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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made to applicant’s amendment of claim 11 and addition of claims 21 and 22. Currently claims 11-13, 15-16 and 18-22 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 11-13, 15-16, and 18-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ryuichi et al. (JP 2016-190475 A, of record 06/23/23, machine translation used for citation).
With regards to claim 11, Ryuichi teaches a device for cooling and extraction of preforms (15) as seen in Figures 2-4. Ryuichi teaches that the preforms (15) are formed in an injection molding machine (10) which opens to provide space for an extraction unit (40) reading upon the claimed “grip assembly”. Ryuichi teaches that the extraction unit comprises a plurality of receptacles (42) which hold a respective preform (¶ 0017-0020). Ryuichi also teaches a cooling and extraction assembly in the form of the conveying device (50 and 60). Ryuchi teaches that the conveying device comprises a cooling plate (61) arranged to face the grip assembly and move between a position closer to or away from the grip assembly as seen in Figures 2 and 3 (¶ 0046-0048). Ryuichi teaches that the cooling plate supports a plurality of cooling channels (62) which cool the preforms in a closed position using a jet of air inside the preform (¶ 0053). Ryuichi teaches that the apparatus comprises an unloading plate (51) arranged on an opposite side of the grip assembly with respect to the cooling plate in which the unloading plate comprises a plurality of grip bodies (52) configured to be moved on command in order to pass through said cooling plate so as to engage selectively with a respective preform in order to allow extraction of the respective preform from the respective receptacle (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 show grip bodies 52 entering the receptacles through the cooling plate and extracting the preforms (15)). Ryuichi teaches that the cooling plate comprises crossing openings (openings that allow the preform to cross from the receptacle through the cooling plate) for said grip bodies during a step of engagement and extraction in which the crossing openings extend through the plate and comprise a plurality of slits with a vertical extension (¶ 0060-0063). With regards to the preamble limitation of the preforms being “for the manufacture of plastic containers” this limitation is interpreted to be intended use of the device and does not structurally define the apparatus. While the figures demonstrate the orientation with respect to the horizontal (x-axis) opening style mold, Ryuichi teaches that it may be a similar configuration oriented with a vertical style (z-axis) opening mold. With the appropriate directions the z-axis represents the opening direction of the mold which is aligned with the slits in the cooling plate and would thus be vertical extensions.
With regards to claim 12, Ryuichi teaches that the grip assembly comprises a grip plate (41) configured to support the plurality of receptacles (Fig. 3).
With regards to claim 13, the receptacles are arranged ina grip pattern to correspond with the cooling and extraction assembly (Fig. 1, ¶ 0020-0022).
With regards to claim 15, the cooling plate is parallel to the arrangement plane or grid plane and movable between the spaced and closed position along a movement direction perpendicular to the plane of arrangement (Fig. 3-4).
With regards to claim 16, as seen in Figures 2-4 the grip assemblies exist on the same side of the cooling plate (61) as the trip assembly when in the engaged position being received in the preforms and on opposite sides when disengaged and extraction occurs.
With regards to claim 18, Ryuichi teaches that in the disengaged position the unloading plate (51) rotates to move from a retaining position to an unloading position (¶ 0043-0044).
With regards to claims 19 and 20, Ryuichi teaches that the grip bodies have a retention device (vacuum source, pneumatic) that can move between an activated and deactivated state to lock the respective preform (¶ 0033).
With regards to claims 21 and 22, Ryuichi teaches that the slits open to the bottom or lower edge of the cooling plate interpreted as downward along the direction of orientation of the slit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GALEN H HAUTH whose telephone number is (571)270-5516. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30 AM to 6 PM EST.
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/GALEN H HAUTH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1743
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