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 .
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.
Status of Claims
Claims 1 – 20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/15/2024 was filed before the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1 – 4, 7 – 10 and 12 – 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yuta (JP 2015 125367 A) see attached machine translation.
Regarding Independent Claim 1, Yuta teaches a vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), comprising: a lens (cover glass, 20); and a curved wiper (barrier member, 60 having a curved wall portion, 65 with wiper member, 80) that is rotatable back-and-forth between a retracted position (relief position, 13; Fig. 1a; Paragraph [0017]) and a deployed position (Fig. 7; Paragraph [0034]), the curved wiper (60) directly contacting the lens (20) when the curved wiper is rotated from the retracted position (Fig. 1b) to the deployed position (Fig. 1a; ).
Regarding Claim 2, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the curved wiper (60; Fig. 6) comprises a protrusion (lip portion, 83) that directly contacts the lens (20) when the curved wiper is rotated from the retracted position (Fig. 6) to the deployed position (Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 3, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the protrusion (83) extends from a shield portion (inside the curved wall portion, 65; Paragraph [0032]) of the curved wiper (60), the protrusion (83) extending from the shield portion toward the lens (20; Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 4, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the protrusion (83) has a first material composition (rubber; Paragraph [0032]) and the shield portion (inside the curved wall portion, 65) has a second material composition that is different than the first material composition (Paragraph [0032] – Yuta teaches the wiper member 80 is provided inside the curved wall portion 65 of the barrier member 60, exposure to the external environment (sunlight, ultraviolet rays, acid rain, etc.) can be prevented or suppressed, thus the barrier protects the rubber material from deteriorating over time; therefore the shield portion is not made of rubber).
Regarding Claim 7, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the lens (20) is curved (Fig. 1b).
Regarding Claim 8, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the curved wiper (60) moves along a arcuate path when rotating between the retracted position and the deployed position (Fig. 7), wherein the arcuate path mimics a curvature of an outer surface of the lens (20; Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 9, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein an outer surface (21) of the lens (20) is curved (Fig. 7), the curved wiper (60) directly contacting the outer surface (21) when the curved wiper (60) is rotated from the retracted position to the deployed position (Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 10, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the curved wiper (60) directly contacts the lens (20) when the curved wiper (60) is rotated from the deployed position to the retracted position (Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 12, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), further comprising an actuator (drive mechanism, 70; Fig. 4), a shaft (shaft of drive motor, 75), and a connecting rod (support shafts, 71 and 72), the connecting rod (71 and 72) rotatably coupling the shaft to the curved wiper (60; Paragraph [0016]), wherein the actuator (70) is configured to rotate the shaft to rotate the curved wiper (60; Paragraph [0027]).
Regarding Claim 13, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), further comprising a pin (71c) that is received within a slot (14 and 63) to rotatably couple the connecting rod to the curved wiper (60; Paragraph [0028]).
Regarding Claim 14, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]),wherein the curved wiper (60) includes the pin (71c; in an assembled configuration, the curved wiper, 60. Includes the pin 71c; Fig. 3)
Regarding Claim 15, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), further comprising a housing (housing, 10) that holds the curved wiper (60), the housing (10) including at least one first slot (14) on a first side of the curved wiper (60), and at least one second slot (14) on an opposite second side of the curved wiper (65; Fig. 4), the curved wiper (60) including at least one first pin (71c) on the first side that is received within the at least one first slot (14), and at least one second pin (72c) on the second side that is received within the at least one second slot (Fig. 4).
Regarding Claim 16, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), further comprising a connecting rod (61) coupled to the at least one first pin (71c), the connecting rod (61) configured to drive rotation of the curved wiper (60) back and forth between the retracted position and the deployed position (Figs. 1a and 1b).
Regarding Claim 17, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the lens is a camera lens (Paragraph [0002]).
Regarding Independent Claim 18, Yuta teaches a vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), comprising: a lens (cover glass, 20); and a wiper (barrier member, 60 having a curved wall portion, 65 with wiper member, 80) that is configured to move along an arcuate path (Fig. 7) while contacting the lens (20), the wiper (60) configured to move along the arcuate path back-and-forth between a retracted position (Fig. 5) and a deployed position (Fig. 7), the wiper directly contacting the lens (20) when the wiper is rotated from the retracted position to the deployed position (Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 19, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly (Fig. 1; Paragraph [0001]), wherein the wiper (60) is a curved wiper (Fig. 5) having a protrusion (83; Fig. 6) and a curved shield (inside the curved wall portion, 65), the protrusion (83) configured to contact the lens (20; Fig. 7).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 5 – 6, 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuta (JP 2015 125367 A) see attached machine translation.
Regarding Claim 5, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly of claim 4, as discussed above.
Yuta does not explicitly teach wherein the second material composition is softer than the first material composition.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed inventing to modify the assembly of Yuta to further include the second material composition is softer than the first material composition, as claimed, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use of the assembly (MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding Claims 6 and 20, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly of claims 3 and 19, as discussed above.
Yuta further teaches the barrier, 60 protecting the rubber wiper, 80 but does not explicitly teach
wherein the protrusion is softer than the shield portion.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed inventing to modify the assembly of Yuta to further include the protrusion is softer than the shield portion, as claimed, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use of the assembly (MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding Claim 11, Yuta teaches the vehicle lens cleaning assembly of claim 1, as discussed above.
Yuta further teaches the lens is a camara lens (Paragraph [0002]) but does not explicitly tech
wherein the lens is a lens of backup camera.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed inventing to modify the assembly of Yuta to further include the lens is a lens of backup camera, as claimed, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. (MPEP 2144.04).
Conclusion
Art made of record, however, not relied upon for the current rejection is as follows: JP 2001199491 A to Nogami teaches a lens protective container storing a lens for photographing an image inside and having a transparent window for picking up the image of the object outside by the lens is provided with a movable cover for the window covering a part of the window, and at least a part of the outer face of the window is formed into a spherical crown shape.
PNG
media_image1.png
297
637
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATINA N HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday; 5:30am to 3:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KATINA N. HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
