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 .
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.
Claims 1-4, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (WO 2025023356 A1) in view of Xiao (WO 2016183807 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Yoon discloses
1. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure, comprising:
a side plate (shown schematically as rectangle D in Fig. 2) and a connection member (220) disposed at an edge of an inner side (both inner and under) of the side plate;
a mounting component (G), composed of a shock absorption assembly and a butting assembly, for mounting a gimbal inside the main body;
wherein the shock absorption assembly comprises: an annular upper support plate (100), a lower support plate (200), and damping members (510 520); a periphery of the annular upper support plate forms a plurality of arc-shaped bosses (110) laterally protruding outward, the arc-shaped bosses being symmetrically arranged in pairs, and the arc-shaped bosses are provided with a plurality of first through holes; the lower support plate is provided with recesses corresponding to the arc-shaped bosses, the recesses are provided with second through holes corresponding to the plurality of first through holes (holes to accommodate 510 and 520); the damping members are connected between the first through holes and the second through holes.
Yoon further discloses a drone but is silent on the type. Xiao teaches a similar shock absorber connected through connection members (53) and further teaches
a main body (200) and wings (rotary wings, See Fig. 1) connected to the main body. At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the shock absorber of Yoon on the main body of Xiao. The motivation for doing so would have been to protect a camera from vibration.
Regarding Claims 2-4, 8, and 9, Yoon discloses
2. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure according to claim 1, wherein the connection member comprises a bracket, the bracket is provided at an end with an engagement protrusion, and a front end surface of the bracket forms an inclined portion for sliding contact with an insertion portion (see “L” shape of 220 in Fig. 1 and 2).
3. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure according to claim 2, wherein the inclined portion has an angle D, and the angle D is greater than or equal to 30 degrees (90 degrees) or less than or equal to 45 degrees.
4. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure according to claim 1, wherein damping members is each provided at an end with a mating rod (“narrow portions on both sides, and a spout formed with flanges on both ends”; See ninth paragraph of Composition section), the mating rods are configured for quick positioning and installation with the second through holes provided inside the recesses.
8. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure according to claim 1, wherein the arc-shaped bosses are arranged circumferentially around the annular upper support plate with equal space (see equal spacing in Fig. 1) apart from each other.
9. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload device mounting assembly with a shock absorption structure according to claim 1, wherein a top surface of the annular upper support plate is symmetrically provided with engaging grooves (see slots in 300 in Fig. 1) for engaging with and clamping a camera.
Claims 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon and Xiao as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Stromberg (US 11781615 B2).
Yoon and Xiao teach the UAV as described above but are silent on a material or distances. Stromberg teaches a similar shock absorber wherein
each of the recesses has a depth C, wherein the depth C is greater than or equal to 5mm or less than or equal to 7mm (“members may present a thickness of 1-7 mm, preferably 2-6 mm and a length of 20-80 mm, preferably 30-70 mm”; Col 3 Line 15); and
wherein a material of the annular upper support plate is carbon fiber (“carbon reinforced plastics”; Col 5 Line 39), and a material of the lower support plate is aluminum alloy (“lightweight metal or metal alloy, such as aluminum or titanium alloys”; Col 5 Line 37).
At the time of filing it would have obvious to make the shock absorber of Yoon and Xiao with the sizes and materials taught by Stromberg. The motivation for doing so would have been to keep the shock absorber compact and light for a UAV.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The other cited art has very similarly designed annular gimbals.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN M O'HARA whose telephone number is (571)270-5224. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Huson can be reached at 571-270-5301. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN M O'HARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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