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 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.
Claims 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Black (US11896826) in view of King (US20200100938).
With respect to claim 1 Black discloses a hearing protection device (see ear cups 200 though not expressly disclosed as such the presence of the shell 300 and the cushions 310 would result in a reduction of sounds entering into the ear of the user and as such there would be a degree of hearing protection) comprising:
A cooling assembly (220 and associated excluding member 20); and
An ear piece attachable to and detachable from the assembly (see threaded members as shown in figure 6b), wherein
The cooling assembly comprises a cooling module (240), a heat sink module (250) in thermal communications with the cooling module, and a fan (260) adapted to reject heat from the cooling module;
The cooling module comprises a thermos electric cooler (236) and a connection means (see threaded members ) to attach to the earpiece (230); and
The earpiece comprises an earpiece body (230), a thermally conductive insert insertable into an ear canal and having a thermally conductive tip (see portion of member 236 that is housed within element 230 including the distal end thereof being the portion into the user’s ear).
Black does not disclose the use of magnets as the removable fastening means for attaching and detaching the elements.
King (para 155) discloses the use of magnetic elements to combine components of an ear heat transfer device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of King to use magnetic members in the assembly and disassembly of an ear heating device with the device o Black so as to allow a tool free assembly and disassembly.
With respect to claim 2 Black in view of King discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the thermally conductive insert comprises a magnetic alloy magnetically attracted to the cooler magnet. As the thermal conductive element is taught to be a metal material (namely aluminum column 11 lines 15-30) it would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art to simplify the device by replacing the use of one metal which is not expressly magnetically attractive which would have to be combined with a magnetic member for the securing of the elements by a single simplified structure of a single element formed of a magnetically attractive material. This would simplify the device by means of combining elements.
It has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces and put together involves only routine skill in the art. Howard v Detroit Stove Works, 150 US 164 (1893).
It has further 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 as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 3 Black as modified by King further discloses wherein the thermally conductive insert further comprises an earpiece magnet (as in the case wherein the element itself is not magnetic there would need to be such a magnet to provide for the attachment) the earpiece magnet being magnetically attractable t the cooler magnet (to provide the connection and thus the heat passage). While not expressly disclosing the use of slot to receive the magnetic per se, such a slot would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing. There would need to be a location to place the magnet the use of a slot or other opening would allow for a simple manner of constraining the magnet so as to ensure proper location.
With respect to claim 4 Black ad modified by King further discloses wherein the fan of the cooling assembly (260 of Black) is configured to circulate air through the cooling assembly to reject heart from the cooling module (as would be the conventional function of a cooling fan).
With respect to claim 5 Black as modified by King further discloses wherein the fan of the cooling assembly is configured to aim cooling air over fins of the heat sink (the fins are so provided as seen in the figures and the blowing of air across said fins would be a conventional function of a cooling fan).
With respect to claim 6 Black as modified further discloses wherein the thermally conductive insert comprises an earpiece base (see figures of Black) having a contact surface for thermal communication with the cooling module (as is seen in figures and would be recognized as necessary to pass the heat to the heat sink).
With respect to claim 7 Black as modified further discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the thermally conductive insert further comprises a tip receiving end opposite the contact surface and a threaded opening at the tip receiving end, the threaded ponging configured to accommodate tip threads of the thermally conductive tip. The use of threaded members for attaching the ear insertion portion of the device are taught by Black. The application of threaded members to attach any portion of the device together would have been an obvious extension of this teaching. As it regards a tip being threadedly attached this would have been only a separating of the element into distinct elements to allow for interchangeability. The formation of a component into distinct elements would have been obvious as it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. Nerwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
With respect to claim 8 Black as modified further discloses a cooling assembly comprising:
A cooling module comprising a thermoelectric cooler (236) and a cooler magnet adapted to magnetically attach the cooling module to a contact surface of a thermally conductive insert of an earpiece (the components are disclosed by Black the use of magnets to attach ear cooling elements is disclosed by King and would be applicable to any elements of the device);
A cooling module cover(see 240) covering the cooling module, the cooling module cover comprising a thermal transfer surface (230a) configured to establish thermal communications with the contact surface;
A heat sink module (250) in thermal communication with the cooling module and a fan (260) adapted to reject heat from the cooling module.
With respect to claim 9 Black as modified further discloses a headphone system (the device of Black is taught to apply a waveform therapy) comprising:
Two cooling assemblies (see figures 1 and 3) according to claim 8, the two cooling assemblies comprising a first cooling assembly configured to be placed over the left ear of a user and a second cooling assembly configured to be placed over the right ear of a user and a head band (400) connecting the two cooling assemblies.
With respect to claim 10 Black as modified further discloses a first earpiece magnetically attachable to the first cooling assembly (see earpiece 230 and see King for magnetic attachment) and comprising a first earpiece body, a first thermally conductive insert through the first earpiece body and having a first thermally conductive tip portion, and a first earpiece configured to magnetically attract to the cooler magnet of the first cooling assembly (see above rejection of claims 1 and 2 regarding the attachment of the thermally conductive member see portion of 236); and
A second earpiece (the two earpieces are taught to be identical by Black) magnetically attachable to the second cooling assembly and comprising a second earpiece body, a second thermally conductive insert through the second earpiece body and having a second thermally conductive insert through the second earpiece body and having a second thermally conductive tip portion, and a second earpiece magnet configured to magnetically attract to the cooler magnet of the second cooling assembly.
With respect to claims 11 and 12 Black as modified discloses a method for mitigating hearing trauma to an ear of a user with a hearing protection device according to claim 1, the method comprising:
Inserting the earpiece into an ear of the user; magnetically attaching (see teachings of King) the cooling assembly to the earpiece to establish thermal communication between the first cooling module and the conductive tip portion of the earpiece and activating the thermoelectric cooler of the cooling assembly to decrease the ambient temperature in the ear canal of the user (while Black does not expressly teach to insert the earpiece and then magnetically attach the remaining components, as the claim does not expressly require this order it is considered to be taught by the combination of Black and King. Regarding such an order of steps it would have been an obvious matter to do so as this would not alter the overall treatment of the patent and would only change when the insertion took place in relation to the attachment to the headband and cooling modules).
With respect to claim 13 Black as modified further discloses wherein the ambient tempartaure is decreased to approximately 30 degrees Celsius (see Black column 5 lines 45-60, it is considered that the range of 38 degrees to 24 degrees approximates 30 degrees at all points and is at 30 degrees at one point in the range).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Tsai (US12105406) discloses a heat dissipation module and protection device; Goshal (US20240167737) discloses a nested heating system; Abushakra (US20220378605) discloses a smart head cooling device; Black (US20210259879) discloses a system and device for ear cooling; Lee (US205200373638) discloses a heat exchanger; and Stryker (WO2017053232) discloses a personal protection device with cooling strip.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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