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 .
This is the Final Office Action on the merits of Application No. 18/858031, filed on 10/18/2024. Claims 1-2, 4, 6-15 are still pending in the application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 9-13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR 10-2004-0019269 to Funai (henceforth referred to as Funai).
Regarding claims 1-2, 9-13, 15, Funai discloses a bouncing reduction device for an elevator cars (i.e. Machine Translation of Abstract: “the elevator apparatus, the vibration reduction device”), configured to reduce a bouncing phenomenon in which an elevator car (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10) configured to move along a guide rail (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 8) in a hoistway (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 1) vibrates in a vertical direction when passengers board and alight from the elevator car (i.e. Machine Translation, page 1, fourth paragraph from the bottom: “ when passengers get on and off.. the car may shake and oscillate”), the bouncing reduction device comprising:
a friction module (i.e. Fig. 2, ref. 14) coupled to the elevator to be pressed against the guide rail;
a friction drive unit (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 18) coupled to the elevator car and configured to force the friction module to be pressed against the guide rail;
a drive control unit (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20) configured to control activation and deactivation of the friction drive unit in response to an operating state signal of the elevator car from a separate central control panel,
wherein the friction module is pressed against the guide rail upon activation of the friction drive unit (i.e. Machine Translation page 3, 8th paragraph: “the electromagnetic actuator 18 is driven, the guide rail 8 is held by a pair of friction shoes 17”),
wherein the friction drive unit comprises:
a solenoid housing having an electric coil disposed therein (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 18 and Machine Translation page 3, 8th paragraph: implied in “electromagnetic actuator 18”); and
a solenoid mover (i.e. Fig. 3, piston of the solenoid seen inside ref. 19) coupled to the solenoid housing to be movable back and forth,
wherein the friction module comprises:
a friction body (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 17) separated from the solenoid mover (i.e. via Fig. 3 ref. 16) and coupled to one side of the solenoid housing to be movable back and forth, wherein the friction body is pushed forward away by the solenoid mover upon forward movement of the solenoid mover; and
an elastic spring (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 19) applying elastic force to the friction body in a direction away from the guide rail (i.e. Machine Translation page 3, seventh paragraph: “a return spring 19”).
Wherein the friction module is moved to be pressed against the guide rail upon activation of the friction drive unit and is resiliently returned to an original position thereof to be separated from the guide rail upon deactivation of the friction drive unit (i.e. Machine Translation page 3, 8th – 10th paragraph: “the electromagnetic actuator 18 is driven, the guide rail 8 is held by a pair of friction shoes 17… when the electromagnetic actuator 18 is not driven, the friction shoe 17 is opened”).
Wherein the drive control unit is configured to control the friction drive unit by changing power supplied from a separate power supply to the electric coil (i.e. Machine Translation page 3, 8th – 10th paragraph: changing of power implied in “the electromagnetic actuator 18 is driven, the guide rail 8 is held by a pair of friction shoes 17… when the electromagnetic actuator 18 is not driven, the friction shoe 17 is opened”).
Wherein the drive control unit is configured to receive a door open/close signal of the elevator car wherein the drive control unit is configured to receive a door open/close signal of the elevator car from the central control panel and to activate or deactivate the friction drive unit according to the door open/close signal (i.e. Machine Translation page 3, fifth paragraph from the bottom: “electromagnetic actuator 18 is connected to … control device 20… drives the electromagnetic actuator 18 to operate the vibration reduction device 14 when the car 6 is stopped and the door is in an open state”).
Further comprising: an operation detection sensor configured to detect an operating state of the friction drive unit,
wherein the drive control unit is configured to receive a detection signal of the operation detection sensor and transmit the detection signal to the central control panel (i.e. Machine Translation page 4, last paragraph: “load fluctuation of the car 6 can be detected and a suitable torque can be made… the vibration at the start of the car 6 can also be prevented”).
Wherein the drive control unit is configured to receive an operating intensity signal of the friction drive unit from the central control panel and to change operating intensity of the friction drive unit according to the received operating intensity signal (i.e. Machine Translation page 4, last paragraph: “load fluctuation of the car 6 can be detected and a suitable torque can be made… the vibration at the start of the car 6 can also be prevented”).
Wherein the friction drive unit is detachably coupled to a guide rail device of the elevator car through a separate coupling module (i.e. Fig. 2, ref. 12, 15), and the friction module is coupled to the friction drive unit to be movable back and forth by the friction drive unit.
Wherein the coupling module comprises:
a support plate (i.e. Fig. 2, not referenced but structure shown below ref. 15 attached above ref. 9) detachably coupled to one end of the guide roller device; and
an adapter plate (i.e. Fig. 2, ref. 15) coupled to one surface of the support plate and having an upper portion allowing the friction drive unit to be seated thereon and coupled thereto.
Wherein the support plate extends in a horizontal direction to cover a space outside a guide rail roller of the guide roller device (i.e. Fig. 2, ref. 15 extend above ref. 12 but also extends over the structure above ref. 9).
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) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-2004-0019269 to Funai in view of US Patent No. 5,321,217 to Traktovenko et al (henceforth referred to as Traktovenko).
Regarding claim 14, Funai does not specifically teach the adapter block is configured to adjust a position of the friction drive unit with respect to the guide rail. However, in coupling art and in elevator retrofit art, slotted connection holes are used to allow adjustment in coupling of two mechanical parts. For example, in Traktovenko Fig. 34, slotted holes can be seen on ref. 1148 and slotted holes can be seen in Traktovenko Fig. 30, ref. 1070. It would have been obvious to use slotted holes as taught in Traktovenko in the adapter plate as taught in Funai to allow for positioning flexibility and adjustments during installation and there would have been reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-7 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 DIEM M TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7825. The examiner can normally be reached M 9-5, W-F 10-2.
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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