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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toyama (US 2019/0113404) in view of Yang et al. (US 2021/0016828).
Claim 1
Toyoma discloses a torque angle sensor comprising: a housing having a through hole through which a shaft passes (paragraphs [0030] and [0041]); a gear assembly disposed in the housing and fixed to the shaft to be rotatable together with the shaft (paragraphs [0040] and [0053]); a rotor disposed in the housing, coupled to the gear assembly to be rotatable together with the gear assembly (paragraph [0053]); and a printed circuit board mounted to the housing and configured to detect rotation of the rotor and torque applied to the shaft (paragraphs [0034], [0036] and [0037]),
Toyoma does not disclose a torque angle sensor wherein the printed circuit board is fixed to the housing in a hook-fastening manner.
However Yang discloses a printed circuit board fixed to a torque sensor housing in a hook-fastening manner (substrate 320 inserted into slot 410 and hooked on first hook portions 413, paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081])
Therefore it would have been obvious to modify the torque angle sensor disclosed by Toyama with the slot-and -hook circuit-board fixation disclosed by Yang in order to fix the board without a separate coupling member.
Claim 2
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 1 wherein the housing (Yang, 400) includes a first hook member (Yang, 413) that protrudes from a wall surface of the housing and supports and fixes an edge end of the printed circuit board (Yang, see fig. 11 and paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081], the first hook portion 413 which corresponds to the claimed first hook member is a stepped portion that protrudes from the slot 410 of the housing 400 disclosed by Yang)
Claim 3
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 2, wherein the printed circuit board has a smooth shape without including a separate protrusion or groove in a portion fixed by the first hook member (Yang, see fig. 11 and paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081], the slot 410 has a smooth shape without including the stepped portion that protrudes from it).
Claim 5
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 2, wherein the first hook member is formed facing both left and right sides of the housing based on the through hole (Yang, see fig. 11 and paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081]).
Claim 6
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 2, wherein the housing further includes a guide member formed to protrude from an inner bottom surface of the housing, and the printed circuit board includes a guide groove formed inward so that the guide member is inserted through (Yang, see fig. 11 and paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081], the wall of the circuit board perpendicular to the second hook portion 323 represents the guide groove, the inner wall of the housing perpendicular to slot 410 and facing the previously mentioned wall of the circuit board represents the guide member).
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Claim 7
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 6, wherein the guide member and the guide groove are positioned outside an imaginary circle whose radius is a distance from a center of the through hole to an end of the printed circuit board formed in a round shape (see Yang, Fig. 2-4 and 11).
Claim 8
Toyama in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 6, wherein the housing further includes a second hook member formed adjacent to the guide member to fix the printed circuit board (Yang, stoppers 324 correspond to the second hook member, see Fig. 11 and paragraph [0082]).
Claim 9
The torque angle sensor according to claim 8, wherein the second hook member is formed to protrude from the inner bottom surface of the housing together with the guide member and is inserted through the guide groove (Yang, stoppers 324 correspond to the second hook member, see Fig. 11 and paragraph [0082]).
Claim 17
Claim 17 is rejected by the combination of Toyama and Yang as applied to Claim 1 above
Claim 18 is rejected by the combination of Toyama and Yang as applied to Claims 2 and 6 above
Rejection #2
Claim(s) 1 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang (US 2021/0190611) in view of Yang et al. (US 2021/0016828).
Claim 1
Liang discloses a torque angle sensor comprising: a housing having a through hole through which a shaft passes (paragraphs 0027] and [0029]); a gear assembly disposed in the housing and fixed to the shaft to be rotatable together with the shaft (paragraphs [0027], [0028] and [0032]); a rotor disposed in the housing, coupled to the gear assembly to be rotatable together with the gear assembly (paragraphs [0028] and [0032]); and a printed circuit board mounted to the housing and configured to detect rotation of the rotor and torque applied to the shaft (paragraphs [0027] and [0029]),
wherein the printed circuit board is fixed to the housing in a hook-fastening manner.
Liang does not disclose a torque angle sensor wherein the printed circuit board is fixed to the housing in a hook-fastening manner.
However Yang discloses a printed circuit board fixed to a torque sensor housing in a hook-fastening manner (substrate 320 inserted into slot 410 and hooked on first hook portions 413, paragraphs [0060]-[0061] and [0080]-[0081])
Therefore it would have been obvious to modify the torque angle sensor disclosed by Liang with the slot-and -hook circuit-board fixation disclosed by Yang in order to fix the board without a separate coupling member.
Claim 13
Liang in view of Yang disclose the torque angle sensor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor includes a plurality of couplers protruding from an outer periphery in a shape of a wing along a circumferential direction (Liang, second protruding teeth 10 extending uniformly in radial directions from the outer circumference of second body 11, paragraph [0028], Fig. 4).
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang in view of Yang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ishimasa et al (US 2014/0210457).
Claim 11
Liang in view of Yang discloses the torque angle sensor of claim 1.
Liang in view of Yang does not disclose a torque angle sensor wherein the gear assembly is rotatably coupled to the through hole
However Ishimasa discloses a gear assembly rotatably coupled to the through hole (annular drive gear 21 rotatably positioned in housing portions 11a and 17a surrounding through holes 11b and 17b, Fig. 1)
Therefore it would have been obvious to support the gear assembly rotatably in the housing portion surrounding the through hole as disclosed by Ishimasa in order to journal the shaft-fixed gear at the shaft passage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 10,12,14-16, 19 and 20 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIZO BINDA VILAKAZI whose telephone number is (571)270-3926. The examiner can normally be reached 10am-6pm.
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/SIZO B VILAKAZI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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