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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN-208926164-U (hereinafter Yin).
Regarding claim 1, Yin discloses a rotating bathing chair (Fig. 1) that is convenient for translation, comprising a seat plate (50) and a leg tube assembly (10), the seat plate is provided on the leg tube assembly, wherein a rotatable assembly (4, 41) is provided between the seat plate and the leg tube assembly, and the rotatable assembly comprises a fixed frame (3) connected to the seat plate; the leg tube assembly comprises four support legs (see Fig. 1) and a “movable transverse tube” (11) connected to the support legs (see Fig. 5: 11 is in a non-circular tube that is removably connected to the legs), an axial length of the “movable transverse tube” is greater than a width (the vertical thickness of the seat plate 50 is considered as width) of the seat plate (see Fig. 1); the fixed frame is provided with a fixed piece (where pulley 30 mounted in Fig. 3) that is fixedly connected to the fixed frame (3 in Fig. 3), and the fixed piece is capable of being slided on the “movable transverse tube” via pulley 30.
Regarding claim 3, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 1, wherein the rotatable assembly comprises a rotatable inner ring (41) and a rotatable outer ring (about where 40 attached), the rotatable inner ring is rotatably connected to the rotatable outer ring; the rotatable outer ring is sleeved on the rotatable inner ring (see Fig. 3), wherein the rotatable inner ring is connected to a bottom of the seat plate; the rotatable outer ring is connected to the fixed frame via members 40.
Regarding claim 9, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 3, wherein the seat plate is provided with a seat locking component (see Fig. 4), and the seat locking component comprises a locking handle (63), a reset spring (62), a locking seat (60c), and a seat locking pin (63, 60b); the rotatable outer ring is provided with a plurality of locking grooves (7), and the locking seat is fixedly connected to the bottom of the seat plate; the locking handle and the seat locking pin are fixedly connected; one end of the reset spring is connected to the locking handle (about 60b), and the other end thereof is connected to the locking seat (60c); the seat locking pin is inserted into the locking groove.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 10,813,505 (hereinafter Lin).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a rotating bathing chair that is convenient for translation, comprising a seat plate (22) and a leg tube assembly (16), the seat plate is provided on the leg tube assembly, wherein a rotatable assembly is provided between the seat plate and the leg tube assembly, and the rotatable assembly comprises a fixed frame (21, 38) connected to the seat plate; the leg tube assembly comprises four support legs (50, 52) and a movable transverse tube (44, 46, 60, 61) connected to the support legs, an axial length (see col. 5, lines 1-43) of the movable transverse tube is greater than a width (the vertical thickness of the seat plate 22 is considered as width) of the seat plate (see Fig. 5); the fixed frame is provided with a fixed piece (28) that is fixedly connected to the fixed frame, and the fixed piece is capable of being slided on the movable transverse tube (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 2, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 1, wherein the fixed piece is provided with a button (100), the button is rotatably installed on the fixed piece; one end of the button is provided with a locking shaft (92), which abuts against an outer wall of the movable transverse tube (see Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 4, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 2, wherein there are two movable transverse tubes (44, 46), the fixed frame comprises two fixed transverse tubes (30, 32) have a same axial direction with the movable transverse tubes; one (30) of the two fixed transverse tubes is provided with a limit sliding element (104) that is slidably connected to the movable transverse tubes, and the other one (32) of the two fixed transverse tubes is provided with the fixed piece (28).
Regarding claim 5, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 1, wherein each of the four support legs comprises a support leg connection rod (50) and a support leg adjustment rod (57), the support leg connection rod is connected to the movable transverse tube, the support leg adjustment rod is sleeved on an outer wall of the support leg connection rod (see Figs. 1-2), the support leg adjustment rod is provided with a plurality of axially arranged adjustment leg holes (58), the support leg connection rod is provided with a fixing leg hole (about positioning button 59) that is communicated with the adjustment leg hole, the support leg adjustment rod is connected to the support leg connection rod via the adjustment leg hole.
Regarding claim 7, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 1, wherein the seat plate is provided with a plurality of water leakage holes (see Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 8, the rotating bathing chair according to claim 1, wherein the seat plate is provided with a backrest (26) fixedly connected to the seat plate.
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of DE 202021100919 U1 (hereinafter Dreiss).
Regarding claim 6, Lin teaches the rotating bathing chair as discussed above regarding claim 1. Lin further teaches an armrest assembly (24) comprises a fixed rod, an armrest rod integrally formed. However, Lin fails to teach the armrest assembly having the specific of a locking part; the armrest rod is sleeved on one end of the fixed rod, the armrest rod is provided with a connection hole; the fixed rod is provided with a fixing hole, the locking part comprises a locking buckle and a locking pin, the locking pin passes through the connection hole and the fixing hole, one end of the locking pin is connected to the locking buckle.
Dreiss teaches an analogous chair comprises an armrest assembly (33) having a fixed rod (312), an armrest rod (331), and a locking part (see Figs. 3-4: the snap mechanism similar to the snap mechanism 18, 20 taught by Lin); wherein the armrest rod is sleeved on one end of the fixed rod, the armrest rod is provided with a connection hole (the hole for the snap mechanism about where 312 is pointing in Fig. 3); the fixed rod is provided with a fixing hole (the hole for the snap mechanism about where 312 is pointing in Fig. 3), the locking part comprises a locking buckle (the elastic part of the snap mechanism) and a locking pin (the positioning pin of the snap mechanism), the locking pin passes through the connection hole and the fixing hole (see Figs. 3-4), one end (the end that attached to the elastic part of the snap mechanism) of the locking pin is connected to the locking buckle.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have replaced the armrest assembly 24 of Lin with the armrest assembly 33 as taught by Dreiss, wherein doing so would merely be substituting equivalents known for the same purpose. An express suggestion to substitute one equivalent component or process for another is not necessary to render such substitution obvious. In re Fout, 675 F.2d 297, 213 USPQ 532 (CCPA 1982). See MPEP 2144.06.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11,484,454 (Smith) and US 10,722,033 (Chen) also teach a similar bathing chair to the instant invention.
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/TUAN N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754