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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group a, Claims 1-5 in the reply filed on April 13, 2026, is acknowledged. Claim 6 is withdrawn and Claims 1-5 are pending.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “A floating moving object” in the preamble. However, the body of the claim does not recite any structure that would achieve the floatability or the movability or an object (aside from a target object which is assumed to be different than “a floating moving object”). It is therefore unclear how the claimed invention is a floating moving object. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the tension force" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This claim should be amended to depend from Claim 2, which recites “a tension force.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 recites the limitations "the amount of movement" in line 3 and “the reaction force” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Applicant should amend the claim to properly introduce these limitations. Appropriate correction is required.
The remaining dependent claims are rejected by virtue of their dependences.
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.
(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(s) 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 4,002,236 to Tolleson (Tolleson).
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Regarding Claim 1: Tolleson discloses a floating moving object comprising: a base member (See Annotated Fig. A) to which one end of a spring (See Annotated Fig. A) is connected; and a shaft (See Annotated Fig. A) to which the other end of the spring is connected, the shaft being configured to move relative to the base member (See Annotated Fig. A) in a direction of a central axis of the shaft (See Annotated Fig. A) when the shaft comes into contact with a target object; wherein the spring (See Annotated Fig. A) is arranged such that a central axis of the spring (See Annotated Fig. A) is at an angle (See Annotated Fig. A) to the central axis of the shaft.
Regarding Claim 4: Tolleson discloses a floating moving object according to claim 1, wherein the spring (See Annotated Fig. A) is arranged such that the central axis (See Annotated Fig. A) of the spring is orthogonal (See Annotated Fig. A) to the central axis (See Annotated Fig. A) of the shaft before the shaft comes into contact with the target object.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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 3 and 5 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reasons for Allowable Subject Matter
None of the cited prior art, considered alone or in combination, discloses or teaches a spring that is a tension spring and where the spring is arranged such that, after the shaft comes into contact with the target object, when the amount of movement of the shaft is smaller than a target amount of movement, a ratio of an amount of increase in the reaction force to an amount of increase in the amount of movement of the shaft is less than a predetermined value, and when the amount of movement of the shaft is larger than the target amount of movement, the ratio of the amount of increase in the reaction force to the amount of increase in the amount of movement of the shaft is larger than the predetermined value.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In addition to the references used in this rejection and those cited in the PTO-892, the following references are very relevant to the claimed invention: US 20160116243.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERET C MCNICHOLS whose telephone number is (571)270-7363. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 5:00 (Eastern).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 571-272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ERET C. MCNICHOLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3632
/ERET C MCNICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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