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 .
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tang et al (CN 205433544U). Tang et al. shows the use of an electric toilet seat lift (Fig. 1), comprising: a toilet seat (6,7), a bracket (4), a lift support (10) configurable to control the toilet seat to be raised and lowered, and a drive (2) configurable to drive the lift support to move, the drive comprising a linear actuator (2) and an adjuster module (3,9,10,15), one end of the linear actuator being hinged to the lift support (at the seat (8), an opposite end thereof being hinged to the adjuster module (Fig. 1), the adjuster module being configurable to drive positional change of an end portion of the linear actuator and comprising a pivot connector assembly (9,10) hinged to the end portion of the linear actuator and a pivot pusher assembly (15) configurable to change position of the end portion of the linear actuator. Regarding claim 2, the pivot connector comprises a pivot connector (10) and a slide base (the surface of a bracket (3) which holds the pivot connector) and the pivot connector is arranged in a guiding hole (9) formed on the slide base while the a bottom of the pivot connector abut against the pusher assembly (15) driving the pivot connector to move axially along the guiding hole.
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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houston et al. (6,154,896) in view of Tang et al. (CN 205433544 U). Houston shows the use of an electric toilet seat lift (10), comprising: a toilet seat (12), a bracket (31), a lift support (21) configurable to control the toilet seat to be raised and lowered, and a drive (40) configurable to drive the lift support to move, the drive comprising a linear actuator (41,46) one end of the linear actuator being hinged to the lift support, an opposite end (45). Houston shows all of the teachings of the claimed invention except the use of an adjuster module whereby the opposite end of the linear actuator is hinged to the adjuster module, the adjuster module being configurable to drive positional change of an end portion of the linear actuator and comprising a pivot connector assembly hinged to the end portion of the linear actuator and a pivot pusher assembly configurable to change position of the end portion of the linear actuator. Tang et al. shows the use of a linear drive (2) having one end hinged to an adjuster module (9,10,15) whereby the adjuster module being configurable to drive positional change of an end portion of the linear actuator and comprising a pivot connector assembly (9,10,15) hinged to the end portion of the linear actuator and a pivot pusher assembly (15) configurable to change position of the end portion of a linear drive. Regarding claim 2, the pivot connector comprises a pivot connector (10) and a slide base (the surface of a bracket (3) which holds the pivot connector) and the pivot connector is arranged in a guiding hole (9) formed on the slide base while the a bottom of the pivot connector abut against the pusher assembly (15) driving the pivot connector to move axially along the guiding hole. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the electric lift toilet of Houston et al. with the teachings of Tang et al. in order to allow for a change in size of the main arm support moment to adapt to users with different weight.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-12 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Reference No. 2020/0093337 shows features of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY D BARFIELD whose telephone number is (571)272-6852. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY D BARFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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August 8, 2026
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