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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 5 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/07/25.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “needle” should be amended to recite “noddle” at line 3. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are as detailed hereafter:
“cutting unit”: “Describing in more detail, the cutting unit 1 is structured, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 6 , such that a rotary blade 10 and a rotating roller 11 are arranged in an opposite manner in a state in which they are loosely in contact with each other front, back, left and right, scrapers 12 and 12 having the approximately shape of the kanji for eight are arranged below the rotary blade 10 and the rotating roller 11 so as to come into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the rotary blade 10 and the rotating roller 11, and covers 13 and 13 having the inverse shape of the kanji for eight are arranged below the same, respectively. The scrapers 12 and 12 are provided for scraping off noodle dregs attached to a leading end (a plurality of plate blade leading ends mentioned later) of the rotary blade 10 and an outer peripheral surface of the rotating roller 11, when cutting the belt-like wrap off-cuts N dropped from the leading end portion of the feeding unit 6 into a wrap off-cuts piece N1 having a predetermined length between the rotary blade 10 and the rotating roller 11 in the cutting unit 1. In the meantime, the covers 13 and 13 act as a guide for supplying the wrap off-cuts piece N1 together with the noodle dregs scraped off by the scrapers 12 and 12 into the below supply unit 2 from a lower end gap in addition to the role of covering the cutting unit 1. In the cutting unit 1, the rotary blade 10 is formed by a metal material, and is circumferentially provided with base portions of a plurality of (eight in the illustrated embodiment) plate blades 10 b on an outer periphery of a columnar rotating shaft 10 a at uniform intervals. In the meantime, in the cutting unit 1, the rotating roller 11 is formed by a metal material, and a pipe roller 11 b is firmly attached to an outer periphery of a columnar rotating shaft 11 a. The pipe roller 11 b may employ a hard elastic material, for example, a hard rubber in place of the metal material.”, para. [0059]-[0063].
“feeding unit”: “The feeding unit 6 is provided as major parts a large-diameter driving roller 38 which is arranged at a front position, a small-diameter driven roller 39 which is arranged at a rear position, an endless conveyor belt 40 which is wound between both the rollers 38 and 39, a support plate 41 which is arranged along a lower surface of an upper horizontal portion 40 a of the conveyor belt 40, a rotatable small-diameter lifting roller 42 which is arranged slightly at a rear side of the center of the conveyor belt 40 in such a manner as to bring a lower inclined portion 40 b of the conveyor belt 40 into contact or close contact with a lower surface of the support plate 41, a rotatable small-diameter pressing roller 43 which is arranged in such a manner as to bring the conveyor belt 40 into contact or close contact with an upper surface of the support plate 41 in an upper side in front of the driven roller 39, a guide roller 44 which guides the new noodle belt W rotatably arranged in the vicinity in front of the pressing roller 43 to the upper surface of the upper horizontal portion 40 a of the conveyor belt 40 while bending the new noodle belt W in a perpendicular direction from the above, support frames 45 and 45 which are arranged in an opposing manner in both sides of the conveyor belt 40 and the support plate 41 while axially supporting each of the rollers 38, 39, 42, 43 and 44 leading to the driven roller 39 from the driving roller 38, and a drive unit 46 such as a motor which is arranged on an outer surface of the one support frame 45 in such a manner as to intermittently rotate the driving roller 38 in a direction of an arrow (a counterclockwise direction), as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8 .”, para. [0098].
“supply unit”: “the supply unit 2 is configured to be arranged below the cutting unit 1, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , and is provided with a hopper 27 to which the half kneaded noodle skin raw material F and the wrap off-cuts piece N1 after cutting the belt-like wrap off-cuts N, and a feeding conveyor 28 which feeds the noodle skin raw material F and the wrap off-cuts piece N1 in a lower side within the hopper 27 to the noodle belt forming unit 3 in the next step. Further, the feeding conveyor 28 is constructed by a driving roller 28 a in a front side, a driven roller 28 b in a rear side, and a conveyor belt 28 c which is wound between both the rollers 28 a and 28 b. Describing in detail, the supply unit 2 is formed in such a manner that the wrap off-cuts piece N1 cut by the cutting unit 1 is continuously let down and input to the upper side of the noodle skin raw material F after supplying the half kneaded noodle skin raw material F to the upper surface of the feeding conveyor 28 in the rear side within the hopper 27.”, para. [0076]-[0077].
“noodle belt forming unit”: “a noodle belt forming unit 3 which compresses the wrap off-cuts piece N1 and the half kneaded noodle skin raw material F mixed within the supply unit 2 to form the new noodle belt W having the one-layer structure, a rolling unit 4 which transfers the new noodle belt W formed by the noodle belt forming unit 3 by a feeding conveyor 8 and rolls the new noodle belt W, a die cutting unit 5 which transfers the new noodle belt W after being rolled by a feeding conveyor 9 and die cuts the new noodle belt W into a gyoza skin M, a feeding unit 6 which introduces the belt-like wrap off-cuts N after being die cut to the cutting unit 1, and a gyoza forming machine 7.”, para. [0058].
“agitating mechanism”: “an agitating mechanism 29 which is rotated by a drive unit (not shown) such as a motor for agitating the wrap off-cuts piece N1 and the half kneaded noodle skin raw material F approximately at the center position within the hopper 27, the wrap off-cuts piece N1 and the half kneaded noodle skin raw material F can be transferred to the next noodle belt forming unit 3 via an open portion in the front side within the hopper 27 (rectangular frame 27 a) while being more uniformly mixed.
