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
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 18/882,031 SYSTEM FOR MOVING A DEVICE DISPLAYING CONTENTS OF A ROAD VEHICLE filed on 9/11/2024. Claims 1-14 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 9/11/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1, recites, line 2 “in turn” which appears to recite a timing in an apparatus claim and should be deleted.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent No. 10,960,828 to Smith et al. and in view of United States Patent No. 11,364,856 to Leimer et al.
With regards to claim 1, the patent to Smith et al. teaches a device having a ball joint (94) having a fixed coupling portion (28) configured to be connected to a headrest (24) inside a passenger compartment of the road vehicle (See Figure 1).
Smith et al. does not teach that the fixing coupling is configured to mount to a dashboard.
Leimer et al. teaches a screen holding device used in a vehicle that is configured to be mounted to a dashboard (See Col. 7, line 55, “dash” is equivalent to “dashboard”) and it would be obvious to mount the screen holder where it is convenient for use in the vehicle.
Smith et al. also teaches a movable coupling portion (100) coupled to the fixed coupling portion (28) in a rotary manner and configured to be connected to a screen (26, also “HMI”) of the content displaying device; the ball joint being configured so as to have a rotation centre coinciding with a centre of gravity of the assembly defined by the screen and by the movable coupling portion. (See Col. 13, lines 16-20, “the swivel ball joint 94 is optimally located relative to the center of gravity (not specifically shown) of the HMI 26 to prevent movement of the HMI 26”) . (noting “centre” and “center” are equivalent terms).
With regards to claim 2, Smith et al. teaches wherein the fixed coupling portion (28) and the movable coupling portion (101) are configured to allow the screen (26) to rotate around a first rotation axis (20) and around a second rotation axis (25), which are transverse to one another and parallel to the screen (26). (See Col. 2, lines 49-53, “the first portion relative to the second portion is approximately 15° to approximately 90° in a rotational direction, and about 15° to about 20° in a vertical direction and in a horizontal direction”.)
With regards to claim 13, Smith et al. teaches wherein the movable coupling portion (100) further comprises a handle (98) configured to allow a driver and/or a passenger of the road vehicle to orient the movable coupling portion relative to the fixed coupling portion.
With regards to claim 14, Smith et al. teaches wherein the rotation centre and the centre of gravity are arranged inside the screen and outside the ball joint. (See Col. 13, lines 16-20)
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.
With regards to claim 3, the prior art does not teach wherein the fixed coupling portion comprises a first coupling element with a spherical shape and wherein the movable coupling portion comprises a second coupling element with a spherical shape coupled to the first coupling element so as to rotate around the first rotation axis (20) and a third coupling element with a spherical shape coupled to the second coupling element in a rotary manner so as to rotate around the second rotation axis the screen being carried by the third coupling element.
With regards to claim 8, the prior art does not teach wherein the ball joint further comprises elastic pushing means to clamp the fixed coupling portion and the movable coupling portion against one another.
With regards to claim 12, the prior art does not teach wherein the fixed coupling portion is configured to be coupled, in a releasable manner, to a support unit comprising a fixing base mounted on the dashboard of the road vehicle and a tubular shank projecting from the fixing base the fixed coupling portion further comprising a support column configured to be coupled to the tubular shank of the support unit in a releasable manner, in particular by means of a bayonet coupling.
Cited References
PN 12,358,436 to Wilson et al. teaches a screen mount
PN 2006/0186295 to Dittmer et a. teaches a screen mount
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
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/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 2/2/26