DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 9/30/24. Claims 1-28 are pending. Claims 1-2 and 6-28 are rejected. Claims 3-5 are objected to.
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 § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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, 6-17, 21, 23-26, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2013/0269710 to Hight et al. (“Hight”) in view of US Patent Application Publication 2014/0181704 to Madonna et al. (“Madonna”) and US Patent Application Publication 2009/0063183 to McNeely et al. (“McNeely”).
Claim 1. A patient support assembly (Hight, Figs. 1 and 6) for connection with a tube connector (Hight, Fig. 42, #220) of at least one patient top (Hight, Fig. 1, #14) for supporting a patient's body (Hight, Fig. 6) above the floor, the patient support assembly comprising: at least one support tower (Hight, Fig. 6, #’s 32) for supporting the at least one patient top above the floor for selective rotation about a rotation axis (Hight, Fig. 1, #22), a connection assembly (Hight, Fig. 42) secured with the at least one support tower for selectively connecting with the tube connector of the at least one patient top, and a user interface adapted to display a 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Hight discloses a user interface in at least Fig. 4 and discloses in paragraph [0203] dynamic information on the GUI that may be used by a surgeon even with the patient is covered with surgical drapes and the bed is not directly visible, but Hight does not specifically disclose a 3-D depiction of the patient support assembly; Madonna teaches a user interface in which the contents of a room are represented in a 3-D depiction, and discusses in paragraph [0035] that this depiction can include beds, and motor-actuated devices; Hight discloses a button-centric user interface, and Madonna also discusses the shortcomings of such user interfaces in paragraphs [0007]-[0010]; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the bed of Hight with the user interface of Madonna, since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results, and would overcome the shortcomings identified by Madonna; furthermore, the use of the interface of Madonna with the apparatus of Hight would have simply been applying a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results; this rationale for combining, as well as the resulting combined apparatus also applies to the below discussion of dependent claims) a controller coupled to the user interface and adapted to detect a type of the at least one patient support top connected with the connection assembly from among at least the following three different types of support tops having different structural configurations: a supine top, a lateral top, and a prone top, wherein the controller signals the user interface to display the 3-dimensional depiction with the type of the at least one patient support top detected by the controller from among the three different types of support tops (Hight discloses a surgical support system but does not discuss associating the patient support with different types of support tops; however this functionality is known in the prior art, at least as taught by McNeely, which discusses identifying a support surface in the Abstract and further discusses in paragraph [0013] that multiple types of support surfaces may be used, specifically to “identify the support surface from a plurality of support surfaces” and in paragraph [0039] that “multiple types of supports surfaces 46 such as, for example, air mattresses including therapy mattresses of various types (e.g. lateral rotation mattresses, alternating pressure mattresses, low air loss mattresses, and so on), and other specialty mattresses”; therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the bed of Hight with the support surface identification functionality of McNeely in order to automatically associate beds with a nurse station network to prevent human error as discussed in McNeely paragraph [0002]).
Claim 6. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction includes representation of the user interface (Hight paragraph [0203] indicates that the user interface dynamically display lift and rotation angle statuses, and Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches that the display may be a “photo-realistic depiction” that is “dynamically updated,” which reads on Applicant’s 3-dimensional depiction”)
Claim 7. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly corresponding with an actual arrangement of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] and Madonna paragraph [0035]).
Claim 8. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly to have an angle of Trendelenburg inclination corresponding with an actual angle of Trendelenburg inclination of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 9. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly to have an angle of tilt corresponding with an actual angle of tilt of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 10. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly to have a Hight of the at least one end support corresponding with an actual Hight of the at least one end support of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 11. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly to have an amount of extension of a slide plate of the connection assembly corresponding with an actual amount of extension of the slide plate of the connection assembly of the patient support assembly (Applicant’s slide plate, as best understood, appears to be disclosed at #40 in Applicant’s Fig. 3; Hight discusses an equivalent plate #650 which slides along a base #652, as discussed in paragraphs [0222]-[0224] and seen in Figs. 13, 18, and 19; regarding a real-time 3-dimensional depiction, see Madonna paragraph [0035]).
Claim 12. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes representation of the arrangement of the patient support assembly to have an amount of extension of a slide plate of the connection assembly corresponding with an actual amount of extension of the slide plate of the connection assembly of the patient support assembly (Applicant’s slide plate, as best understood, appears to be disclosed at #40 in Applicant’s Fig. 3; Hight discusses an equivalent plate #650 which slides along a base #652, as discussed in paragraphs [0222]-[0224] and seen in Figs. 13, 18, and 19; regarding a real-time 3-dimensional depiction, see Madonna paragraph [0035]).
