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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 1-10 have been examined in this application. This communication is a Final Rejection in response to Applicant’s “Amendment/Remarks” filed 6/25/2026.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is newly objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8 recites: “at least one shielding plate” which should be corrected to “the at least one shielding plate…” for proper antecedent basis with claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0180620 to Bellingroth in view of CN 113966935 A to Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Bellingroth teaches: An electric lifting bed, comprising:
a bed frame (see Fig. 1, combination of bridge 4 and lower portions of columns 2 and horizontal resting surface [no ref #]), a fence connected to the bed frame (see Fig. 1, longitudinally extending barrier on long side of bed adjacent resting surface connected to columns 2), and two sets of lifting assemblies respectively connected to a head and a tail of the bed frame (see Fig. 1, telescopic lifting columns 2 on corners of bed connected to fence), wherein each set of lifting assemblies comprises two lifting bed legs and screw nut assemblies in the two lifting bed legs (see Fig. 1, two columns 2 are located on each end (Front/Rear) of bed 1, per para [0009]: “each of which displays rotary spindles”);
at least one driving motor (see Fig. 1, electric motors 3), disposed on a lower side of the bed frame (see Fig. 1), wherein the at least one driving motor is in driving connection with the screw nut assemblies (see para [0009]: “acts on the spindles on both sides by means of toothed belts”).
Bellingroth does not explicitly teach the following: at least one shielding plate, connected with the bed frame, wherein the at least one shielding plate extends horizontally and is for shielding the at least one driving motor and shielding lengthwise portions of wiring harnesses extending from the at least one driving motor or extending from a controller.
Wang teaches: at least one shielding plate (see Fig. 1, the base member 1 itself in considered the shielding plate), connected with the bed frame (base member 1 is a lower portion and connected with post/frames 2 and 3), wherein the at least one shielding plate extends horizontally (see Fig. 1 base member extends horizontally) and is for shielding the at least one driving motor (see Fig. 1, motor 5) and shielding lengthwise portions of wiring harnesses extending from the at least one driving motor or extending from a controller (see Wang (translation): “in the base 1 is further provided with a power adapter, the power adapter for supplying power to the motor 5. a plurality of wiring harness is connected between the controller 9 and the motor 5, such as two power supply wire for respectively power to the motor 5 and two signal wire for respectively the rotation of the motor 5”).
Bellingroth and Wang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are the same field of lifting/rocking cribs and beds. Before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Bellingroth with these aforementioned teachings of Wang in order to providing a shielding plate structure for protection of a motor and wiring harnesses as taught by Wang to the existing device of Bellingroth with a reasonable expectation of success for “convenient maintenance and replacement, wiring harness can be arranged in the base 1, safety, beautiful” [Sic] (see Wang, machine translation).
Regarding claim 8, Bellingroth, as modified, teaches all the limitations as described in the rejection of claim 1, and additionally teaches: wherein at least one motor cover plate is connected to an edge position or a center position of the bed frame (see Fig. 1, the notch located in head/foot boards extending between columns 2 is located centrally along the extent of the bed frame).
Bellingroth does not teach: and at least one shielding plate is connected to the edge position or the center position of the bed frame and corresponds to a position of the motor cover plate.
Wang teaches: and at least one shielding plate is connected to the edge position or the center position of the bed frame (see Fig. 1, base 1 extends across from edges to center portion of frame 3 thus meeting both claim requirements) and corresponds to a position of the motor cover plate (motor cover plate of Bellingroth was centered and thus shielding plate of Wang corresponds to the center position as well).
Bellingroth and Wang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are the same field of lifting/rocking cribs and beds. Before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Bellingroth with these aforementioned teachings of Wang in order to providing a shielding plate structure for protection of a motor and wiring harnesses as taught by Wang to the existing device of Bellingroth with a reasonable expectation of success for “convenient maintenance and replacement, wiring harness can be arranged in the base 1, safety, beautiful” [Sic] (see Wang, machine translation).
Regarding claim 9, Bellingroth, as modified, teaches all the limitations a described in the rejection of claim 8, and additionally teaches: wherein a number of the motor cover plates is two (see Fig. 1, there is a notch on both head and footboards of the bed frame, thereby being two for covering each motor 3 as shown), and the motor cover plates are respectively connected to the head and the tail of the bed frame (see Fig. 1 as shown, these covers are integral).
Bellingroth does not teach: and a number of the shielding plates is two, and the shielding plates are respectively disposed at the head and the tail of the bed frame.
Wang teaches: and a number of the shielding plates is two, and the shielding plates are respectively disposed at the head and the tail of the bed frame (see Fig. 1 of Wang as shown, base 1 is shown extending to both ends of the bed).
Regarding claim 10, Bellingroth, as modified, teaches all the limitations a described in the rejection of claim 1, and additionally teaches: wherein a number of the driving motors is four, and each of the driving motors is in driving connection with the screw nut assembly in the corresponding lifting bed leg; or the number of the driving motors is two, and each of the driving motors is in driving connection with two screw nut assemblies in the corresponding lifting assembly through a transmission rod (see Fig. 1, and para [0009], two motors 3 are present each of which is connected to two lifting columns 2 via “toothed belts”); or the number of the driving motors is one, and the driving motor is in driving connection with screw nut assemblies in the four lifting bed legs through transmission rods.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
Regarding dependent claim 2 (as amended), the closest prior art of Bellingroth fails to explicitly disclose a first and second connecting portion connected with the motor cover plate as claimed. Further, Bellingroth fails to teach a first/second pivoting portion of the shielding plate as well as a shielding portion connected to the motor cover. The respective shielding plates of Bellingroth merely cover the lifting columns and do not contain the additional features/elements required per claim 2.
Additional prior art discovered, such as U.S. Patent 8,424,135 to Serhan, included elements such as motor/gear housing 30, mounting structure 36, or cage structure 24, however these elements were used and positioned in different locations than how claim 2 requires and would have required significant rearrangement of parts thereby rendering a combination of such art non-obvious. It is the examiner’s opinion that it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have combined the prior art references to have achieved the currently claimed combination of features in the designed configuration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 6/25/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-10 under Bellingroth under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Bellingroth in view of Wang (CN 113966935 A) under 35 U.S.C. 103 which teaches a wiring harness in the manner described in the amended claim. Please review the updated rejections above for a reading of how the new grounds of rejection have been specifically applied.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID R HARE whose telephone number is (571)272-4420. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 8:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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Sincerely,
/DAVID R HARE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673
8/25/2026
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