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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van Faasen (US 2023/0073826) in view of Chen (US 9380878).
Claim 1- Van Faasen discloses a chair headrest assembly, comprising: a support frame (274) configured to be connected to a chair back (figs. 13-17), the support frame comprising a pivot (278) located at an upper end thereof (the yoke 278 provides an upper pivot point, for the headrest, that is fixed to the support frame); a headrest body, comprising:
a rear portion (262); and
a front portion (258) connected to the rear portion;
at least one track (disposed within the groove 266) installed on an inner surface of the rear portion of the headrest body (fig. 13), the track having a series of teeth (270) along its length (¶ 46);
at least one engagement member (yoke ends 286) pivotally connected to the support frame and enclosed within the headrest body (figs. 14-15), the engagement member meshing with the teeth (270) of the track (¶ 47);
wherein the rear portion (262) of the headrest body has vertically-extending openings (266) on both sides, each opening configured to receive a corresponding end (286) of the pivot (¶ 47, fig. 13); and
wherein the meshing (270, 294) of the engagement member with the track allows the headrest body to be vertically adjusted relative to the support frame in a controlled manner (¶ 48).
Van Faasen does not teach at least one damping gear mechanism pivotally connected to the pivot of the support frame and enclosed within the headrest body, the damping gear mechanism meshing with the teeth of the track; wherein the meshing of the damping gear mechanism with the track allows the headrest body to be vertically adjusted relative to the support frame in a controlled manner.
Chen discloses a headrest assembly comprising: at least one damping gear mechanism (toothed wheel 41) pivotally connected to a headrest middle part (12) and meshing with the teeth of a track (42) installed on a headrest rear part (13); wherein the meshing of the damping gear mechanism with the track allows the middle part to be vertically adjusted relative to the rear part in a controlled manner (col. 3: 15-32).
Van Faasen teaches that the protrusion teeth (294) mesh with the track teeth (270) such that the headrest body is allowed to be vertically adjustable relative to the support frame in a controlled manner. Chen teaches that the wheel teeth (41) mesh with the track teeth (42) such that the headrest body is allowed to be vertically adjustable relative to the support frame in a controlled manner.
Accordingly, Van Faasen and Chen teach that a toothed protrusion in meshed-engagement with a toothed track, and a toothed wheel in meshed-engagement with a toothed track are functional equivalents for providing a controlled vertical adjustment of a headrest body.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the toothed wheel taught by Chen for the toothed protrusion of Van Faasen because both elements were known equivalents for providing controlled vertical adjustment of one headrest component relative to another headrest component.
And the substitution would have yielded the predictable result of providing a damping gear mechanism pivotally connected to the pivot of Van Faasen’s support frame, wherein the meshing of the damping gear mechanism with the track allows controlled vertical adjustment of the headrest body relative to the support frame.
Claim 2- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the track of Van Faasen comprises two parallel toothed tracks installed on an inner bottom surface of the rear portion (figs. 13-14, ¶ 46); and wherein the damping gear mechanism (41) taught by Chen comprises two gears (col. 3: 15-28), each of which would mesh with a respective toothed track of Van Faasen.
Claim 3- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the track taught by Van Faasen is integrally formed on the inner surface of the rear portion of the headrest body (¶ 46).
Claim 4- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the openings (266) on the rear portion of the headrest body are vertically extending slots with a predetermined curvature (figs. 14-15), configured to guide ends of the pivot during vertical adjustment and correspondingly tilt (about axis 292) the headrest body forward or backward (¶ 48, figs. 14-15).
Claim 5- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the damping gear mechanism taught by Chen provides resistance during vertical movement (col. 3: 15-32), requiring manual force to adjust the headrest body (also taught by Van Faasen, ¶ 48), and maintains the position of the headrest body upon release.
Claim 6- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the rear portion and the front portion of the headrest body are ergonomically contoured to support the user's head and neck, as taught by Van Faasen (¶ 48), and do not interfere with the user's neck during use.
Claim 7- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, further comprising a protective cover taught by Van Faasen (fig. 13) and Chen (fig. 5) that encloses the damping gear mechanism and the pivot within the headrest body (Van Faasen shows that the teeth 270 of the opening 266 are disposed with a housing, and Chen shows the toothed wheel 41 is disposed within a housing).
Claim 10- Van Faasen and Chen teach the chair headrest assembly of claim 1, wherein the support frame taught by Van Faasen comprises a central support column connected to the chair back (¶ 47), and the pivot is located at a top end of the central support column (fig. 13).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 9 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/T.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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