Claim 13. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is adapted to display an indication of a desired angle of Trendelenburg inclination together with the depiction of 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 14. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is adapted to display an indication of a desired angle of tilt together with the depiction of 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 15. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is adapted to display an indication of a desired Hight of the at least one end support together with the depiction of 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 16. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is adapted to display an indication of a desired amount of extension of a slide plate of the connection assembly together with the depiction of 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Applicant’s slide plate, as best understood, appears to be disclosed at #40 in Applicant’s Fig. 3; Hight discusses an equivalent plate #650 which slides along a base #652, as discussed in paragraphs [0222]-[0224] and seen in Figs. 13, 18, and 19; regarding a real-time 3-dimensional depiction, see Madonna paragraph [0035]).
Claim 17. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly includes at least one of: an angle of Trendelenburg inclination corresponding with an actual angle of Trendelenburg inclination, an angle of tilt corresponding with an actual angle of tilt, a Hight of the at least one end support corresponding with an actual Hight, and an amount of extension of a slide plate of the connection assembly corresponding with an actual amount of extension of the slide plate of the connection assembly of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Madonna paragraph [0035] teaches a 3-dimensional depiction).
Claim 23. The patient support assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one detector adapted to detect as an input an indication of at least one of: an angle of Trendelenburg inclination, a Hight of the at least one end support, an amount of extension of a slide plate of the connection assembly, an angle of tilt, a disengagement of a lock mechanism of the connection assembly to permit flip rotation the at least one patient support top about the rotation axis, a type of support top of the at least one support top, a presence of the tube connector in a receiver of the connection assembly, a presence of a lateral extension connected with the connection assembly, and a correct securement of the lateral extension with the connection assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses height and lift and rotation angle statuses).
Claim 24. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is configured to display a menu of preset positions for selection by the user to adjust the patient support assembly to corresponding predetermined configurations responsive to the execution by the user of the selected one of the preset positions (Hight discloses the use of “GUI interfaces such as LCD screens with menus” in paragraph [0202]).
Claim 25. The patient support assembly of claim 24, wherein the menu of preset positions for selection by the user include at least one of a preset operating position, a preset imaging position, and another preset imaging position (the apparatus of Hight is capable of being used for a surgical operation or for an imaging operation; moreover, any position of the apparatus of Hight can be considered to be an operating position, or an imaging position, or some other designation).
Claim 26. The patient support assembly of claim 24, wherein the user interface is adapted to display an indication of the configuration of the patient support assembly corresponding to an active one of the number of preset positions together with the depiction of 3-dimensional depiction of the patient support assembly (Madonna provides the capability of a real-time 3-D depiction of the apparatus; see discussion in rejection of claim 1, above).
Claim 28. The patient support assembly of claim 1, further comprising a control system in communication with at least one sensor for communicating the actual arrangement of the patient support assembly (Hight paragraph [0314] discusses a control system in conjunction with angle and height sensors).
Claims 2 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2013/0269710 to Hight et al. (“Hight”) US Patent Application Publication 2014/0181704 to Madonna et al. (“Madonna”), and US Patent Application Publication 2009/0063183 to McNeely et al. (“McNeely”), in view of US Patent Application Publication 2012/0223821 to Collins, Jr. et al. (“Collins”).
Claim 2. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is operable to indicate that an acceptable clearance Hight of the at least one patient top above the floor has been reached to permit selective rotation of the at least one patient top about the rotation axis (Hight does not discuss monitoring “an acceptable clearance height”, however, such functionality is well known in the prior art as taught by Collins in at least paragraphs [0006], [0009], and [0093] which describe an alarm condition for “the height of an upper frame of the bed relative to a base frame;” and describes “associated alarm condition thresholds”; thus Collins teaches measuring a height of a bed to be within a certain threshold that then allows for a therapy, such as rotation, to occur; and additionally states “other alarm conditions on the surface therapy template may be based on siderail position (e.g., a siderail is lowered during rotation therapy) or bed frame position (e.g., the head section is raised during a therapy)”; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the bed of Hight with the threshold and alarm function of Collins in order to ensure that rotation therapy does not occur when the bed Hight is at an inappropriate level for bed rotation).
Claim 18. The patient support assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is configured to display a warning indicating that the arrangement of the patient support assembly is incompatible with particular operations (Collins teaches the claimed warning indication system; see at least paragraphs [0006], [0009], and [0093], and discussion above with respect to claim 2).
