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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “so that the opening and closing movement…rotational force.” Of claims 1 and 2 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). None of this functionality is explicitly shown or could be deduced from the figures. In addition, figure 9 appears to show an opposite rotation to the forward direction rotation of the pedal relative to the crank arm. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
The claims as a whole recite limitations which was not described in enough detail within the specification such that one could make and/or use the invention. More particularly, the functional limitations following the clause “so that the opening and closing” in combination with the broad structural limitations preceding this clause are not enabled.
As per MPEP 2164.01 (a) we will analyze as many factors as possible. Regarding the breadth of the claims, the claims generally set forth structural elements such as the pinion gear being attached to the pedal shaft and a rack gear biased so as to mesh with the pinion gear and suspended from the movable stepping plate. The claim later describes a particular set of functional limitations which describe how the device is supposed to operate during movement of the stepping plate. Movement of the stepping plate is supposed to create ratcheting between the gears and supposed to lock rotation of the pedal to only rotate in a forward direction (the claim is not entirely clear on this but when read in light of the specification, it appears to be how it is described).
The invention as a whole is drawn to bicycle pedal art which is within a generally predictable mechanical arts. Despite this predictability, the specification is still too sparse in its description so as to enable the invention.
The specification does not fully describe how the pedal is supposed to be allowed to ratchet and also lock pedal motion in the forward (clockwise direction) direction. In fact, from figure 9, it appears the pedal is rotating backwards relative to the crank arm, not forward as claimed. Further, since the pinion gear is fixedly connected to the pedal axle, there would not be any relative rotation between these two elements. We also know that the pedal axle would be fixedly connected to a bicycle crank as is typical in the pedal arts (and absent any disclosure to the contrary). As such, by observing the arrangement in fig.6 it is evident that any motion of the pedal crank and thus pinion gear is simply going to force the stepping plate into an engaged state, after which point the pedal would be locked and unable to rotate relative to the pedal axle, and in addition the rack gear would be unable to release due to the continuous biting of the pinion gear teeth and rotation of the crank axle. Thus as there is no description as to how precisely the rack gear is supposed to release from its engagement with the pinion gear and thus allow the device to return to a neutral state. In addition, it is even unclear how the rack gear would be allowed to ratchet based on the depiction in the figures. This is very much in contrast to prior art such as KR 20200118229 A which generally showcases a similar bicycle pedal but clearly discloses how the ratcheting mechanism therein is capable of disengagement so as to return to a neutral state. Any working example in the prior art clearly requires additional mechanisms in place to allow for the overall functionality being attempted within the current invention. Without specific disclosure on how precisely the various claimed components interact with one another, there would be an undue amount of experimentation needed to make and use the invention.
In general, there appears to be missing structure/structural relationships between the various components that would allow for this device to function as claimed. There is not sufficient direction provided by both the written description and the figures so as to bridge the gap in knowledge. The evidence within similar prior art also supports that there would be a lack of knowledge.
Thus based on the totality of evidence the claims do not meet the enablement standards set worth by this statute.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art generally has examples of inventions which relate to the overall inventive concept of creating more leverage or force in a pedal assembly.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS C DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5461. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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/THOMAS C DIAZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617