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
1. The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “131” has been used to designate both a connection guide slot and a positioning buckle. 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. 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.
2. 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 limitation regarding “the connection guide slot” in 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 sets forth “a convenient guide rail interlocking mechanism… configured to lock and unlock a plurality sets of guide rail components” however claim 1 later positively recites the guide rail components (an inner rail, a middle rail, and an outer rail) and thus it is unclear if only the subcombination of the interlocking mechanism is being claimed or the combination of the guide rail components and the interlocking mechanism. For examining purposes, the examiner is assuming that the combination of the guide rail components and the interlocking mechanism is being claimed. Claims 2-9 are rejected for being dependent on claim 1.
With respect to claim 9, the limitation “the self-locking front stopper” lacks antecedent basis. Claim 9 should be dependent on claim 5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent 11,089,872 B1 (Chen).
With respect to claim 1, Chen shows a convenient guide rail interlocking mechanism, comprising an interlocking mechanism configured to lock or unlock a plurality sets of guide rail components, wherein the guide rail components comprise an inner rail (121, Fig.1), a middle rail (122), and an outer rail (123) that are slidably connected; an inner pearl nest component (124, Fig.1) is slidably provided between the middle rail (122) and the inner rail (121), an outer bead nest assembly (other 124, Fig.1) is slidably provided between the middle rail (122) and the outer rail (123), wherein the interlocking mechanism comprises a front-end interlocking assembly (Fig.4), the front-end interlocking assembly comprises a front lock fixing seat (1231, Fig.1), a front lock insertion block (126, FIg.1), a front lock clamp block (1211, FIg.1), and a linkage rod (127, Fig.1); the front lock fixing seat (1231) is provided at a front end of the outer rail (123); the front lock fixing seat is provided with a guide recess (1231); two ends of the linkage rod (127) are respectively provided with the front lock insertion block (126, 126, Fig.1, Fig.2), and the front lock insertion blocks (126) are respectively inserted into a corresponding outer rail (123, Fig.3); the front lock insertion block (126) is slid downwards on the guide recess (1231) under its own weight, and under a linkage action of the linkage rod (127), the front lock insertion block (126) is driven to move downwards and locked on the corresponding outer rail (123, Fig.3); the front lock clamp block (1211) is provided at a front end of the inner rail (121), and the front lock clamp block pushes the front lock insertion block (126) to move upwards when the inner rail (121) is slid outwards (Fig.4), thereby causing the front lock insertion block (126) to be opened and unlocked on the outer rail, and at the same time, under the linkage action of the linkage rod (127), the front lock insertion block (126) is driven to be locked on the corresponding outer rail (Col.5 lines 36-58).
With respect to claim 2, alternatively the front lock fixing seat is 125 and the guide recess is (1252) wherein the outer rail is provided with a connection guide slot (middle part of 1231) and a plug-in slot (top and bottom portions of 1231, FIg.1); upper and lower sides of the outer rail (123) are respectively provided with the plug-in slot (Fig.1), and the front lock insertion block (126) is inserted into the outer rail (123) through the plug-in slot (Fig.3); the front lock fixing seat (125) is capable of being disassembled on an outside of the outer rail through a connector (via flanges of 125 coupled to flanges of the outer rail, Fig.3), so that the guide recess (1252) is communicated with the connection guide slot (middle slot of 1231, Fig.3) and forms a front-end interlocking groove (Fig.3) for the front lock insertion block (126) to be locked or unlocked on the outer rail.
With respect to claim 3, wherein the front lock insertion block (126) comprises a front locking protrusion (1261, 1262, Fig.1) that slides in the guide recess (1231) and be locked or unlocked at the front end of the outer rail (123); the front locking protrusion is provided with a limit groove (12624) so as to prevent the front locking protrusion from being detached from the outer rail.
With respect to claim 4, wherein an outer end of the front lock insertion block (126) is provided with a clamp slot (12623, Fig.1) for the linkage rod (127) to be inserted, an inner end of the front lock insertion block (126) is provided with an extended linkage push rod (12625, Fig.1); the front lock insertion block (126) is capable of being inserted into the outer rail (123), so that extended linkage push rods (12625) between the front lock insertion blocks (126, 126) are connected or separated in a staggered manner (Fig.1, Fig.3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 11,089,872 B1 (Chen) in further in view of US 2013/0077900 A1 (Lowe).