Claim 19. The patient support assembly of claim [[1]] 18, wherein the particular operations includes rotation of the at least one patient support top about the rotation axis and the user interface is configured to display the warning responsive to the arrangement of the patient support assembly including at least of one of: an angle of Trendelenburg inclination other than zero, a Hight of the at least one end support below a threshold Hight, an angle of tilt other than zero, a disengagement of a lock mechanism of the connection assembly to permit flip rotation the at least one patient support top about the rotation axis assembly (Hight paragraph [0203] discusses Hight and lift and rotation angle statuses; Collins teaches the claimed warning indication system; see at least paragraphs [0006], [0009], and [0093], and discussion above with respect to claim 2).
Claim 21. The patient support assembly of claim 1, further comprising a detector adapted to detect as an input an indication of a type of support top of the at least one support top (Hight does not disclose detecting a type of a patient support top; however this functionality is taught in the prior art of McNeely, as discussed above with respect to claim 1, as amended).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2013/0269710 to Hight et al. (“Hight”) US Patent Application Publication 2014/0181704 to Madonna et al. (“Madonna”), and US Patent Application Publication 2009/0063183 to McNeely et al. (“McNeely”), in view of US Patent 10,835,438 to Jackson.
Claim 20. The patient support assembly of claim [[1]] 18, wherein the particular operations include lateral leg drop of a leg section of the at least one patient support top and the user interface is configured to display the warning responsive to the arrangement of the patient support assembly including at least of one of: an angle of Trendelenburg inclination other than zero, a Hight of the at least one end support below a threshold Hight, an angle of tilt other than zero, disengagement of a lock mechanism of the connection assembly to permit flip rotation about the rotation axis (Hight does not disclose a “lateral leg drop of a leg section”; however Jackson Fig. 5 teaches an orthopedic table with this capability; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide this capability to the apparatus of Hight in order to allow for a leg drop position to facilitate specific surgical procedures; regarding a warning, Collins teaches these features; see discussion with respect to claim 2, above).
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2013/0269710 to Hight et al. (“Hight”) US Patent Application Publication 2014/0181704 to Madonna et al. (“Madonna”), and US Patent Application Publication 2009/0063183 to McNeely et al. (“McNeely”), in view of US Patent Application Publication 2014/0310876 to Roussy, Jr. et al. (“Roussy”).
Claim 22. The patient support assembly of claim 21, wherein the detector includes at least one reed switch (Hight, Madonna, and McNeely do not disclose the use of a reed switch, however Roussy teaches a similar bed with an obstruction detection system, including the use of reed switches in paragraphs [0034]-[0035]; therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a reed switch to determine location, or absence, of a bed surface component, as is taught by Roussy).
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2013/0269710 to Hight et al. (“Hight”) US Patent Application Publication 2014/0181704 to Madonna et al. (“Madonna”), and US Patent Application Publication 2009/0063183 to McNeely et al. (“McNeely”), in view of US Patent 9,582,838 to Henderson et al. (“Henderson”).
Claim 27. The patient support assembly of claim 26, wherein the indication of the configuration of the patient support assembly corresponding to the active one of the preset positions is a transparent overlay of at least a portion of the patient support assembly in the active one of the preset positions together with the Henderson in at least the Abstract and in Fig. 2 at 46a; it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to provide the GUI of Hight and/or Madonna with transparent overlays since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results, and furthermore since there does not appear to be any criticality to the choice, aside from aesthetic purposes).
Discussion of allowable subject matter
Claims 3-5 are objected to as depending from a rejected claim. Regarding claim 3, Applicant’s claimed invention is not found in the prior art. The claim is directed toward, inter alia, the controller detecting when a patient support surface is not present, and to then allow the apparatus to collapse in a telescoping manner into a smaller configuration for transport or storage. The specific combination of claimed features is not found in the prior art in a single reference, nor would it be obvious to combine prior art references in an obvious manner to yield the claimed invention.
Response to Applicant's remarks and amendments
Regarding non-patent literature references not previously considered by Applicant, all cited references have been considered by Examiner. See updated PTO-1449.
Regarding the objection to claim 27, Applicant has amended the claim and the objection has been withdrawn.
Regarding rejections under 35 USC 112(b), Applicant has amended the claim language, and the rejections have been withdrawn.
With respect to claim 1, Applicant argues on pages 19 of Applicant’s remarks that the cited art does not disclose detecting “a type of the at least one patient support top connected with the connection assembly from among at least the following three different types of support tops having different structural configurations: a supine top, a lateral top, and a prone top,” and specifically argues that Dong teaches detecting accessories, and not bed support surfaces. However, the prior art of McNeely teaches in paragraph [0039, detection of various types of surfaces, including a lateral rotation mattress, which reads on Applicant’s “lateral top”. See rejection of claim 1, above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/MYLES A THROOP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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