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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 9/14/2026.
The traversal is on the ground(s) that “the Office has not established that the pending method and apparatus claims are independent or distinct in a manner that would impose a serious search or examination burden”. This is not found persuasive because the apparatus claims 14-20 are not limited to a wearable ring device, a printed circuit board (PCB), or perform a second curing procedure. Although the apparatus must be capable of performing these steps and working upon these materials, the search would encompass any mold capable of multiple curing steps or capable of working upon a PCB, see MPEP § 2114 and 2115. In contrast, the method claims positively recite these elements and require a different search and examination.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, and 13 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (KR 102344609 B1), machine translation relied upon, in view of Halpern (US 2023/0225676 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee meets the claimed method for manufacturing a wearable ring device, (manufacturing method of the smart ring [0033]) comprising: coupling a printed circuit board (PCB) to an inner ring-shaped housing such that one or more sensors disposed on the PCB (PCB assembly 110, the sensor unit 112 is mounted on the PCB 111 so that the smart ring 100 can perform various functions [0041]) are aligned with one or more apertures within the inner ring-shaped housing; (when the PCB assembly 110 is formed in a ring shape, the sensor unit 112 is positioned on the inner surface [0067]) disposing a first molding plate against a first lateral side of the wearable ring device; (a step of forming the first mold 121 to surround the main outer surface of the PCB assembly 110, [0069], Fig. 3b-d) filling at least a portion of a cavity of the wearable ring device with a filler material, ( melted glue (GLUE) is used to wrap the PCB assembly 110 and harden it [0051]) wherein a boundary of the cavity is at least partially defined by the outer ring-shaped housing and the first molding plate; (Fig. 3b-d) performing a first curing procedure to form a first molded side cover on the first lateral side between the inner ring-shaped housing and the outer ring-shaped housing, (mold 120 is completed by heating and melting, injecting to surround the PCB assembly 110, and curing it [0052]) wherein the first curing procedure cures a first portion of the filler material; (block 13 is separated to obtain a primary molding 101a as shown in FIG. 3(f), [0077])and performing a second curing procedure to form a second molded side cover on a second lateral side of the wearable ring device between the inner ring-shaped housing and the outer ring-shaped housing, (second compression cover 24 is lowered to the center of the second molding block 23 [0093]) wherein the second curing procedure cures a second portion of the filler material.(third mold 123 is formed by curing to a state of being cured, [0093], Fig. 5b)
Lee does not explicitly state surrounding at least a portion of the inner ring-shaped housing and the PCB with an outer ring-shaped housing; and wherein the first and second molded side covers secure the outer ring-shaped housing to the inner ring-shaped housing.
Halpern teaches surrounding at least a portion of the inner ring-shaped housing and the PCB with an outer ring-shaped housing; and wherein the first and second molded side covers secure the outer ring-shaped housing to the inner ring-shaped housing. (Halpern teaches inner housing 305-a, the outer housing 305-b, one or more of the sensors 310, the other electronic components 315, the deformable feature 320, or any combination thereof, may contribute to the structural strength and durability of the ring wearable device 300, [0084].)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to combine the inner and outer housing of Halpern with the wearable ring device of Lee because it contributes to the strength of durability of the device, see Halpern [0084].
Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified by Halpern does not explicitly teach method of claim 1, wherein a third portion of the filler material remains uncured following the first curing procedure and the second curing procedure, the method further comprising: performing a third curing procedure to cure the third portion of the filler material, wherein the third curing procedure cures the third portion of the filler material using light, heat, or both, through the outer ring-shaped housing, the first molded side cover, the second molded side cover, or any combination thereof.
Lee teaches first mold forming step (S20), the second mold forming step (S30), a third mold forming step (S40), [0063]. Lee teaches at least the first and third molding step including curing, [0052], [0093]. Lee teaches hot melt, which is a thermosetting resin, can be used, [0051], which meets the claimed step of curing by heat.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to complete three curing steps and curing with heat as the third step because it yields the predictable result of curing to prevent moisture from penetrating into the PCB assembly as well as to securely protect the PCB assembly on which various elements are mounted in order to perform various functions from external force, see Lee [0012].
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified by Halpern meets the claimed method of claim 3, wherein the third curing procedure is performed to cure the third portion of the filler material around at least a portion of a circumference of the wearable ring device (Lee teaches the ring to have a layer described as “third mold 123”, [0093], Fig. 5c) such that a center of gravity of the wearable ring device is arranged in a defined orientation relative to the one or more sensors of the wearable ring device. (Examiner notes the claim is met by any center of gravity. Lee teaches “third mold 123” to be placed on sensor 112, [0048], Fig. 3f and 5c).
