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 . Claims 1-11 are pending in the current application.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claim 1, line 4, perhaps the term “a” should be deleted.
Regarding Claim 2, each of lines 4-5 and 7, it appears that the language “the side” should be changed to “a side.”
Regarding Claim 4, line 3, it appears that the language “the side” should be changed to “a side.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION. - The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Specifically, Claim 3, the 2nd and 3rd to the last line, is rejected since it is not clear to what the “first engagement portions are respectively releasably engageable with.”
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 8-11, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fukui et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2022/0130625 A1, hereinafter “Fukui”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Fukui discloses a push button switch (Abstract; FIGS. 5 and 14) comprising a push-operatable and return-operatable push button (21; e.g., FIGS. 5 and 14), a first and second pairs of contacts (a first pair comprising contacts 231 and 241, and a second pair comprising contacts 232 and 242; hereinafter “23, 24”) that are respectively put in an open state by a push operation of said push button (21; FIG. 14) and put in a contact state by a return operation of said push button (21; FIG. 14), and a return-speed increasing means (26, 27) that applies and releases a load relative to said push button (21) during said return operation of said push button (21) and that functions to increase a return speed in a return-operational direction of said push button (21; FIGS. 5 and 6).
Regarding Claim 4, Fukui discloses that the return-speed increasing means (26, 27) includes a first engagement portion (22b) that is provided on [a] side of said push button (21) and that moves along with said push button (21), a second engagement portion (26) that is provided on the side of a case for holding said push button (21) and that said first engagement portion (22b) is releasably engageable with, and a biasing means that biases said push button (21) in said return-operational direction (FIGS. 5 and 14).
Regarding Claim 8, Fukui discloses that first pair of contacts are disposed on one side across said shaft portion of said push button (21; FIG. 14), and said second pair of contacts are disposed on another side across said shaft portion of said push button (21; FIG. 14).
Regarding Claim 9, Fukui discloses an opening-biasing means (25) that respectively biases said first and second pairs of contacts (23, 24) in opening directions (FIG. 5).
Regarding Claim 10, Fukui discloses that the opening-biasing means (25) assists said push operation of an operator during said push operation of said push button (21; 25 pushes against SHP in FIG. 5 above during actuation) and resists said return operation of said operator during said return operation of said push button (21; via the compressive resistance of 25; FIG. 5).
Regarding Claim 11, Fukui discloses that the push button (21) switch is an emergency stop switch (Abstract).
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 2, 6, and 7, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukui.
Specifically, regarding Claim 2, Fukui discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, and further discloses that the return-speed increasing means (26, 27) includes a first engagement portion (22b) that is provided on [a] side of said push button (21) and that moves along with said push button (21; FIGS. 5 and 14) and a second engagement portion (26) that is provided on [a] side of a case (e.g., an upper side, as in FIG. 5) for holding said push button (21) and that said first engagement portion (22b) is releasably engageable with (FIG. 5). Fukui does not disclose the claimed engagement surface gradual load and component force.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to utilize such a gradual load and component force to provide a readily available switching option after a previous actuation since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617, F. 2d 272, 205 U.S.P.Q. 215 (C.C.P.A. 1980).
Regarding Claim 6, Fukui discloses that the first engagement portion (22b) is composed of a protruding part formed of a pair of inclined surfaces (IS1, IS2; FIG. 5, reproduced and annotated below) that are spaced away along an axial direction of a shaft portion (SH) of said push button (21; FIG. 5), wherein said second engagement portion (26) is composed of an engagement member that includes a first inclined surface (1IS; FIG. 5 below) and a second inclined surface (2IS; FIG. 5) engageable with said respective inclined surfaces (IS1, IS2) of said protruding part and that is provided movably toward and away from said protruding part of said push button (21), and wherein a biasing means (27) is provided that biases said engagement member toward said protruding part of said push button (21; FIGS. 5 and 14).
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Regarding Claim 7, Fukui discloses that one of said inclined surfaces (IS1) of said protruding portion of said push button (21) comes into engagement with said first inclined surface of said engagement member (1IS) during said push operation (FIG. 5), and the other of said inclined surfaces (IS2) of said protruding potion of said push button (21) comes into engagement with said second inclined surface (2IS) of said engagement member during said return operation (FIG. 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim (and for the objection to Claim 1 above), but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims (and to address the Claim 1 objection). The prior art fails to teach, disclose, or suggest, either alone or in combination, a push button switch comprising the claimed return-speed increasing means includes a second engagement portion that is provided on a side of a case for holding a push button and a first engagement portion releasably engageable with, a chamber that is provided on the side of the case, and a partition member that is adapted to move along with the push button, that partitions the chamber into two compartments, and that allows for air to move from one compartment in which an internal pressure is increased to another compartment during the return operation of said push button.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Roeser (U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,657) discloses a pushbutton switch comprising first and second pairs of contacts but does not disclose the claimed “contact state by a return operation of said push button,” as recited in Claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee Luebke, can be reached at (571) 272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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