DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 05/07/25. The application claims domestic priority to a provisional filed 09/30/21. Claims 1-9 are currently pending yet all are rejected due to the 102 and 103 rejections detailed below. 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 § 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.
Boundy
Claim(s) 1 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boundy (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2020/0011110) (pub: 01/09/20). Boundy is directed to a piston-cylinder device for adjustable door closure control using a shear thickening fluid. See Abstract. Note: Boundy has a common inventor, but is published more than 1-year before the effective filing date of the application.
Claim 1: Boundy discloses a door closer system for controlling motion of a door [see Title; Figs. 1, 2], comprising: shear thickening fluid (15), wherein the STF is configured to have a decreasing viscosity in response to a first range of shear rates and an increasing viscosity in response to a second range of shear rates, wherein the second range of shear rates are greater than the first range of shear rates; a chamber (15), the chamber configured to contain a portion of the STF, wherein the chamber includes a front channel and a back channel; a piston (9) housed at least partially radially within the chamber, the piston configured to exert pressure against the shear thickening fluid in response to movement of the piston from a force applied to the piston, wherein the movement of the piston includes one of traveling through the chamber in an inward direction and traveling through the chamber in an outward direction, wherein the piston travels toward the back channel and away from the front channel when traveling in the inward direction, wherein the piston travels toward the front channel and away from the back channel when traveling in the outward direction; and a plunger (5, 3) coupled to the piston and to a spring (8) of the door closer system, the plunger configured with a motion conversion aspect (100, 14) to mechanically join motion of the door with the movement of the piston and to provide compression of the spring based on an opening motion of the door [see Figs. 1, 2], the movement of the piston including the traveling through the chamber in the inward direction when the motion conversion aspect converts a closing motion of the door and including the traveling through the chamber in the outward direction when the motion conversion aspect converts the opening motion of the door, wherein the motion conversion aspect is further configured to cause: the spring to hold stored energy as a result of the opening motion of the door, the spring to release the stored energy to facilitate the closing motion of the door, and regulating a velocity of the closing motion of the door as a result of the piston causing the increasing viscosity in response to the second range of shear rates. See Figs. 1, 2.
Claim 4: Boundy discloses a plunger bushing (4) configured to guide the plunger into the chamber, wherein the plunger bushing facilitates containment of the STF within the chamber, wherein the plunger bushing remains in a fixed position relative to the chamber. See Fig. 1.
Claim 5: Boundy discloses that the STF comprises: a plurality of nanoparticles, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles includes one or more of an oxide, calcium carbonate, synthetically occurring minerals, naturally occurring minerals, polymers, SiO2, polystyrene, polymethylmethacrylate, or a mixture thereof. See para. 0048.
Claim 6: Boundy discloses that the STF further comprises: one or more of ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, ethanol, silicon oils, phenyltrimethicone, or a mixture thereof. See para. 0048.
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.
Boundy in view of Peterson
Claim(s) 2-3 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boundy in view of Peterson (U.S. Patent No. 4,010,572). Peterson is directed to a door closer having means to neutralize the door closing force exerted. See Abstract.
Claim 2: Boundy is relied upon as in claim 1 above but does not disclose the use of a “bypass” between opposite sides of the piston. Peterson also discloses a door closer system for controlling motion of a door [Fig. 2], with a piston (62) in a fluid-filled chamber (48) and a plunger (64, 60) coupled to the piston and a spring (72), wherein the piston comprises a first piston bypass (56) between opposite sides of the piston that controls flow of the fluid between the opposite sides of the piston from the back channel to the front channel when the piston is traveling through the chamber in the inward direction. See Fig. 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use a bypass because Boundy already discloses the use of a series of slots (18, 19) in a shim and piston that can be aligned to provide a desired damping effect, and the use of a bypass provides a well-known and commonly employed alternative means for fluid to flow between the two chambers to provide the desired damping effect.
Claim 3: Peterson discloses a chamber bypass (56) between opposite ends of the chamber, wherein the chamber bypass facilitates flow of a portion of the fluid between the opposite ends of the chamber when the piston travels through the chamber in the inward or outward direction. See Fig. 2.
Claim 7: Peterson discloses a chamber end within the back channel, the chamber end configured to provide an alternative flow of the fluid around the piston from the back channel to the front channel when the piston has traveled through the chamber to the chamber end. See Fig. 2.
Claim 8: Peterson discloses that the motion conversion aspect of the plunger comprises: a motion conversion assembly configured to mechanically join the motion of the door (D) with rotation of a driveshaft (76); and a drive gear (78) coupled to the driveshaft such that the rotation of the driveshaft causes rotation of the drive gear, the drive gear configured to cause engagement with a track (64) of the plunger such that the plunger travels based on the motion of the door. See Figs. 1-3. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use the Peterson motion conversion assembly because the use of a gear is a well-known, compact, and precise means to convert rotational motion into axial motion.
Claim 9: Peterson discloses that the motion conversion assembly comprises at least one of: an articulating arm assembly that includes one or more articulating arms, at least one arm pivot coupling the one or more articulating arms, an anchor at an end of the one or more articulating arms, and coupled to the driveshaft at an opposite end of the one or more articulating arms; and a hinge assembly that includes two leaves, the anchor coupled to a first leaf of the two leaves, and a second leaf of the two leaves coupled to the driveshaft. See Figs. 1, 3.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 March 13, 2026