Regarding claim 6, Lee as modified by Halpern does not explicitly teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first curing procedure cures the first portion of the filler material using light, heat, or both, through the first molding plate, and wherein the second curing procedure cures the second portion of the filler material using light, heat, or both, through a second molding plate.
Lee teaches first mold forming step (S20), the second mold forming step (S30), a third mold forming step (S40), [0063]. Lee teaches at least the first and third molding step including curing, [0052], [0093]. Lee teaches hot melt, which is a thermosetting resin, can be used, [0051], which meets the claimed step of curing by heat.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to curing with heat in the first and second molding steps because it yields the predictable result of curing to prevent moisture from penetrating into the PCB assembly as well as to securely protect the PCB assembly on which various elements are mounted in order to perform various functions from external force, see Lee [0012].
Regarding claim 10, Lee as modified by Halpern meets the claimed method of claim 1, wherein coupling the PCB to the inner ring-shaped housing comprises: performing an injection molding procedure using a second filler material, (the molten glue for heating is injected into the first forming space S1 [0072], Lee teaches a second material for second molding space S2 [0083]-[0084]) wherein the injection molding procedure secures the PCB to the inner ring-shaped housing, (a step of forming the first mold 121 to surround the main outer surface of the PCB assembly 110, [0069], Fig. 3b-d) and wherein the injection molding procedure at least partially fills the one or more apertures with the second filler material, wherein surrounding at least a portion of the inner ring-shaped housing and the PCB with an outer ring-shaped housing is performed after the injection molding procedure. (a step of forming the second mold 122 so as to surround the main inner surface of the PCB assembly 110 constituting the primary molding 101a, [0079]).
Regarding claim 11, Lee as modified by Halpern meets the claimed method of claim 10, wherein the filler material comprises a substantially transparent material, ( it is preferable to use a transparent resin that is not added with color pigments for the glue. This is to prevent malfunction of the sensors constituting the sensor unit 112 [0092]) and wherein the second filler material comprises an opaque or translucent material. (It is desirable to use a transparent resin that is not added with color pigments to prevent detection errors [0053]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee as modified by Halpern meets the claimed method of claim 1, wherein the first molded side cover and the second molded side cover form water-tight seals between the inner ring-shaped housing and the outer ring- shaped housing around a full circumference of the wearable ring device on the first lateral side and the second lateral side of the wearable ring device, respectively. (Lee teaches the present invention can provide a waterproof function to prevent moisture from penetrating into the PCB assembly as well as to securely protect the PCB assembly on which various elements are mounted in order to perform various functions from external forces, [0012]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 7-9, and 12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art does not teach or suggest the method of claim 1, further comprising: disposing a second molding plate against the second lateral side of the wearable ring device based at least in part on performing the first curing procedure, wherein the second molding plate defines a portion of the boundary of the cavity, wherein the first and second molding plates form a molding assembly that border the wearable ring device on the first and second lateral sides, respectively; and rotating the molding assembly such that at least the second portion of the filler material is moved, via gravity, toward the portion of the boundary of the cavity defined by the second molding plate, wherein the second curing procedure is performed based at least in part on rotating the molding assembly.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art does not teach or suggest the method of claim 3, wherein the wearable ring device defines a passage that is configured to receive a finger of a user, the method further comprising: rotating the wearable ring device around an axis of the passage to spread the third portion of the filler material around at least a portion of a circumference of the wearable ring device, wherein the third curing procedure is performed based at least in part on rotating the wearable ring device around the axis.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art does not teach or suggest the method of claim 1, wherein the wearable ring device comprises an air gap that is formed within the cavity between the inner ring-shaped housing, the outer ring-shaped housing, the first molded side cover, and the second molded side cover, and wherein the air gap is formed based at least in part on performing the first and second curing procedures.
Regarding claim 8-9, the claims are allowed because each depends from allowable claim 7 and requires all the limitations of allowable claim 7.
Regarding claim 12, the prior art does not teach or suggest the method of claim 1, wherein the filler material is inserted into the cavity of the wearable ring device through a gap between the inner ring-shaped housing and the outer ring-shaped housing on the second lateral side of the wearable ring device.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jones et al. (US 20180078010 A1) teaches [0080] Various manufacturing techniques may be used to form the ring such as, by non-limiting example, compression molding and/or injection molding. Other manufacturing techniques may be used. In the representative examples shown in the drawings the ring is a compression molded ring.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL M. ROBINSON whose telephone number is (571)270-0467. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam Zhao can be reached at (571)270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL M. ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744
