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.
Claims 1-4, 12-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant supplied Hong et al (WO 2021007912; “Hong” hereinafter) .
Regarding claim 1, Hong discloses: a foldable electronic device (1000) comprising:
a first housing (31, fig. 18);
a second housing (32, fig. 18);
a central shaft assembly (3-5, fig. 2-4); and
two shielding members (11, 12, 21-22, figs. 1-2, 31),
wherein in a first direction (x-axis, fig. 18) the first housing and the second housing are respectively connected to two opposite sides of the central shaft assembly (fig. 18), and the central shaft assembly implements relative rotation of the first housing and the second housing (see at least ¶[0103], [0108]),
wherein each shielding member comprises a first shielding body (12), a second shielding body (11, 21-22), and a third shielding body (second instance of 11, 21-22), the second shielding body and the third shielding body are located at two opposite sides of the first shielding body (fig. 2), and both the second shielding body and the third shielding body are supported to rotate relative to the first shielding body (figs. 2-3), and in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction the second shielding body is located at a side of the first shielding body facing the central shaft assembly and is partially stacked with the first shielding body (as disclosed in fig. 3), and the third shielding body is located at the side of the first shielding body facing the central shaft assembly and is partially stacked with the first shielding body (as disclosed in fig. 3), and
wherein in the second direction the two shielding members are respectively located at two opposite ends of the central shaft assembly (as disclosed upon examination of fig. 4), the first shielding body is connected to one end part (distal end of 4, and 5, fig. 3, ¶[0084]) of the central shaft assembly, the second shielding body supported to slide and rotate relative to the first housing (through 221, since 21 comprises element 22, fig. 31, see at least ¶[0080], ¶[0119]), and the third shielding body is supported to slide and rotate relative to the second housing (through second instance of 221, since 21 comprises element 22, fig. 31, see at least ¶[0080], ¶[0119]), wherein the first shielding body, the second shielding body, and the third shielding body form a part of an appearance structure of the foldable electronic device (figs. 3, 18-21 discloses this limitation).
Regarding claim 2, Hong discloses the limitations of claim 1, and Hong further discloses: wherein appearance surfaces of the first shielding body, the second shielding body, and the third shielding body jointly form an appearance surface of the appearance structure (see annotated fig. 1 below), the appearance surface of the appearance structure faces a same direction as appearance surfaces of the first housing and the second housing (fig. 18 discloses this limitation), and the appearance surfaces of the second shielding body and the third shielding body are respectively located in a gap between the first shielding body and the first housing (as disclosed upon examination of annotated fig. 1 below and fig. 18) and a gap between the first shielding body and the second housing (as disclosed upon examination of annotated fig. 1 below and fig. 18),
wherein in an unfolded state of the foldable electronic device the first housing and the second housing are flattened relative to each other (fig. 18), and the first housing, the second shielding body, the first shielding body, the third shielding body, and the second housing are sequentially arranged in the first direction (fig. 18), and in a folded state of the foldable electronic device the first housing and the second housing oppositely folded (fig. 21), and the second shielding body and the third shielding body separately rotate (through 3 and 4, figs. 2-3) by a specific angle relative to the first shielding body (figs. 2-3 teaches this limitation, due to the wedge surfaces of the second shielding body and the third shielding body).
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Regarding claim 3, Hong discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further discloses: wherein for each of the two shielding members the first shielding body (12) comprises a main shielding body (see annotated fig. 2 below) and a limiting body (121) that is connected to the central shaft assembly (fig. 2), the limiting body (121) is convexly disposed on a side surface of the main shielding body (see annotated fig. 2 below), limiting blocks (protruding edges of 12, see ‘PE’ in annotated fig. 2 below, and fig. 3 where the protruding edges of 12 are functioning as limiting elements.) are disposed on two opposite sides of the limiting body (fig. 2), and the second shielding body (11, 21-22) and the third shielding body (second instance of 11, 21-22) are respectively located at the two opposite sides of the limiting body (fig. 2), the second shielding body is partially stacked with the main shielding body (fig. 3), and the third shielding body is partially stacked with the first shielding body (fig. 3), and two opposite sides of the second shielding body (annotated as OS1 and OS2 in annotated fig. 31 below) respectively face and have rotation gaps (21a, fig. 2 and ‘GP’ annotation in fig. 30 below) with a side surface of the limiting body and an end surface of the first housing (annotated as ‘ESH’ in annotated fig. 30 below, see also figs. 30-31), and two opposite sides of the third shielding body (second instance of annotated OS1 and OS2 in annotated fig. 31 below, corresponding to second instance of 21) respectively face and have rotation gaps (second instance of 21a, fig. 2 and ‘GP’ annotation in fig. 30 below) with the other side surface of the limiting body and an end surface of the second housing (second instance of ‘ESH’ in annotated fig. 30 below, corresponding to second instance of 21, see also figs. 30-31).
