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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 have been examined.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 15 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin et al. (CN 209898792) (“Lin”) (machine translation attached). Lin discloses an electric motion chair configured to electrically couple to haptic-enhanced immersive content, comprising: a chair (fig. 1: 1); a motor coupled to the chair (paragraph 0043: the backrest includes an electric cylinder inherently including a motor to move the backrest), the motor configured to move the chair in one or more degrees of freedom, the motor further configured to include an activated state and a deactivated state, the activated state includes the motor moving the chair, the deactivated state includes the motor stopping to move the chair (paragraph 0043: “The first ranging sensor 21 is connected to the control module 3 and transmits the detected distance information to the control module 3. The control module 3 controls the backrest 11 to start or stop its operation based on the distance information detected by the first ranging sensor 21”); one or more sensors (fig. 6: 21, 22), each one or more sensors configured to detect an object at a respective relative distance to each one or more sensors; and a control system (paragraph 0041: 3) electrically coupled to the one or more sensors and electrically coupled to the motor, the control system configured to automatically transition the motor from the activated state to the deactivated state when the object is detected (as discussed in paragraph 0043, above).
As concerns claim 15, Lin discloses wherein each one or more sensors is further configured to include a frequency, the frequency includes frequencies between 30 kHz and 80 kHz, inclusive (paragraphs 0043, 0044: 21, 22 are ultrasonic sensors).
As concerns claim 18, Lin discloses wherein the object includes a living being or a non-living being (paragraph 0021: the sensor may detect a wall which is a non-living being).
As concerns claim 19, Lin discloses wherein the one or more sensors includes an ultrasonic sensor (paragraph 0043).
As concerns claim 20, Lin discloses wherein the control system includes one or more of a central processing unit, a processor (paragraph 0041: 32), a controller circuit, and a programmable logic controller, or any combination of the central processing unit, the processor, the controller circuit, and the programmable logic controller.
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Richter (US 9682603). Lin teaches wherein the one or more degrees of freedom includes a y- axis rotational motion wherein the y-axis rotational motion includes a tilting forward and backward motion (as shown in fig. 6). Lin does not expressly teach
However, Richter teaches a chair having an x- axis linear motion, a y-axis linear motion, a z-axis linear motion, an x-axis rotational motion, and a z-axis rotational motion (Col. 7, lines 20-27), the x-axis linear motion includes a forward and backward motion (Richter, figs. 6-7), the y-axis linear motion includes a leftward and rightward motion (Col. 7, lines 49-52), and the z-axis linear motion includes an upward and downward motion (fig. 8), the x-axis rotational motion includes a tilting side-to-side motion (fig. 12), and the z-axis rotational motion includes a turning left and right motion (fig. 10). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to incorporate these known movements in to the chair of Lin or to use the massage elements and distance sensor on a mobile chair taught by Richter in order to provide the desired comfort and positioning to a user.
Claim(s) 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Le et al. (US 2022/0395422) (“Le”). As concerns claim 13 and 14, Lin does not teach wherein the control module is coupled to a user interface. However, Le teaches a massage chair having a touchscreen user interface (fig. 35: 11) which is connected with the control module. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to provide a touchscreen user interface to control or assist the user in controlling the control module.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-12, 16 and 17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
wherein the one or more degrees of freedom further includes a first motion group, a second motion group, and a third motion group, the first motion group includes one or more of the x-axis linear motion, the y-axis linear motion, the z-axis linear motion, the x-axis rotational motion, the y-axis rotational motion, and the z-axis rotational motion, the second motion group includes one or more of the x-axis linear motion, the y-axis linear motion, the z-axis linear motion, the x-axis rotational motion, the y-axis rotational motion, and the z-axis rotational motion not included in the first motion group, and the third motion group includes one or more of the x-axis linear motion, the y-axis linear motion, the z-axis linear motion, the x-axis rotational motion, the y-axis rotational motion, and the z-axis rotational motion not included in the first motion group and the second motion group;
wherein the motor is further configured to include a decelerated state, the decelerated state includes the motor moving the chair at a reduced speed relative to the activated state, wherein the respective relative distance of each one or more sensors configured to detect the object includes a deactivated distance and a decelerated distance, the decelerated distance is greater than the deactivated distance, and wherein the control system is further configured to automatically transition the motor from the activated state to the decelerated state when the object is at the decelerated distance, and configured to automatically transition the motor from the decelerated state to the deactivated state when the object is at the deactivated distance;
wherein the one or more sensors includes six one or more sensors, the one or more sensors circularly disposed, each neighboring one or more sensors disposed at an equal distance apart, and wherein each one or more sensors is further configured to include a beam angle, the beam angle includes a 60-degree beam angle; or
wherein the one or more sensors includes twelve one or more sensors, the one or more sensors equiangular quadrilateral disposed, each neighboring one or more sensors disposed at an equal distance apart, and wherein each one or more sensors 3 is further configured to include a beam angle, the beam angle of each neighboring one or more sensors overlaps.
Further, there is no teaching, suggestion or motivation to modify the prior art absent hindsight.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7231. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.
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/TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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