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 .
Application Status
Claims 1-10 are pending and have been examined in this application
This communication is the first action on the merits
Claims 1-5 are rejected herein
Claims 6-10 are objected to herein
A call was made to 626-737-1227 9/17/2026 to offer an Examiners amendment which would include the limitations to make claim 1 allowable, but no call back was received.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 3 recites the limitations "a rotating head on the tripod body" and "a rotating base at a first end of the support leg." These limitations are also listed in claim 1. Because these limitations are directed to the same part, claim 3 may be corrected to recite "the rotating head on the tripod body" and "the rotating base at a first end of the support leg." . Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jones (US Pat No.4886230 A) in view of Lee(U.S. Pat. No. US 9452515 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Jones teaches a tripod with an adjustable angle, comprising: a tripod body
(all attached to hip 18 above the legs, including hip 18). However, Jones does not teach the claimed specifics of the connection between the legs and the tripod body.
Lee teaches a support leg(10), movably connected to the tripod body via a rotational structure(10 is connected via rotational structure 21,22,23, 60, 112, 12, 13, 14, 15) wherein the rotational structure comprises a rotating head(21,22, 23 defines the rotating head) on the tripod body and a rotating base at a first end of the support leg(112, 12, 13, 14, 15), and a limiting surface is located at an end of the rotating head(23); and a movable rotation-limiting assembly connected to the rotating base(30,40, 50, 60), the movable rotation-limiting assembly being configured to interact with the limiting surface to adjust an angle between the tripod body and the support leg(rotation limiting assembly is capable of interacting with the limiting surface to adjust the angle), wherein the movable rotation- limiting assembly comprises a limiting component(30) and an unlocking component(50),(see B below), the unlocking component comprises a guiding limiting hole(the negative space A in 50 defines a guiding limiting hole), and an end of the guiding limiting component is movably arranged within the guiding limiting hole(B is movably arranged in A); wherein in a first position, in response to an actuation of the unlockingcomponent,(an actuation of 50 causes the limiting component 30 to engage and disengage the limiting surface 23).
Jones and Lee are analogous because they are from the same field of endeavor or a similar problem-solving area e.g. turning a member around a pivoting structure. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the tripod body of Jones with the rotational mechanism of Lee. The motivation would have been to allow for sturdy control of the angle of the legs.
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Regarding claim 2, Jones as modified teaches the tripod with an adjustable angle according to claim 1, wherein in the first position, the movable rotation-limiting assembly is capable of permitting manual rotation of the support leg in a first direction or in a second direction; and wherein in the second position, the movable rotation-limiting assembly is capable of limiting manual rotation of the support leg in the second direction(see Fig. 7 and 8 for the two positions; Lee).
Regarding claim 3, Jones as modified teaches the tripod with an adjustable angle according to claim 1, wherein the rotational structure comprises a rotating head on the tripod body(200 including 21, 22, and 23), a rotating base at a first end of the support leg(112, 12, 13, 14, 15), and a rotating shaft connecting the rotating head with the rotating base(60).
Regarding claim 4, Jones as modified teaches the tripod with an adjustable angle according to claim 3, wherein the movable rotation-limiting assembly comprises a limiting component(30); a first movable groove is provided on the rotating base(12 is a recess defining a first movable groove), and the limiting surface is located at an end of the rotating head(23 is at the end of 200); a first end of the limiting component is movably positioned within the first movable groove(a first end of 30 is within 12), and a second end of the limiting component interacts with the limiting surface(the other end of 30 interacts with 23); wherein the second end of the limiting component disengages from the limiting surface, in response to the limiting component moving to the first position in the first movable groove; and wherein the second end of the limiting component locks onto the limiting surface, in response to the limiting component moving to the second position relative to the first movable groove(the end interacting with 23 locks onto the limiting surface and disengages the limiting surface in a first and second position).
Regarding claim 5, Jones as modified teaches the tripod with an adjustable angle according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of limiting surfaces are arranged around the rotating shaft on the rotating head(see 23); wherein the limiting component moves to the first position in the first movable groove, the second end of the limiting component disengages from the plurality of limiting surfaces, in response to the limiting component moving to the first position in the first movable groove(30 disengages from 23 in a first position); and wherein the limiting component moves to the second position relative to the first movable groove, the second end of the limiting component locks onto one of the plurality of limiting surfaces, in response to the limiting component moving to the second position relative to the first movable groove(30 engages 23 in a second position).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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.
Claim 6 includes the limitations “a first engaging slope is provided on the limiting component, and a second engaging slope is provided on the unlocking button, with the first engaging slope being configured to cooperate with the movement of the second engaging slope.” The closest prior art is Lee(U.S. Pat. No. US 9452515 B2) for the mechanics of the claimed tripod. A and B were discussed above in the figure shown. It falls outside the broadest reasonable interpretation to call the space A both the guiding limiting hole and the second engaging slope as well as to call B both the first engaging slope and the guiding limiting component, so the rejection cannot be maintained.
Claims 7-10 are dependents of claim 6, so they are similarly objected to as being dependent on a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM DONALD JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-9214. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th between 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at 5712728227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/W.D.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3631
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3619
