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 .
Double Patenting
The terminal disclaimer filed on 08/27/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 10,848,084 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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, 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) 1-3 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Forster et al. (US 2012/0293103 A1) in view of Furui et al. (US 9,537,335 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Forster discloses an electrical switch unit (e.g. Figs. 1-4: 100) for use with a variable speed electrical device (e.g. [0049]) to control operation of a DC motor (e.g. [0048]) of the electrical device, the electrical switch unit comprising:
a housing (e.g. Fig. 2A: 100, 104) which houses a pair of electrical switching contacts (e.g. Figs. 3, 8A, 11: 128 has a pair of claws that touches the upper and lower section of the pad 162 when the trigger 102 is pressed; thus, achieve the variable speed changing based on movement of the trigger), and,
an actuator (e.g. Fig. 2A: 102) operably connected with at least one of the pair of electrical switching contacts (e.g. Fig. 3), the actuator being configured for movement relative to the pair of electrical switching contacts in response to operation of a finger-operable trigger so as to arrange the pair of electrical switching contacts into at least one of a closed configuration wherein power is able to be supplied from the DC power source to the DC motor via the pair of electrical switching contacts, and, an opened configuration wherein power is not able to be supplied from the DC power source to the DC motor via the pair of electrical switching contacts (e.g. [0077-0078]);
a signaling module (e.g. Fig. 16: 500) associated with the electrical switch unit (e.g. Figs. 1, 3 and 16: 100, 140) comprising signaling circuitry for sensing the movement of the actuator and outputting a signaling module signal indicative of the sensed movement or position of the actuator (e.g. Fig. 12: 500 & [0085-0089]);
a power module (e.g. [0052]) comprising at least one power switching device for controllably supplying power from the DC power source to the DC motor (e.g. Figs. 5-6);
a control module (e.g. Fig. 16: 146 and [0052, 0060, 0065, 0077]) comprising control circuitry for receiving the signaling module signal, and responsive to the received signaling module signal, outputting a control module signal to control the at least one power switching device of the power module wherein the at least one power switching device controllably supplies power from the DC power source to the DC motor to allow operation of the DC motor at a speed corresponding to the sensed movement or position of the actuator; and
wherein, the electrical switch unit is characterized in that the at least one of the pair of electrical switching contacts, the signaling module, and the control module are integrally formed together in a first PCB (e.g. Fig. 3: 140),
wherein the power module is formed in a second PCB (e.g. Fig. 3: 130) that is spaced apart from and parallel to the first PCB (as shown in Fig. 3, PCB 130 and PCB 140 are spaced apart and parallel to each other);
said first and second spaced-apart PCBs including at least one of electrically conductive pins (e.g. Fig. 3: 132 & [0052]), conductive pathways (e.g. Fig. 3: inherently discloses within PCBs 130 & 140 for connecting components on the PCBs), and conductive buses integrally embedded in the first and second spaced-apart PCBs to provide electrical communication with the at least one of the pair of electrical switching contacts (e.g. Figs. 3 & 8A: 128 and [0077]: trigger 102, 128 electrically connected to board 140), the signaling module (e.g. Fig. 16: signaling module 500 is electrically connected to board 140), the control module (e.g. Figs. 3 & 16: control module 146 is electrically connected to board 140) and the power module (e.g. [0052]: power module is formed on board 130); and
wherein the electrical switch unit further including an electrical connection interface that is capable of receiving a different control module and a different power module (Figs. 1, 3-4, 10b, and 19-20: connections between the control module PCB 140 and power module PCB 130 to the power tool are considered as the electrical connection interface).
Although obvious that the PCB of power modules 130 and the PCB of control modules 140 as shown in Fig. 3 of Forster is replaceable, it fails to explicitly disclose that feature.
However, Furui teaches an electrical connection interface (e.g. Fig. 1A: 22, 52, 74, 75, 24, 25) that is configured for receiving different control modules and a different power modules (e.g. Fig. 1A: adapters 70 that set threshold and settings for battery and power tool), the different control modules and different power modules being selectably and interchangeably connectable to the electrical connection interface to provide different user-specific operational settings, thereby enabling customized operation of the electrical switch unit (e.g. Fig. 1A: 70, 72 & col 3 lines 4-20).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Forster with the teachings of Furui to replace power module and control module as needed (e.g. col 3 lines 4-20: enable customizable user-specific functions for a power tool).
Regarding claim 2, Forster discloses the DC motor includes a brushless DC motor (e.g. [0048]).
Regarding claim 3, Forster discloses the at least one power switching device includes a MOSFET device (e.g. [0004, 0005, 0066]).
Regarding claim 5, Forster discloses a heat dissipation and/or heat dispersion element arranged in thermal communication with a bottom region of the power module to allow heat dissipation from the power ([0055]: first and second metal layers on top and bottom regions of the power circuit board layer 130).
Regarding claim 6, Forster discloses a first and second heat dissipation and/or heat dispersion element arranged in thermal communication with a bottom region and a top region of the power module respectively to allow heat transfer from the power module ([0055]: first and second metal layers on top and bottom regions of the power circuit board layer 130).
Regarding claim 7, Forster discloses at least one of an electrical power tool and an electrical gardening tool (e.g. Abstract: power tool).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Forster et al. (US 2012/0293103 A1) in view of Furui et al. (US 9,537,335 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ogura (US 2014/0302353 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Forster fails to disclose, but Ogura teaches a protective resin coating for protecting components of at least one of the signaling module, the control module and the power module (e.g. [0127]).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Forster with the teachings of Ogura to use resin coating to electrically insulate the control circuit board (e.g. [0127]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAWING CHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3909. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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/KAWING CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
