Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This is a first office action on the merits of application SN 18/877,988 and filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the platform having a verrying thickness of claim 39 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 21-25 and 29-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent 9,144,300 to Cotey.
Coety teaches
20. (New) A workstation comprising: a support (101); a leg assembly (107) coupled to the support, the leg assembly including: a first member (109) coupled to the support; a second member (108) positioned coaxially with the first member, the second member configured to move within an interior portion of the first member along a longitudinal axis relative to the first member (as best seen in figures 1 and 4); and a gas spring (116) located within the first member and the second member, the gas spring including: a cylinder (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member) coupled to the first member; a piston (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member) coupled to the second member, the piston coaxial and moveable relative to the cylinder; and a release pin (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member and the description of use, Col 5, line 62-Col 6, line 40) slidingly engageable with the piston to unlock the gas spring and enable height adjustment of the workstation; and a cap (501) at least partially protruding from the second member, the cap slidingly engageable with the piston to depress the release pin and unlock the gas spring (Col 6, lines 12-29).
21. wherein the support includes a base (Figure 1).
22. wherein the leg assembly is configured to extend and retract via telescopic movement of the second member relative to the first member in response to depression of the release pin (Col 6, lines 12-29).
23. comprising: a transition assembly configured to rotate the workstation between a use configuration (figure 1) and a storage configuration (figures 4 and 5), the transition assembly including: a leg attachment bracket (111) coupled to the leg assembly; wherein the cap is at least partially protruding from the leg attachment bracket (as best seen in figure 5, the cap is accessible and therefore protrudes from), a platform attachment bracket (112) coupled to a platform; and a hinge (figure 5) configured to rotatably couple the leg attachment bracket and the platform attachment bracket around a rotation axis; wherein the transition assembly is configured to position the platform in a horizontal orientation in the use configuration and to position the platform in a vertical orientation in the storage configuration.
24. wherein the platform includes a work surface (110 or 113).
25. wherein the release pin is actuatable via a handle (403) in a use configuration and actuatable by directly pressing on the cap in a storage configuration (as seen in figure 5, the cap is capable of being pressed).
29. (New) A workstation comprising: a support (101); a leg assembly (107) coupled to the support, the leg assembly including: a first member (109) coupled to the support; and a second member (108) positioned coaxially with the first member, the second member configured to move within an interior portion of the first member along a longitudinal axis relative to the first member; a transition assembly coupled to the leg assembly and a platform (110 or 113), the transition assembly including: a leg attachment bracket (111) coupled to the leg assembly, the leg attachment bracket including a hook (portion above the hole 115); a platform attachment bracket (112) coupled to the platform; and a hinge (figures 5 and 7) configured to rotatably couple the leg attachment bracket and the platform attachment bracket around a rotation axis; and a slider (114) slidingly engaged with the platform attachment bracket, the slider including: a first end formed into a slider tip (angled portion as best seen in figure 5), the slider tip configured to engage the hook; and a second end (portion connected to the cable 402) opposite the first end, the second end formed into a slider handle (401).
30. wherein the hook is located on an opposite end of the leg attachment bracket from the hinge (as best seen in figure 5).
31. comprising a spring (Col 5, lines 48-54) coupled between the slider and the platform attachment bracket, the spring configured to bias the slider away from the slider handle and toward the slider tip.
32. wherein the leg assembly includes: a gas spring (116) located within the first member and the second member, the gas spring including: a cylinder (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member) coupled to the first member; a piston (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member) coupled to the second member, the piston coaxial and moveable relative to the cylinder; and a release pin (inherent given the term pneumatic biasing member and the description of use, Col 5, line 62-Col 6, line 40) slidingly engaged with the piston, the release pin configured to unlock the gas spring to enable height adjustment of the workstation.
33. wherein the platform attachment bracket is configured to position the platform in a horizontal orientation in a use configuration (figure 1) and to position the platform in a vertical orientation in a storage configuration (figures 4 and 5).
34. wherein the slider tip is configured to: engage the hook to inhibit or limit rotation of the platform attachment bracket relative to the leg attachment bracket in the use configuration; and disengage the hook to unlock the platform attachment bracket from the leg attachment bracket, to permit rotation of the platform attachment bracket about the rotation axis and relative to the leg attachment bracket (as best seen in figures 1 and 4).
35. comprising: a cap (501) slidingly engageable with the second member to depress a release pin and enable height adjustment of the workstation.
36. wherein the release pin is actuatable via a handle (403) in a use configuration and actuatable by directly pressing on the cap in a storage configuration (as seen in figure 5, the cap is capable of being pressed).
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) 37-39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 9,144,300 to Cotey in view of US Patent 10,926,983 to Huang.
Cotey discloses every element as claimed and discussed above except the platform having a curved edge opposite a straight edge.
Hunag teaches a height adjustable workstation with a platform (121). As best seen in figrue 1, the platform has front edge that is curved downward and a rear edge that is straight. The curved portion includes grips as best seen in figure 1. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the workstation of Cotey by adding a curved front edge as taught by Huang for aesthetic reasons and to provide a better grip for moving the workstation.
Regarding claim 38, Huang teaches
38. wherein the curved edge has a thickness that is constant between the first surface and the second surface along the radial angle (as best seen in figure 1).
Regarding claim 39, Huang teaches
39. wherein the curved edge has a varying thickness between the first surface and the second surface along the radial angle (the varying thickness is caused by the cutouts for grip as best seen in figure 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 26-28 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY MICHAEL AYRES whose telephone number is (571)272-8299. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 11:30-8.
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/TIMOTHY M AYRES/ Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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