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Regarding claim 12, Hong discloses the limitations of claim 1, and Hong further discloses: further comprising a display (200, fig. 18), wherein the first housing, the second housing, the central shaft assembly, and the shielding members form a main body (100, fig. 18), the display is stacked with the main body (fig. 18), and the display comprises a first part (B, fig.18), a second part (second instance of B disposed in second housing 32, fig.18), and a third part (A, fig.18) that connects the first part and the second part (fig.18); the first housing carries the first part (B, fig.18), the second housing carries the second part (B, fig.18), and the central shaft assembly supports the third part (see figs. 1, 3, 18), and the central shaft assembly drives the third part to bend (see figs. 3, 20-21), and
wherein in the folded state of the foldable electronic device the first part and the second part face each other, or the first part and the second part face away from each other (as disclosed upon examination of figs. 3, 18 and 21).
Regarding claim 13, Hong discloses the limitations of claim 12, and Hong further discloses: wherein the central shaft assembly comprises a base (5), a first rotating part (3), and a second rotating part (second instance of 3), the base comprises a first end (distal end of 5) and a second end (opposing end to distal end of 5), the first rotating part comprises a third end (distal end of 3) and a fourth end (opposing end to distal end of 3), and the second rotating part comprises a fifth end (distal end of second instance of 3) and a sixth end (opposing end to distal end of second instance of 3), and two first shielding bodies (12) are respectively connected to the first end and the second end (as disclosed upon examination of fig. 4 and ¶[0084]), two second shielding bodies are respectively located at the third end and the fourth end (as disclosed upon examination of figs. 1-4), and two third shielding bodies (two second instances of 21) are respectively disposed at the fifth end and the sixth end (as disclosed upon examination of figs. 1-4).
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong, in view of Cai et al (CN211209736U; “Cai” hereinafter).
Regarding claim 6, Hong discloses the limitations of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first shielding body, the second shielding body, and the third shielding body are made of metal materials.
However, Cai discloses:
a foldable electronic device (fig. 1) comprising a shielding body (2, fig. 1), having an appearance surface (outer surface of 2, fig. 1) made of metal materials (¶[0088]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to apply Cai’s teaching into Hong, such that the first shielding body, the second shielding body, and the third shielding body are made of metal materials, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice (MPEP 2144.07).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4-5, 7-11 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.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record taken alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest,
in combination with other limitations recited in claims 1-3, a combination of limitations that: wherein the two opposite sides of each limiting body comprise concave curved surfaces, the second shielding body comprises two arc-shaped convex surfaces that are oppositely disposed, and the third shielding body comprises two arc-shaped convex surfaces that are oppositely disposed, one arc-shaped convex surface of the second shielding body is opposite to and has a rotation gap with a first concave curved surface of the limiting body, and a first arc-shaped convex surface of the third shielding body is opposite to and has a rotation gap with a second concave curved surface of the limiting body, and a second arc-shaped convex surface of the second shielding body is spaced opposite to the end surface of the first housing, and a second arc-shaped convex surface of the third shielding body is spaced opposite to the end surface of the second housing. None of the reference art of record discloses or renders obvious such a combination.
Claims 5, 7-11 are objected to by virtue of dependency to claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is:
US 12038792 B2 Flexible Display Panel, Electronic Device and Hinge. This invention relates generally to a flexible display panel, an electronic device, and a hinge. A plurality of support members of the hinge rotate under an action of a rotation mechanism and a linkage mechanism, and a rotation of the support member drives a first packaging mechanism and a second packaging mechanism to rotate.
US 10599189 B1 Bendable Support Apparatus for a Flexible Display. This invention generally relates to a bendable support apparatus including a support unit, at least one coaxially pivoting unit and at least one synchronously pivoting unit. The support unit includes a plurality of support members extending in a first direction and juxtaposed to each other.
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/SAGAR SHRESTHA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841