DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-11 have been considered for examination.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-1353010 (KR 010) (from applicant’s IDS submitted on 11/18/2024) in view of Engeberg et al. (US Publication 2015/0289994).
In re Claim 1, KR 010 discloses an image display device 100, comprising: a flexible display panel 110 (Figure 1); an actuator a1 (Figure 3) mounted on a rear surface of the flexible display panel to bend at least a portion of the flexible display panel and having a first shape memory alloy (Claim 4); a current supplier L for individually supplying current to the first shape memory alloy; and a controller (paragraph 0007, “a controller for controlling power supplied from the power supply to the shape representation unit”) for controlling an operation of the current supplier. KR 010 does not explicitly disclose a second shape memory allow in the actuator. However, providing such was not new in the art of shape memory alloys. For example, Engeberg discloses an actuator 110 comprising a first shape memory alloy 120 and a second shape memory alloy 130. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art of shape memory alloys to have provided a first and second shape memory alloy in an actuator, as disclosed in Engeberg, in place of the plurality of actuators individually actuated in KR 010. The reduction of actuators would reduce the number of parts needed in the apparatus. Furthermore, KR 010 does disclose a plurality of shape memory alloys a1, a2, a3, b1, b2, b3 working together to achieve a desired shape of a flexible display.
In re Claim 2, KR 010 discloses wherein the actuator comprises a plurality of actuator modules a1, a2, a3 (Figure 3) sequentially fastened in a length direction.
In re Claim 6, KR 010 discloses wherein the first shape memory alloy (a1, Figure 3) and the second shape memory alloy (a2, Figure 3) have a linear shape and a curved shape at a predetermined temperature or higher (Figure 10), respectively and wherein the first shape memory alloy and the second shape memory alloy have a curved shape and a linear shape at a temperature below the predetermined temperature, respectively (Figure 2).
In re Claim 7, Engeberg discloses wherein the first shape memory alloy 120 is disposed along a length direction of the actuator on one side in a thickness direction of the actuator (Figure 2a) and wherein the second shape memory alloy 130 is disposed along the length direction of the actuator on the other side in the thickness direction of the actuator (Figure 2a).
Claim(s) 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-1353010 (KR 010) (from applicant’s IDS submitted on 11/18/2024), Engeberg et al. (US Publication 2015/0289994), Kim et al. (US Publication 2022/0019271) and still further in view of Kyung et al. (US Publication 2017/0215272).
In re Claims 8-11, KR 010 as modified by Engeberg above discloses the limitations of Claim 1 but does not explicitly disclose a stand for supporting the display. However, providing such was not new in the art. For example, Kim discloses a stand 300 for supporting a flexible display 100, wherein the flexible display curvature may be adjusted with a curvature adjusting actuator 200. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art of shape changing allows and flexible displays to have provided a stand with a curvature adjusting actuator, as disclosed in Kim, with the apparatus as otherwise disclosed in KR 101 and Engeberg. Providing a stand would allow the flexible display to be viewed on a support surface more ergonomically.
KR 010 as modified by Engeberg also does not explicitly disclose wherein the image display device flexible display can have a shape change based on a sensor input. However, providing such was not new in the art. For example, Kyung discloses an actuator 220, 230 (Figure 7) or 210 (Figure 6) on an upper or lower end of a rear surface of a flexible display panel 100 (actuators may be SMAs, paragraph 0052), wherein a controller 400 and a sensor 500 provides an input to change the shape of the display automatically (paragraphs 0054-0056) based on predetermined conditions. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art of shape memory alloys and flexible displays to have provided a control and sensor arrangement like that disclosed in Kyung with the apparatus as otherwise disclosed in KR 010 and Engeberg to provide automatic shape adjustments without the need for user input.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
The specific limitations of “wherein a plurality of the actuator modules comprise at least a first actuator module and a second actuator module and wherein each of the first actuator module and the second actuator module comprises a first fastening part at one end of the length direction and a second fastening part at the other end thereof” in Claim 3 are not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion.
For example, KR 10-1353010 (KR 010) (from applicant’s IDS submitted on 11/18/2024) discloses an image display device 100, comprising: a flexible display panel 110 (Figure 1); an actuator a1 (Figure 3) mounted on a rear surface of the flexible display panel to bend at least a portion of the flexible display panel and having a first shape memory alloy (Claim 4); a current supplier L for individually supplying current to the first shape memory alloy; and a controller (paragraph 0007, “a controller for controlling power supplied from the power supply to the shape representation unit”) for controlling an operation of the current supplier. However, KR 010 does not disclose wherein a plurality of the actuator modules comprise at least a first actuator module and a second actuator module and wherein each of the first actuator module and the second actuator module comprises a first fastening part at one end of the length direction and a second fastening part at the other end thereof.
Engeberg et al. (US Publication 2015/0289994) discloses an actuator 110 comprising a first shape memory alloy 120 and a second shape memory alloy 130. However, Engeberg does not disclose wherein a plurality of the actuator modules comprise at least a first actuator module and a second actuator module and wherein each of the first actuator module and the second actuator module comprises a first fastening part at one end of the length direction and a second fastening part at the other end thereof.
Conclusion
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/ADRIAN S WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841