/ 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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 4, “housing” should be “a housing”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 15-19 are objected to due to their dependency on claim 14.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 14, 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Danesh, US 10982829 B2..
Regarding claim 14, Danesh discloses “A light assembly comprising: a lighting system (203, Fig. 25) configured to receive an AC input signal from a plurality of AC input wires (213, Fig. 25), and to emit light based on the AC input signal (col. 26, ln. 59-61), the lighting system comprising:
housing (202 and 241, Fig. 25) configured to encapsulate components of the lighting system, wherein the plurality of AC input wires pass through a base plate (top of 241, Fig. 25) of the housing; and a heatsink mount (208, Fig. 25) configured to channel heat away from the lighting system , the heatsink mount having a mounting surface configured to contact the base plate of the housing to enable thermal conduction (col. 30, ln. 3-8; similar embodiment of Fig. 21 has heat fins 223), the mounting surface having an opening configured to pass through the plurality of AC input wires that penetrate a bottom of the base plate (seen in Fig. 25, also seen more clearly in similar embodiment of Fig. 21) .
Regarding claim 17, Danesh discloses the invention of claim 14, as cited above, and further discloses “the base plate of the lighting system has one or more mounting holes (242, Fig. 25), and wherein the heatsink mount has one or more protrusions (209, Fig. 25) extending above the mounting surface that are configured to mate with the one or more mounting holes of the base plate to secure the lighting system to the heatsink mount (the screw protrusions 209, Fig. 25 mount through the mounting hole 242 to secure the heatsink mount to the lighting system).
Regarding claim 18, Danesh discloses the invention of claim 14, as cited above, and further discloses “the housing has a housing opening through which the light from a light source of the lighting system passes through to reach the outside, and wherein the opening of the housing is opposite from the base plate (bottom of 202, opening of 207, Fig. 25; also seen in similar embodiment of Fig. 22).”
Regarding claim 19, Danesh discloses the invention of claim 14, as cited above, and further discloses “a power supply configured to receive the AC input signal and to generate a rectified signal; a light driver configured to generate a drive signal based on the rectified signal (col. 34, ln. 49-62); and a light source (204, Fig. 25) configured to emit light based on the drive signal.”
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, 7, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo et al., US 2012/0140442 A1 in view of Yu et al., US 2013/0128578 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Woo discloses “A lighting system comprising: a power supply (200, Fig. 2) configured to receive an AC input signal and to generate a rectified signal (¶ [0067,0094]);
a light driver configured to generate a drive signal to drive a light source (100, Fig. 2) based on the rectified signal (¶ [0067] “The circuit configuration of the power unit module 200 for driving the light emitting device 100”); and
a housing (400, Fig. 2) configured to encapsulate the power supply and the light driver (seen in Fig. 1), the housing comprising a heatsink base (300, Fig. 2) forming a bottom portion of the housing and a case cover (410, 420, 430, 440, Fig. 2) forming a top portion of the housing, the heatsink base being configured to channel heat away from the lighting system (¶ [0072] “the support unit 300 supports the light emitting device 100 to be disposed in a central portion of the power unit module 200 and allows heat generated by the light emitting device 100 to be emitted outwardly”),
the heatsink base comprising: a base plate (the base portion of 300, Fig. 2);
However, Woo does not explicitly disclose “a base post configured to couple the base plate and the case cover; and a base sidewall extending from the base plate and configured to mate with cover sidewalls of the case cover.”
Yu discloses a lighting system comprising a heatsink base (40 and 50, Fig. 3) comprising base posts (40 and 41, Fig. 3) and a base sidewall extending from the base plate and configured to matte with sidewalls (22, Fig. 3).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the lighting system, as taught by Woo, to include base posts and base sidewall, such as taught by Yu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include base posts and sidewall structures for providing a fixed connection between the base and the housing (Yu, ¶ [0017]), ensuring that they do not easily come apart.
Regarding claim 2, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “the light source that is configured to emit light based on the drive signal (Woo, ¶ [0067-0071]), wherein the heatsink base further comprises: a pedestal structure (310, Fig. 2 and 6A) protruding from the base plate toward the case cover, and wherein the light source is on and thermally coupled to the pedestal structure (seen in Fig. 6A).”
Regarding claim 3, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 2, as cited above, and further discloses “the pedestal structure is substantially cylindrical, has a flat top surface, and is centrally positioned relative to the base plate (Woo, seen in Fig. 2 and 6A).“
Regarding claim 4, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 2, as cited above, and further discloses “two or more of the base plate, the pedestal structure, and the base post are monolithically formed of a same material (Woo, seen in Fig. 2, the base plate and pedestal are monolithically formed of a same material; ¶ [0074])), and wherein the heatsink base is thermally and electrically conductive and is electrically grounded (Woo ¶ [0074], the base can be made of metal) .”
Regarding claim 5, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 2, as cited above, except “a thermal pad between the pedestal structure and the light source.”
Yu discloses a light system with a thermal pad (60, Fig. 3) between the light source and the heat sink.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to include a thermal pad, such as taught by Yu, to the light system, as taught by Woo in view of Yu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to add a thermal pad for conducting heat from the light source to the heat sink (Yu, ¶ [0018]), increasing the lifespan of the light source.
