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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information referred to in the IDS filed July 1, 2025 has been considered.
The information referred to in the IDS filed September 18, 2024 has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed September 18, 2024 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the external gear plate being “crampedly connected to” the internal gear assembly, as recited in claim 1, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 Objections
Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informality: The reference character “A” lacks appropriate parenthesis in lines 7 and 9 of claim 1. Claims 2-6 are objected to as each depends from an objected to claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN105691251A in view of Kawashima (US20060158014).
The primary reference shows all claimed features of the instant invention with the exception of the external gear plate being crimpedly connected to the internal gear assembly.
In the primary reference, note a gapless hinge mechanism, comprising an external gear plate (2), an internal gear assembly (1, 12), a gap elimination unit (3, 4, 5, 6), a cover plate (8), a driving wheel (7), and an axial limiting member (9), wherein: the external gear plate is connected to the internal gear assembly, a first internal opening (23) is disposed at a center of the external gear plate, and a center boss (22) is disposed at an opening of the first internal hole, a space (see Figures 1 and 2) is defined by the center boss and a central internal hole of the internal gear assembly, and the gap elimination unit is disposed in the space.
Regarding claim 2, note an external gear belt (perimeter gear teeth) is disposed at an outer side of the external gear plate, the internal gear assembly comprises an internal gear plate (1) and a shaft sleeve (12), the shaft sleeve is disposed in a central internal hole (11) of the internal gear plate, and the internal gear plate is engaged with the external gear belt.
The secondary reference conventionally teaches configuring a hinge mechanism (see Figure 1) with an external gear plate (14) that is crimpedly connected to an internal gear assembly (15). Note as discussed in ¶ 0037.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the primary reference in view of the teachings of the secondary reference by substituting a crimped connection for the connection of the primary reference, in regards to the external and internal gear plates. This modification provides an alternate, equivalent connection type between the external and internal gear plates, wherein either type performs equally as well as the other. No advantage is gained and no problem is solved by picking using one connection type over the other. The choice in connection types is merely a design consideration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
Conclusion
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mn /MILTON NELSON JR/July 10, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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