With respect to claim 5, Chen shows wherein the front-end interlocking assembly further comprises a linkage self-locking component, which comprises a self-locking front stopper (see annotated figure below) and a self-locking rear stopper (see annotated figure below); the self-locking front stopper is provided at a front end of the middle rail (122), and the self-locking front stopper is connected or separated from the inner rail (121, Fig.3-Fig.5) when the guide rail components is opened or closed; the self-locking rear stopper is provided at a tail end of the outer rail (Fig.1). With respect to claim 5, Chen doesn’t explicitly teach the self-locking rear stopper is rubber and the inner rail is provided with a closing position for elastic clamping with the self-locking rear stopper rubber when the inner rail is closed. Lowe teaches a self-locking rear stopper (110, Fig.2) that is made of rubber (section 0026) and the inner rail (106) is provided with a closing position for elastic clamping with the self-locking rear stopper (section 0027, Fig.7A-Fig.7C). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the self-locking rear stopper out of rubber and to elastically clamp the inner rail with the rear stopper, such as taught by Lowe, in order to elastically engage with the inner rail in the closing position without scratching or damaging the end of the inner rail and prevent the inner rail from inadvertently moving towards the open position.
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With respect to claim 6, the combination shows (Lowe) wherein a tail end of the outer rail (102) is provided with a positioning buckle (112, Fig.2), the self-locking rear stopper rubber (110) is capable of being fastened to the positioning buckle, an outer edge of the self-locking rear stopper rubber (110) is provided with an elastic arc-shaped outer edge (Fig.2) that is elastically clamped with the closing position (Fig.7A-FIg.7C).
With respect to claim 7, modified Chen shows the tail end of the middle rail (122, Chen) has a rear stopper (see annotated Figure above) for stopping the inner pearl nest component (124) from moving backward; the rear stopper is separated from the closing position when the middle rail is moved (Fig.5); an internal limit movement space for a movement of the inner pearl nest component (124) is formed between the rear stopper and the self-locking front stopper. Modified Chen doesn’t disclose the rear stopper is made of rubber. Lowe teaches a stopper (110, Fig.2) that is made of rubber (section 0026). It would have been obvious to make the rear stopper of the middle rail out of rubber, such as taught by the stopper of Lowe, in order to provide cushion for the inner pearl nest when it’s moved towards the rear position and provide a cushion to the rear end of the middle rail upon impact on the rear end of the outer rail.
8. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 11,089,872 B1 (Chen) in view of US 2013/0077900 A1 (Lowe) in further in view of US Patent 6,238,031 B1 (Weng).
With respect to claim 8, modified Chen doesn’t show a front stop point. Weng shows wherein two sides of a front end of the outer rail (10) are respectively provided with a front stop point (10b, 10b, Fig.2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a front stop point at the two sides of a front end of the outer rail of modified Chen, such as shown by Weng, in order to limit the forward extend of the outer bead nest assembly. The combination teaches (Weng) an outer limit movement space for a movement of the outer bead nest assembly (11) is formed between the front stop point (10b, 10b) and the self-locking rear stopper rubber (10a, Col.2 lines 50-53).
9. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 11,089,872 B1 (Chen) in further in view of US Patent 4,370,007 (Fler).
With respect to claim 9, Chen doesn’t show the tail end of the inner rail has a rubber stopper. Fler shows wherein a tail end of the inner rail (13) is provided with a rubber stopper (43, Fig.2) configured to push the inner pearl nest component (17) to move (Col.4 lines 39-43); a shortest distance between the rubber stopper (43) and the self-locking front stopper is a pull-out distance of the inner rail (13) relative to the middle rail (12). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a rubber stopper at the tail end of the inner rail of Chen, such as shown by Fler, in order to limit the movement of the inner pearl nest component and provide cushioning upon impact.
Conclusion
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/HIWOT E TEFERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3637