Regarding claim 7, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “the case cover defines a housing opening (Woo, 421, Fig. 2) through which light from a light source of the lighting system passes to reach the outside, and wherein the case cover has an inner extension portion (Woo 422, Fig. 6A) defining the housing opening, the inner extension portion surrounding the light source in a plan view (seen in Woo Fig. 6A).”
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo in view of Yu and further in view of Taylor et al., US 6819506 B1.
Regarding claim 8, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 7, as cited above, and further discloses “a reflector (420, Woo, Fig. 6A, ¶ [0078]) within the housing opening and configured to reflect light of the light source that is incident on an interior of the case cover to the outside; a lens (Woo 430, Fig. 2) coupled to the case cover; and a cap (Woo 440, Fig. 2 and 4) configured to be fixedly coupled to a top side of the case cover and the lens
However, Woo in view of Yu does not disclose the lens is configured to focus light of the light source.
Taylor discloses a light device with a totally internal reflective lens that focuses the light of the light source (20, Fig. 1-3, seen in Fig. 4).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the lens of Woo in view of Yu, be a focusing TIR lens, such as taught by Taylor. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use a focusing TIR lens for capturing the light emission and creating a focused pattern such as a Lambertian pattern (Taylor, col. 1, ln. 12-27).
Regarding claim 9, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “a total internal reflection (TIR) lens coupled to the housing and configured to focus light of the light source, the TIR lens being fixed in position via a hold-down cap that encapsulates the TIR lens and is twist-locked onto the case cover.”
Taylor discloses a light device with “a total internal reflection (TIR) lens (20, Fig. 1-3) coupled to the housing and configured to focus light of the light source (seen in Fig. 3 and 4), the TIR lens being fixed in position via a hold-down cap (76, Fig. 2) that encapsulates the TIR lens and is twist-locked onto the case cover (52, Fig. 2, seen in Fig. 1-2).”
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the lens of Woo in view of Yu, be a focusing TIR lens fixed in position via a hold-down cap that encapsulates the TIR lens and is twist-locked onto the case cover, such as taught by Taylor. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use a focusing TIR lens with twist lock for capturing the light emission and creating a focused pattern such as a Lambertian pattern (Taylor, col. 1, ln. 12-27) and holding the lens in place (Taylor, col. 9, ln. 10-18).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo in view of Yu and further in view of Qiu, US 2020/0214097 A1.
Regarding claim 10, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “three channels of de-saturated light emitting diodes (LEDs), or a single chip on board (COB) light.”
Qiu discloses a 3-channel desaturated light emitted diodes (LEDs) (¶ [0062], 118, 120,122).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the light source, as taught by Woo in view of Yu, be a 3-channel desaturated light emitted diodes, such as taught by Qiu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the light source be a 3-channel desaturated light emitted diodes for emitting tuned light of a desired color and intensity (Qiu, ¶ [0062]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo in view of Yu, and further in view of Danesh, US 2019/0049080 A1 (hereafter Danesh ‘080).
Regarding claim 11, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “the power supply is configured to receive the input AC signal via two electrical wires directly from a wall, wherein the AC input signal is between 90 VAC and 305 VAC, and wherein the two electrical wires extend out of a side of the housing or the base plate of the heatsink base.”
Woo does disclose a side of housing where the electrical connection can be made (413, Fig. 1).
Danesh ‘080 discloses a lighting apparatus that is configured to receive input 120 VAC or 277 VAC signal from wires from a wall power source (¶ [0100], Fig. 12C), and the wire extend out of a base plate of the heatsink base (seen in Fig. 12C).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the lighting device, as taught by Woo in view of Yu, be configured to be connected to a wall power source with 120VAC signal via wires extending from the base, such as taught by Danesh ‘080. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the light device be configured to be connected to a wall 120VAC source for allowing the device to be connected to a common source of power in buildings (Danesh ‘080, ¶ [0100]).
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo in view of Yu, and further in view of Archer et al., US 2023/0083227 A1.
Regarding claim 12, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “the light driver is configured to receive at least one of a dimmer signal and a CCT signal and to generate the drive signal further based on at least one of the dimmer signal and the CCT signal, and wherein the light driver is configured to receive the dimmer signal from a dimmer via a dimming control wire, and to receive the CCT signal from a CCT controller via a CCT control wire.”
Archer discloses a light device and “the light driver is configured to receive at least one of a dimmer signal (DIM+, Fig. 5) and a CCT signal (CCT+, Fig. 5) and to generate the drive signal further based on at least one of the dimmer signal and the CCT signal, and wherein the light driver is configured to receive the dimmer signal from a dimmer via a dimming control wire , and to receive the CCT signal from a CCT controller via a CCT control wire (¶ [0083]).”
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the light driver, as taught by Woo in view of Yu, be configured to receive dimmer and CCT signals from wires, such as taught by Archer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to configure the light driver to be configured to receive dimmer and CCT signals for allowing the light device to be controlled by external components (Archer, ¶ [0059]).
