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 .
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:
Circular hole on a side of the limiting bump which his connected to the transmission shaft (Claim 2)
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 Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2 requires:
a circular hole on a side of the limiting bump is connected to the transmission shaft
The specification does not provide a reference number for identifying the claimed circular hole and it is unclear how a ‘hole’ is ‘connected to’ another object such as a transmission shaft.
The specification, on Pg. 3 Lines 8-9, repeats this description in the summary of the invention:
and a circular hole on a side of the limiting bump is connected to the transmission shaft
The drawings submitted indicate that the ‘limiting bump’ is a curved projection forming a “U”-shaped or “C”-shaped recess into which the transmission shaft is received. The disclosure further defines a ‘slot hole’ in the housing which the transmission shaft extends through. There does not appear to be a circular hole described or depicted. As such, for the purpose of examination, the claim limitation is being interpreted as requiring that:
a curved recess is formed on a side of the limiting bump and the transmission shaft is received in said curved recess
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-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 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.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 110063682 (Du).
Regarding claim 1, Du discloses a plastic bag pull-down device for a packaging toilet comprising:
two roller drive assemblies (3; Fig. 1);
wherein each of the roller drive assemblies comprises:
a motor (22) and a motor shaft (Fig. 3, Specification – Motor is connected to driving shaft 23);
a housing (Fig. 3 – 19/21 form a housing);
a first gear and a second gear (Fig. 3, Specification – two gears 24 provided, one for each roller);
a first roller (20) and a second roller (20) (Fig. 3);
wherein the motor is mounted on an outer surface of the housing and is connected to the first gear through the motor shaft (Fig. 3);
the first gear is connected to the first roller and is engaged with the second gear (Fig. 3), and
the second gear is rotatably mounted on a transmission shaft inside the housing and is connected to the second roller (Fig. 3 – each roller is mounted on its own shaft, the motor drives the first roller and gear, the first gear drives the second gear which drives the second roller’s shaft).
Regarding claim 4, Du discloses an intelligent packaging toilet comprising:
a base (1) and a toilet seat (Figs. 1, 2);
a plastic bag pull-down device comprising:
two roller drive assemblies (3; Fig. 1);
wherein each of the roller drive assemblies comprises:
a motor (22) and a motor shaft (Fig. 3, Specification – Motor is connected to driving shaft 23);
a housing (Fig. 3 – 19/21 form a housing);
a first gear and a second gear (Fig. 3, Specification – two gears 24 provided, one for each roller);
a first roller (20) and a second roller (20) (Fig. 3);
wherein the motor is mounted on an outer surface of the housing and is connected to the first gear through the motor shaft (Fig. 3);
the first gear is connected to the first roller and is engaged with the second gear (Fig. 3), and
the second gear is rotatably mounted on a transmission shaft inside the housing and is connected to the second roller (Fig. 3 – each roller is mounted on its own shaft, the motor drives the first roller and gear, the first gear drives the second gear which drives the second roller’s shaft);
wherein the two roller drive assemblies are respectively mounted on two sides (Fig. 1 – front and back) of a bottom of the toilet seat (Fig. 1 – Mounted through additional structures. Also mounted to a bottom of the seat in so much as applicant’s invention achieves this as Applicant’s identified seat is beneath the toilet ‘base’).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not disclose a bag pull-down assembly for an intelligent packaging toilet comprising two roller drive assemblies wherein each comprises a housing, a motor on an exterior of the housing, a motor shaft connected through the housing to a first gear and first roller, a second gear engaged by the first gear is mounted on a transmission shaft inside the housing, the transmission shaft connected to the second roller and secured in a recess formed on a limiting bump inside the housing, each roller drive assembly further comprising a torsion spring sleeved on a fixed column in the housing with one end engaging the interior of the housing and the second end engaging the limiting bump.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN116331695 (Deng) teaches a plastic bag pull-down device for a packaging toilet comprising a motor, a first and second roller drive assemblies, each roller assembly comprising a housing, a plurality of gears, a torsion spring and a positioning bump however the assembly uses a single motor to drive both roller assemblies through a transmission and the positioning bump and torsion spring are positioned exterior to the housing instead of inside of it.
CN11192033 (Wang) teaches a plastic bag pull-down device for a packaging toilet comprising a motor, a first and second roller drive assembly, each roller assembly comprising a housing, a plurality of gears and a torsion spring however the device uses a single motor to drive both roller assemblies through a transmission rather than supplying each roller assembly with its own individual motor.
KR20170139960 (Roh) teaches a plastic bag pull-down device for a packaging toilet comprising first and second roller drive assemblies each of which is provided with its own motor however each roller drive assembly comprises only a single roller, a single gear and does not comprising a positioning bump or torsion spring.
US 4,519,104 (Nilsson) teaches a packaging toilet comprising a first and second roller each mounted on a shaft and wherein one roller shaft is received in a slot, the roller shafts are secured by a spring such that one roller can be displaced as waste passes between the rollers then returned to an initial position however a motor is not used as a drive and there are not two separate roller drive assemblies each with a pair of rollers.
US 9,079,710 (Nakano) teaches a packaging device for waste comprising a plurality of rollers with rubber contact points which are displaceable as waste passes between the rollers and are returned to an initial position under spring force however a single motor drives all the rollers instead of individual motors for distinct first and second roller drive assemblies.
US 9,598,194 (Shimanuki) teaches a bag pulling assembly for a packaging toilet comprising first and second pairs of rollers mounted beneath and on opposing sides of a toilet seat however it does not teach what drive mechanism is used for driving the rollers.
US 11,974,703 (Luettgen) teaches a packaging toilet comprising first and second pairs of rollers which comprise rubber contact points, wherein the rollers are mounted on shafts received in slots and secured by springs to permit displacement of the rollers before returning the rollers to an initial position however the pairs of rollers are not driven by individual motors.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS A ROS whose telephone number is (571)270-3577. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 9:00-6:00.
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/NICHOLAS A ROS/ Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754