DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/01/2026 has been entered.
This communication is a Non-Final rejection Office Action on the merits. Claim(s) 9, 12, 19, and 25 have been amended and claim(s) 3-8, 13-18, and 20 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 2, 9-12, 19, and 21-27 are now pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The previous 35 USC 112 rejections are withdrawn in light of applicant's amendments.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 12 are allowed. In particular, the limitations regarding “a pair of [angled] truss legs angled toward one another extending from below ground to above ground, each pair of truss legs” and “a pair of motor truss [angled truss] legs angled toward one another extending from below ground to above ground” would overcome the prior art of record since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches this configuration. In particular, the combined limitations of the base claim and the new limitations are not taught or suggested by any prior art of record, either alone or in combination. Such a configuration would require impermissible hindsight or piecemeal reconstruction to arrive at the claimed subject matter. Claims 10, 11, 19, 21, 24, and 25, and claims 26 and 27, depend from claims 9 and 12 and are therefore allowed as well.
Claim 22 is 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. In particular, the limitation “wherein each of the leg braces are attached at their upper ends to a mounting surface of one of the double truss brackets and at their lower ends to leg brackets on one of the truss foundations” would overcome the prior art of record since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches the configuration of leg braces and leg bracket attachments and such a modification to include the combined elements would involve impermissible hindsight reconstruction.
Claim 23 is 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. In particular, the limitation “wherein each of the first and second truss foundations further includes a truss cap interconnecting upper leg portions of the truss foundation, and wherein the upper leg sections are crimped to the truss caps so as to present a mounting platform substantially orthogonal to truss legs of the first and second truss foundations” would overcome the prior art of record since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches this configuration and such a modification to include the this arrangement would involve impermissible hindsight reconstruction.
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.
Claims 1 and 2, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Grushkowitz et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2018/0073773 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Grushkowitz et al. teaches a system capable of supporting a tracker drive motor (figure 1) comprising: a first truss foundation (see annotated figure 8B below); a second truss foundation (annotated figure 8B); a pair of leg braces (annotated figure 8B) connected to respective ones of the first and second truss foundations (annotated figure 8B); and a pair of double truss brackets (annotated figure 8B) interconnecting the first and second truss foundations and the pair of leg braces (annotated figure 8B) to provide a tracker motor support (figure 1) that resists lateral loads and bending moments (it is understood that the claimed structural elements are taught they would be capable of providing a tracker motor support that resists lateral loads and bending moments), wherein the first and second truss foundation align a rotational axis of a torque tube (annotated figure 8B) driven by a tracker drive motor to be at a level below a work point of the first and second truss foundations (annotated figure 8B).
Regarding claim 2, Grushkowitz et al. teaches a tracker drive motor (18) on the tracker motor support (figure 1).
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments and amendments have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Applicant's amendments and arguments with regards to claims 9 and 12 have been considered and are found persuasive to overcome the prior art. After further consideration, claim 1 is now rejected in view of Grushkowitz et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR F HIJAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5790. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-6 EST Monday-Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached on (571) 270-3238. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR F HIJAZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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