Regarding claim 13, Woo in view of Yu and Archer discloses the invention of claim 12, as cited above, and further discloses “the dimming and CCT control wires extend out of a side of the housing or the base plate of the heatsink base (Archer, seen in Fig. 5).”
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo in view of Yu, and further in view of Cho et al., US 2018/0356717 A1.
Regarding claim 12, Woo in view of Yu discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “the light driver is configured to receive at least one of a dimmer signal and a CCT signal and to generate the drive signal further based on at least one of the dimmer signal and the CCT signal, and wherein the light driver is configured to receive the dimmer signal from a dimmer via a dimming control wire, and to receive the CCT signal from a CCT controller via a CCT control wire.”
Cho discloses a light device that receives CCT and dimmer levels from a plurality of programming wires, and configured to adjust a CCT and an intensity of the light based on the CCT and dimmer levels (controller 206, ¶ [0059-0060] “the controller 206 may control the power source 204 to adjust the light 226 provided by the lighting module. For example, the intensity level, the correlated color temperature (CCT), etc. of the light may be controlled by the controller 206 by controlling the power source 204 via an electrical connection 216 (e.g., one or more electrical wires). The controller 206 may also control the projector module 212 via an electrical connection 218. “)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the lighting device, as taught by Woo in view of Yu, be configured to have the CCT and dimmer levels controlled over wires, such as taught by Cho. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the light CCT and dimmer levels be controllable from a remote location for light devices that are in a hard to reach location such as a ceiling (Cho, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 13, Woo in view of Yu and Cho discloses the invention of claim 12, as cited above, and further discloses “the dimming and CCT control wires extend out of a side of the housing or the base plate of the heatsink base (Cho, seen in Fig. 6).”
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Danesh in view of Cho.
Regarding claim 15, Danesh discloses the invention of claim 14, as cited above, except “the lighting system is configured to receive CCT and dimmer levels from a plurality of programming wires, and configured to adjust a CCT and an intensity of the light based on the CCT and dimmer levels.”
Cho discloses a light device that receives CCT and dimmer levels from a plurality of programming wires, and configured to adjust a CCT and an intensity of the light based on the CCT and dimmer levels (controller 206, ¶ [0059-0060] “the controller 206 may control the power source 204 to adjust the light 226 provided by the lighting module. For example, the intensity level, the correlated color temperature (CCT), etc. of the light may be controlled by the controller 206 by controlling the power source 204 via an electrical connection 216 (e.g., one or more electrical wires). The controller 206 may also control the projector module 212 via an electrical connection 218. “)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the lighting device, as taught by Danesh, be configured to have the CCT and dimmer levels controlled over wires, such as taught by Cho. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the light CCT and dimmer levels be controllable from a remote location for light devices that are in a hard to reach location such as a ceiling (Cho, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 16, Danesh in view of Cho discloses the invention of claim 15, as cited above, and further discloses “the opening of the mounting surface is further configured to pass through the plurality of programming wires (Cho, 618, Fig. 6).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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: Claim 6 recites, inter alia, A lighting system comprising: a power supply configured to receive an AC input signal and to generate a rectified signal; a light driver configured to generate a drive signal to drive a light source based on the rectified signal; and a housing configured to encapsulate the power supply and the light driver, the housing comprising a heatsink base forming a bottom portion of the housing and a case cover forming a top portion of the housing, the heatsink base being configured to channel heat away from the lighting system, the heatsink base comprising: a base plate; a base post configured to couple the base plate and the case cover; and a base sidewall extending from the base plate and configured to mate with cover sidewalls of the case cover, the light source that is configured to emit light based on the drive signal, wherein the heatsink base further comprises: a pedestal structure protruding from the base plate toward the case cover, and wherein the light source is on and thermally coupled to the pedestal structure, and a base insulator configured to electrically insulate the heatsink base from circuitry of the light driver, the base insulator having an opening configured to pass-through the pedestal structure and comprising protrusions configured to at least partially cover sidewalls of the pedestal structure and the base post; and “a rolled insulator around the base post of the housing and configured to electrically insulate the base post from the circuitry of the light driver, wherein the base and rolled insulators are thermally conductive.“
The references of record do not teach or suggest the aforementioned limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitations.
Woo in view of Yu discloses “a base insulator (Woo, 500, Fig. 2) configured to electrically insulate the heatsink base from circuitry of the light driver (Woo, ¶ [0075]), the base insulator having an opening (Woo, 521, Fig. 2) configured to pass-through the pedestal structure and comprising protrusions (Woo, 520, Fig. 2) configured to at least partially cover sidewalls of the pedestal structure and the base post”. However, Woo in view of Yu does not disclose ““a rolled insulator around the base post of the housing and configured to electrically insulate the base post from the circuitry of the light driver, wherein the base and rolled insulators are thermally conductive.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al., US 9429306 B2 discloses a light device with wires extending from the side.
Kim et al., US 2019/0101277 A1 discloses a light device with a heatsink mount on a baseplate
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL CHIANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3811. The examiner can normally be reached M to F, 9am-6pm.
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/MICHAEL CHIANG/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
TRACIE Y GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875