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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 9/19/2025 has been entered. Claim 21 has been canceled; claims 1, 19-20 and 22-23 have been amended; and claim 40 has been added. Applicant’s amendment and corresponding arguments, see page 8, with respect to claim 1 has been fully considered and is persuasive in light of the allowable subject matter identified in the prior Office Action. Applicant’s amendment to Claims and supporting arguments have overcome the objection and 112b rejections, at least in part, set forth in the non-Final Office action previously mailed on 3/19/2025. The prior 112b rejection to claim 19-20 (i.e., “an additive injector connected to provide an additive to the fluid concrete” in line 4) has not been addressed, irrespective of Applicant’s agreement to Examiner’s interpretation of the limitation, and is maintained. Note, said 112b rejection also applies to claim 1 and 40 which recites the same limitation.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: "or orientation of the cylinder to the pumped line to accomplish a first rate" in lines 2-3 of the claim should read "or orientation of the cylinder to the pumped line to accomplishes a first rate". Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2, 8-13, 15, 19-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 recite the limitation "an additive injector connected to provide an additive to the fluid concrete" in line". It is unclear to what the additive injector is connected to, to provide an additive to the fluid concrete. There appears to be a gap between the necessary structural connections. Figure 27 and paragraph 0186 of the instant application disclose an injection line (186) being connected to the pumped line (84). Hence, Examiner has interpreted the limitation to read “an additive injector connected to the pumped line to provide an additive to the fluid concrete”.
Claims 2, 8-13, 15, 19-20 and 22-23 are rejected for dependence on claim 1.
Claim 19 and 20 recite the limitations "the piston pump comprises a concrete pump and the system further comprises:
an additive injector connected to provide an additive to the fluid concrete;
an inline mixer to mix an additive from the additive injector with the fluid concrete;
a concrete placement boom or a concrete placement system comprising trusses and a carriage connected with the pumped line to direct placement of the fluid concrete". However, claim 1, as amended, has incorporated all the limitations of canceled claim 21, which has already established the highlight limitations noted above. Hence, it is unclear if the highlighted limitations are referring to the those in claim 1 or are separate and distinct therefrom (i.e., is another additive injector and another inline mixer required?). Examiner recommends removing said components recited in claims 19-20 that have been incorporated into amended claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (CN 1951657 A; of record), in view of Roux (US 2021/0146573 A1).
Regarding claim 40, Guo teaches a system (Figures; paragraphs 0008-0009) that accomplishes pumping a fluid through a pumped line (feed pipe 15, 16 in Figures 1-2; paragraph 0057, concrete), the pumped line being connected with a piston pump (paragraph 0057, feed channel 5 is connected to the lower feed pipe 16 of the hopper end of the concrete pump truck; this type of equipment usually uses a double-piston feeding cylinder for cyclic feeding; paragraph 0005, this type of equipment usually uses a double-piston feeding cylinder for cyclic feeding), the system comprising:
a cylinder (feeding cylinder 1) having a closed end (Figures 1-2, section of feeding cylinder 1 adjacent driving cylinder 9 is closed) and an aperture toward an opposite end (Figures 2-3, section of feeding cylinder 1 open to feed channel 5), the cylinder comprising at least one section (as shown in Figures 2-3, either closed end or aperture is considered a section);
a piston (feeding piston 8) slidably disposed to cyclically move between the closed end and the aperture to move the fluid into and out of the cylinder (Figure 2; paragraph 0057, the feeding piston 8 of the feeding cylinder 1 starts to feed…pushing the concrete from the feeding cylinder 1 into the feeding channel 5, promoting the concrete to flow from the feeding channel 5); and
a controller connected with the piston (paragraph 0057, the feeding piston rod 6 is connected to the control mechanism) to control the rate or volume of the fluid moving in and out of the cylinder (paragraph 0058, under the control of the control system, the driving cylinder 9 completes the control of the feeding cylinder 1); wherein the fluid comprises a fluid concrete and the piston pump comprises a concrete pump (paragraphs 0008, 0016, slurry fluid in concrete pump truck).
Guo does not disclose the system comprises: an additive injector connected to [the pumped line to] provide an additive to the fluid concrete.
Roux teaches a system for pumping a concrete slurry (Figures 1-3), comprising: a pumped line (feed conduit 21) and a piston pump (paragraph 0030, filling pump may be a piston pump) connected to the pumped line. Further, the system comprise: an injector (admixing device 40; paragraph 0072) connected to a pumped line (Figures 2-3; paragraph 0073) configured to provide an additive (paragraph 0072, admixtures designed to modify any physical property of the cementitious material (mainly its rheology, but also its surfactant strength, plasticity, stability, thixotropy, etc.) to a concrete slurry within the pumped line. Providing an injector to the system of Guo, as disclosed by Roux, would allow modification of the physical properties of the cement slurry leading to better continuous and more uniform dispensing of the material (paragraph 0012). Hence, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo, with the teachings of Roux, and provided an injector for the benefits disclosed by Roux. The cement slurry of Gou could be modified leading to improved dispensing and/or properties of the cement slurry.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Claim
“…an additive injector connected to provide an additive to the fluid concrete;
an inline mixer to mix the additive from the additive injector with the fluid concrete;
a concrete placement system connected with the pumped line to direct placement of the fluid concrete to form a vertical or sloped concrete wall, the concrete placement system comprising:
a support structure having two vertical trusses spaced apart an amount;
a translational carriage movably coupled to the support structure to move between the two vertical trusses and connected with the pumped line for controlled two-dimensional positioning placement of the fluid concrete from the pumped line in successive stacked layers to form a concrete wall; and
a vertical slip screed movably coupled to the support structure to vertically screed the fluid concrete to define a surface of the concrete wall.”.
The closest prior art, Le Roux (US 2020/0282593 A1), discloses a concrete placement system (construction system 10 in Figures 1-3; paragraph 0042) connected with a pumped line (supply conduit 155; paragraph 0086, pump 207 is configured to induce a flow of the extrudable building material from supply tank 130 to printing assembly 150 via supply conduit 155) to direct placement of the fluid concrete (paragraphs 0004, 0039-0040, cement mixture), comprising: a support structure (gantry 50 in Figures 1-3) having two vertical trusses spaced apart an amount (vertical support assemblies 60; paragraph 0048); and a translational carriage (printing assembly 150) movably coupled to the support structure (paragraph 0042, movably disposed on gantry 50) to move between the two vertical trusses (paragraph 0078, may traverse axially along trolley bridge assembly 110 with respect to axes 115) and connected with the pumped line (paragraph 0081, extrudable building material is provided to outflow assembly 151 via a supply conduit 155) for controlled two-dimensional positioning placement of the fluid concrete from the pumped line in successive stacked layers (paragraph 0042, printing assembly 150 may controllably deposit an extrudable building material in a plurality of vertically stacked layers 5 a to form structure 5). However, Le Roux fails to teach or suggest a vertical slip screed movably coupled to the support structure to vertically screed the fluid concrete to define a surface of the concrete wall.
Claims 2, 8-13, 15, 19-20 and 22-23 would be allowable at least for depending on claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/VIRAK NGUON/Examiner, Art Unit 1741 11/29/2025