Toilet Sensor
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-8 and 19-32, in the reply filed on 05/15/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/12/2025 and 10/03/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
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 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newham (US 20210015313; “Newham”), in view of Park (US 11604177; “Park”).
Regarding claim 1, Newham discloses, in figures 1-5, a sensor used in combination with a monitoring system (ABSTRACT, “sensor and monitoring system for implementation on a toilet seat”), the sensor comprising: a housing (see annotated figs. 3 & 4), wherein the housing comprises: a convex upper portion (see annotated figs. 3 & 4, examiner notes Newham’s oval seat housing forms continuous convex upper and lower portions); an outer sidewall extending downwardly from the convex upper portion (see annotated figs. 3 & 4); an inner sidewall extending downwardly from the convex upper portion (see annotated figs. 3 & 4); and a convex lower portion joinable with the convex upper portion (see previous comment); a first film layer (12a) having a first conductive area (¶ 0015, Newham’s sensor arms are constructed of a conductive layer), wherein the first film layer (12a) is disposed adjacent to the convex upper portion of the housing such that the first conductive area faces opposite the convex upper portion of the housing (see figs. 4A & 4B); a second film layer (12b) having a second conductive area see previous comment), wherein: the second film layer (12b) is disposed adjacent (see fig. 3, examiner notes conductive layers 12a and 12b are located on a right and left side of the oval toilet seat ring) to the first film layer (12a) such that the second conductive area (12b) faces (see figs.4a & 4b, examiner notes Newham’s conductive sensor layers edges curve down such that at least these edges face each other) the first conductive area (12a); and the second conductive layer (12b) is selectively separated (see fig. 3, examiner notes Newham’s conductive layers are separated by the opening formed in the center of the toilet seat oval and by housing in the front and rear of the oval) from the first conductive layer (12a); and a processing circuitry (14).
Newham fails to disclose a processing circuitry contained within the housing.
Park teaches a processing circuitry (60, 62, 64) contained within the housing (22).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Park’s scheme of containing processing circuitry within a smart toilet housing into Newham’s toilet system for monitoring the presence of a person. Doing so improves cleaning operations efficiency by allowing housing cleaning without having to disconnect external electronics.
Regarding claim 2, Newham and Park fail to disclose the convex upper portion of the housing further comprises a casing for the processing circuitry.
However, applicant has not disclosed that housing processing circuitry in a convex upper portion casing is critical or produces unexpected results. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design a convex upper portion to include a casing for the processing circuitry as a matter of design choice to provide internal processing circuitry housing. Doing so improves cleaning operations efficiency by allowing housing cleaning without having to disconnect external electronics.
Regarding claim 3, Newham and Park fail to disclose the housing is substantially parabolic in shape.
However, applicant has not disclosed that the housing being substantially parabolic in shape is critical or produces unexpected results. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design a toilet seat housing as substantially parabolic in shape as a matter of design choice to provide a fitted seat to bowl interface. Doing so improves seat stability.
Regarding claim 4, Newham and Park disclose, in Newham’s figures 4A and 4B, at least one of the outer sidewall and the inner sidewall (see Newham’s annotated figs 4Aand 4B above) extend downward from the convex upper portion of the housing at an angle (see figs. 4a & 4b, examiner notes Newham depicts the sidewalls extending down at an angle).
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newham (US 20210015313; “Newham”) and Park (US 11604177; “Park”) as combined in claim 1, further in view of Holmes (US 5945914; “Holmes”).
Regarding claim 5, Newham and Park fail to explicitly disclose the conductive layers are separated by non-conductive spacing material.
Holmes teaches, in figures 1-3, the second conductive layer (40) is separated from the first conductive layer (60) by a pattern of non-conductive spacing material (50).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Holmes scheme of using a sensor with a lower and an upper conducting layer separated by a non-conducting spacer into Newham and Park’s toilet systems since it is well known to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Doing so provides a reliable way of responding to the presence of a weight of a person on a toilet seat.
Regarding claim 6, Newham, Park and Holmes disclose, in Holmes figure 3, the non-conductive spacing material (50) is deposited (Holmes, col. 6, lines 24-28, examiner notes adhesive is applied to the non-conductive layer then each side of the non-conductive layer is sandwiched between the outer conductive layers, the examiner construes adhering the non-conductive layer to be depositing) on the first film layer (60).
Regarding claim 7, Newham, Park and Holmes disclose, in Holmes figure 3, the non-conductive spacing material (50) is deposited (Holmes, col. 6, lines 24-28, examiner notes adhesive is applied to the non-conductive layer then each side of the non-conductive layer is sandwiched between the outer conductive layers, the examiner construes adhering the non-conductive layer to be depositing) on the second film layer (40).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newham (US 20210015313; “Newham”) and Park (US 11604177; “Park”) as combined in claim 1, further in view of Glover (US 20210375470; “Glover”).
Regarding claim 8, Newham and Park disclose, in Park’s figure 3, the processing circuitry 60, 62, 64) further comprises a wireless antenna (Park (64) col. 6. lines 53-67, the examiner asserts Park’s wireless interface using Bluetooth protocol inherently has a physical layer that would transmit and receive signals via antenna.
Newham and Park fail to disclose a battery.
Glover teaches , in figure 28, the processing circuitry (140) comprises a battery (¶ 0154, Glover’s processing circuit includes a power unit that receives power from a battery pack).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Glover’s scheme of connecting a battery pack to the processing circuit into Newham and Park’s toilet system for monitoring the presence of a person since it is well known to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Doing so provides a reliable way of enabling continued operation during a power outage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-29 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 19, although combined Newham, Park and Holmes disclose a toilet seat sensor system with a housing including an upper portion with inner and outer sidewall extending downward and a lower portion joined to the upper portion, the housing encasing a sensor including first and second conductive film layers that face each other and are separated by a non-conducting layer, the first and second layers being engageable; combined Newham, Park and Holmes do not disclose the upper portion and lower portion are manufactured of two different materials having different degrees of a characteristic. Furthermore, no other prior art can be found to motivate or teach applicant’s sensor including the upper portion is manufactured of a first material having a first characteristic; and a lower portion, wherein: the lower portion is joined with the upper portion; and the lower portion is manufactured of a second material also having the first characteristic but having a different amount of the first characteristic than the upper portion, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
The dependent claims are allowed for at least the same reasons as above.
Regarding claim 30, although combined Newham, Park and Holmes disclose a toilet seat sensor system with a housing formed at a toilet seat including an upper portion with inner and outer sidewall extending downward forming legs and a lower portion joined to the upper portion, the housing encasing a sensor; combined Newham, Park and Holmes do not disclose the sensor is configured to be positioned between the toilet seat and toilet bowl edge and processing circuitry is located in a raised area projecting above an upper flat portion. Furthermore, no other prior art can be found to motivate or teach applicant’s sensor including a raised area of the housing projecting above the substantially flat horizontal surface adjacent to the vertex; processing circuitry located with the raised area of the housing wherein the self-locating sensor is positionable between the toilet bowl and the toilet seat such that (i) the vertex of the housing is located adjacent to a front edge of the toilet bowl, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
The dependent claims are allowed for at least the same reasons as above.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY P GRAVES whose telephone number is (469)295-9072. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-272-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY P GRAVES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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