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 First Office Action on the Merits in application 19/915,181, filed 10/14/2024.
Claims 1-10 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because in line 1, “pull cord” lacks an article such as “a” and should be changed to “a pull cord”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paras. [0001], [0004] and [0005], “without pull cord” should be changed to “without a pull cord” and in para. [0018], “without pulling cord” should be changed to “without a pulling cord”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 1, line 1, “without pull cord” should be changed to “without a pull cord”; and in claims 2-6, “without pull cord” should be deleted. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 1-3, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang(11,047,172; cited on PTO 892).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Huang discloses a blind without a pull cord, comprising:
a blind structure(9), having a fixed side and a movable side opposite to each other(see Fig. 2); and at least one raising device(2) configured to be connected to the movable side of the structure(see Fig. 2), comprising:
a housing(21/22, see Fig. 4), connected to the fixed side(see Fig. 2);
a retracting component(4/31), rotatably disposed in the housing(see column 4, lines 5-9 and Fig. 4);
a resistance adjusting component(6/24, see column 4, lines 22-25 and 48-57), comprising a first rod(246 or 247, see Figs. 4 and 5) and a second rod(63, see Figs. 4 and 5), wherein the first rod(246 or 247) is disposed on the housing(see Fig. 5), and the second rod is movably disposed on the housing so as to be configured to be moved toward or away from the first rod(see column 4, lines 27-37 and Figs. 4 and 5); and
a raising cord(94, see column 3, lines 55-61 and Figs. 4 and 5), wherein two opposite ends of the raising cord are connected to the blind structure and the retracting component, respectively(see Fig. 2), the raising cord is wound on the retracting component(see Fig. 6), the retracting component is configured to raise or lower the movable side via the raising cord(see column 4, line 64 thru column 5, line 9), the raising cord is in contact with the first rod and the second rod(see Fig. 6), and when an end of the raising cord connected to the blind structure is pulled, the second rod is moved toward the first rod to allow the raising cord to be subjected to a greater resistance when being pulled(the orientation of the rods inherently allows the second rod to move toward the first rod meeting the claim limitation, see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses the blind according to claim 1, wherein the blind structure(9) comprises a headrail(91, see Fig. 2) and a plurality of slats(93, see column 3, line 19 and Fig. 2), the housing is disposed in the headrail(see Fig. 2), the raising cord connects the plurality of slats so as to allow the plurality of slats to be located on a side of the headrail, and the fixed side and the movable side are located on the headrail and the slats, respectively(see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Huang discloses the blind according to claim 2, wherein the retracting component(4/31) comprises a barrel(31/311) and an elastic plate(32, see column 5, lines 10-16) that is in a spiral shape(spiral shape when would on barrel 31/311 meeting the claim limitation), the barrel is rotatably disposed in the housing(see column 5, lines 10-13), two opposite ends of the elastic plate are fixed to the housing and the barrel, respectively, and the raising cord is wound on the barrel(see column 3, lines 62 thru column 4, line 4 and Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 9, Huang discloses the raising device according to claim 7, wherein the resistance adjusting component(6/24) further comprises a third rod(other of 246 and 247) disposed in the housing and in contact with the raising cord(see Fig. 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 8 and 10 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.
No prior art of record shows a raising device for a blind, the device having a housing a retracting component rotatable in the housing, a resistance adjust component having first and second rods disposed on the housing, one of the rods movable with respect to the other rod and housing , and a raising cord connected to a blind structure and retract component, and (1) the retracting component having a barrel and an elastic plate having first and second elastic states, as claimed in claim 4, or (2) the housing having a base and mounting protrusion, and the resistance component having an elastic component, as in claim 8, or (3) the rods perpendicular to an axial direction of the retracting component, as in claim 10, nor any motivation to do so.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETH A. AUBREY whose telephone number is (571)272-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4:30p.
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BETH A. AUBREY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/Beth A Aubrey/
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