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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhu et al (WO 2013034154).
Zhu et al disclose an electrical operating device for outputting an electrical signal corresponding to an operation performed with an operating tool, the electrical operating device comprising: a cam shaft (21) extending in a horizontal direction (see Fig 2); a cam (22) that includes a pusher (5) and to which the operating tool is mounted (see Fig 2), the cam (22) being swingable about the cam shaft (21); a push rod (7) that is positioned below the pusher (5) and that is displaced downward as a result of an upper end portion of the push rod (7) being pushed downward by the pusher (5); a base (unnumbered base, see Fig 1) including a guide hole (unnumbered hole of cylinder 7, see Fig 2), that extends in an upward-downward direction below the pusher (5) and that guides the push rod (7) in the upward-downward direction (see Fig 2); and a grease cup (8) that forms, above the guide hole (unnumbered hole of cylinder 7, see Fig 2) and together with the upper end portion of the push rod (7), a storage space (9) to store grease therein, wherein the grease cup is integrally molded with the base (unnumbered base, see Fig 1).
Re claim 2, the grease cup (8) includes: an annular bottom wall that faces the cam (22) in the upward-downward direction below the cam (22) and that includes an inner peripheral edge connected to an upper end of the guide hole; and a peripheral wall that rises upward from an outer peripheral edge of the bottom wall (see Fig 2).
Re claim 3, the cam (22) is swingable within a predetermined swing range, and the grease cup (8) is configured such that when the cam (22) is present within at least part of the swing range, the pusher (5) is positioned below an upper end of the peripheral wall (see Fig 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICKY A JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)272-7106. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John R Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VICKY A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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