending on how the electrical device is folded) (Cho – [0045]).
Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Cho further teaches further comprising a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the first circuit board is located on the first middle frame part, the second circuit board is located on the second middle frame part, one end of the flexible circuit board is connected to the first circuit board, and the other end of the flexible circuit board is connected to the second circuit board after passing through the rotating shaft assembly (read as at least a portion of the first housing 110 may be bonded to the first part 161 of the display 160; first housing 110 is coupled to the first cover 119 to that an electronic element such as a printed circuit board, that is necessary for driving the electronic device 100 may be disposed; at least a portion of the second housing 120 may be bonded to the second part 162 of the display 160; the second housing 120 is coupled to the second cover 129 so that electronic elements, such as printed circuit board, that is necessary for driving the electronic device 100 may be disposed) (Cho – Figure 1A, [0046], [0048]).
Regarding claim 3 as applied to claim 1, Cho further teaches wherein the rotating shaft assembly comprises a rotating shaft, a first swing arm, and a second swing arm; and the first swing arm and the second swing arm are separately rotatably connected to the rotating shaft, the first swing arm is fixedly connected to the first middle frame part, and the second swing arm is fixedly connected to the second middle frame part (read as arm parts (or arm structures, or arm units) 221 and 222 may be rotated about the centers of the rotary shaft (e.g., the first rotary shaft 231 and the second rotary shaft 232); arm parts 221 and 222 may include a first arm part 221 connected to the first rotation part 211 through a first coupling part 251, and a second arm part 222 connected to the second rotation part 212 through a second coupling part 252) (Cho – Figure 2, [0061]).
Regarding claim 17 as applied to claim 2, Cho further teaches wherein the rotating shaft assembly comprises a rotating shaft, a first swing arm, and a second swing arm; and the first swing arm and the second swing arm are separately rotatably connected to the rotating shaft, the first swing arm is fixedly connected to the first middle frame part, and the second swing arm is fixedly connected to the second middle frame part (read as arm parts (or arm structures, or arm units) 221 and 222 may be rotated about the centers of the rotary shaft (e.g., the first rotary shaft 231 and the second rotary shaft 232); arm parts 221 and 222 may include a first arm part 221 connected to the first rotation part 211 through a first coupling part 251, and a second arm part 222 connected to the second rotation part 212 through a second coupling part 252) (Cho – Figure 2, [0061]).
Regarding claim 21 as applied to claim 17, Cho further teaches wherein the linkage member comprises a rotating part and a sliding part connected to the rotating part; the rotating part is located in the rotating cavity and is rotatably connected to the rotating cavity (read as second rotation part 212 may include a bracket body 212_1, a slide hole 212_2 formed at an end on one side of the bracket body 212_1, a rail 212_3 formed at an end on an opposite side of the bracket body 212_1, and a housing coupling hole 212_4 used for coupling to the second housing 120) (Cho – Figure 5, [0073]); and the sliding part is located in the sliding groove and is slidably connected to the sliding groove (read as rail 212_3 may be inserted into a rail groove or a rail type hole disposed in the fixing bracket 213, and may be rotated along the rail groove in a specific rotation range; rail 212_3 may be rotated between the -z axis and the z axis with respect to a fourth axis 14 formed by the rail groove of the fixing bracket 213) (Cho – Figure 3, Figure 4, [0076], [0079]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 22 as applied to claim 17, Cho further teaches wherein a central axis of the rotating part in an axial direction of the linkage member does not coincide with a central axis of the sliding part in the axial direction of the linkage member (read as does not overlap the hinge housing 150 with respect to the z axis) (Cho – [0054]).
Regarding claim 23 as applied to claim 22, Cho further teaches wherein a size of the rotating part in a radial direction of the linkage member is less than a size of the sliding part in the radial direction of the linkage member (read as a distance from a center point to a gear tooth end is a first radius, and a second gear portion geared with the second compound gear, and of which a distance from a center point to a gear tooth end is a second radius that is smaller than the first radius) (Cho – [0009], [0112], [0135]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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 5-12 depend upon objected claim 4, therefore these claims are also objected to as being dependent upon a rejected based claim.
Claim 18 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 19-20 depend upon objected claim 18, therefore these claims are also objected to as being dependent upon a rejected based claim.
Claim 13 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 13, the best prior art of record found during the examination of the present application, Cho (US 2022/0317730 A1), fails to specifically teach, suggest, or disclose a shaft cover assembly, comprises: a shaft cover, a first fastener, and two linkage members; two sliding grooves are disposed on the shaft cover, and one end of each linkage member is located in the sliding groove and is slidably connected to the sliding groove; two rotating cavities are disposed on the first fastener, and the other end of each linkage member is located in the rotating cavity and is rotatably connected to the rotating cavity; and the flexible circuit board is fixedly connected to the shaft cover, the first fastener is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft of the rotating shaft assembly, one of the two linkage members is fixedly connected to a first swing arm of the rotating shaft assembly, and the other of the two linkage members is fixedly connected to a second swing arm of the rotating shaft assembly; the shaft cover comprises a shaft cover body and a second fastener fixedly connected to the shaft cover body; the flexible circuit board of a foldable electronic device is fixedly connected to the shaft cover body, and the sliding groove is located on the second fastener; and the flexible circuit board is fixedly connected to a side that is of the shaft cover body of the foldable electronic device and that faces away from the rotating shaft assembly; and the linkage member comprises a rotating part and a sliding part connected to the rotating part; the rotating part is located in the rotating cavity and is rotatably connected to the rotating cavity; the sliding part is located in the sliding groove and is slidably connected to the sliding groove.
Cho teaches a hinge structure that includes a first shaft, a second shaft, a first arm part, a second arm part, a first rotation part, a second rotation part, a first main gear, a second main gear, and a first and second compound gears disposed between the main gears (Cho – Abstract). Cho teaches housing 101 may be at least a pair of housings that may be rotated about a specific axis wherein the housing 101 may include a first housing 110 and a second housing 120 (Cho – [0045]). Cho also teaches arm parts 221 and 222 may be rotated about the centers of rotary shafts, such as first rotary shaft 231 and second rotary shaft 232 (Cho – [0061]). These teachings of Cho fall short of the present application, therefore claim 13 is considered novel and non-obvious over the prior art and therefore is allowed.
Conclusion
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/APRIL G GONZALES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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