The agitating mechanism 29 is formed, as shown in FIG. 13 , by providing a plurality of agitating bars 29 b in a protruding manner to form a cross shape in the front view, the agitating bars 29 b being disposed at uniform intervals in a longitudinal direction on an outer periphery of a center shaft 29 a having one end coupled to a drive unit (not shown) such as a motor in an interlocking manner and a set of the agitating bars 29 b having two agitating bars shifted at 90 degree in a width direction. The agitating mechanism 29 may employ a tabular agitating blade and the other constructions as long as it has the same function, in addition to the agitating bar 29 b.”, para. [0080]-[0081].
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ukei et al. (JP 2019165699) in view of Koichi et al. (JPH11289963)
With regard to claim 1, Ukei teaches a wrap off-cuts cutting and returning apparatus in a gyoza forming machine (FIG. 1) compressing a half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F; FIG. 6) to form into a belt-like shape (FIG. 6B illustrates the F material stamped into a band-shaped material W) , wherein the wrap off-cuts cutting and returning apparatus comprises a returning apparatus (6B) via a feeding unit (6A) thereof, a supply unit (1; FIG. 4) for the half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F) to which the wrap off-cuts piece (N) is continuously supplied while dropping (FIG. 6A/B), and a noodle belt forming unit (2A/2B) which compresses the wrap off-cuts piece (N) and the noodle skin raw material (F) mixed within the supply unit (1) to form a one-layer structure new noodle belt (W; FIGS. 6A/B), and wherein the gyoza forming machine is configured to return the wrap off-cuts piece (N) of the new noodle belt (W) formed by the noodle belt forming unit (2A/2B) to the supply unit (1) for the half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F)(FIG. 6A/B).
Ukei does not teach a cutting unit which sequentially cuts a belt-like wrap off-cuts after being die cut into a wrap off-cuts piece having a predetermined length; however, Koichi from the same field of endeavor directed toward a machine producing a band of food dough teaches a hopper 9 which provides a food dough product W to be cut by a split cutter device 11 utilizing rotary shafts 13 and respective cutters 17 (FIG. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in the Ukei reference, to include a cutting unit which sequentially cuts a belt-like wrap off-cuts after being die cut into a wrap off-cuts piece having a predetermined length, as suggested and taught by Koichi, for the purpose of reducing the size of scrap portions of a product to maximize the volume of food dough that may occupy a given space.
With regard to the limitations of the gyoza filling (g) and the gyoza skin (M) which are recited in the preamble, as these limitations are not referenced in the main body of the claim and as these limitations relate to the intended use or purpose of the invention, then the preamble is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction (see MPEP 21111.02 – Effect of Preamble). Notwithstanding the foregoing, Ukei teaches the aforementioned limitation: “The dumpling forming part 5 puts the gyoza ingredient g on the gyoza skin M obtained in the die cutting part 4, and wraps the gyoza ingredient g in the gyoza skin M as a dumpling G as a product (see FIG. 15).” (Ukei: pg. 4, ln. 10-11).
With regard to claim 2, Koichi teaches the cutting unit (11) includes a pair of rotary blade (17) and rotating roller (13) which are arranged in an opposing manner so as to cut across the vertically dropping belt-like wrap off-cuts at intervals in a vertical direction while holding the vertically dropping belt-like wrap off-cuts from both surfaces (blades 17 are arranged in a horizontal direction in addition to a vertical direction as illustrated in FIG. 2).
With regard to claim 3, Koichi teaches the rotary blade (17) includes a plurality of plate blades (multiple plate blades 17 arranged in FIG. 2) which are provided in a protruding manner at uniform intervals on an outer periphery (see left and right horizontal blades 17 in FIG. 2) of a rotating shaft (13) and are slightly longer than a horizontal width of the belt-like wrap off-cuts (blades 17 extend beyond the lowest portion of hopper 9).
With regard to claim 6, Ukei teaches the supply unit includes a hopper (1, FIG. 4) which is arranged below the returning unit (6B) (as adapted by the secondary citation with regard to the cutting unit as detailed above) and to which the half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F) and the wrap off-cuts piece cut (N) (as adapted by the secondary citation with regard to the cutting unit as detailed above) while dropping (dropping illustrated into 1 in FIG. 4). Although Ukei teaches feeding the noodle skin raw material (F) and the wrap off-cuts piece (N), the citation does not teach a feeding conveyor is disposed in a lower side of the hopper. However, Koichi teaches a belt B (FIG. 1) which delivers a dough product from a hopper 9 to various roller groups (45F/49F) to feed said dough product in a predetermined direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in the Ukei reference, to include a feeding conveyor is disposed in a lower side of the hopper, as suggested and taught by Koichi, for the purpose of providing increased speed related to the movement of the dough product to a subsequent processing location.
With regard to claim 8, Ukei teaches the noodle belt forming unit (2A/2B) includes a rolling machine fixed to a shaft in which a rotating disc axially supporting a plurality of beat rollers (2A/2B – shift is visible in the middle of rollers as illustrated in FIG. 6A/B with rotational movement indicated by arrows) so as to be rotatable on the same circumference is pivotally supported below a support frame (2), and the half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F) and the wrap off-cuts piece (N) mixed within the supply unit (1) are rolled between the noodle belt forming unit (2A/2B) and an upper portion of the driving roller at the front of the feeding conveyor below the supply unit, so that one-layer new belt is formed (one-layer new belt W is formed as illustrated in FIG. 6B).
With regard to claim 9, Ukei teaches the needle belt forming unit (2A/2B) includes a rolling machine fixed to a shaft in which a pipe roller (2A/2B) is pivotally supported below a support frame (2) rotatably, and the half kneaded noodle skin raw material (F) and the wrap off-cuts piece (N) mixed within the supply unit (1) are rolled between the noodle belt forming unit (2A/2B) and an upper portion of the driving roller at the front of the feeding conveyor below the supply unit, so that one-layer new noodle belt is formed (one-layer new belt W is formed as illustrated in FIG. 6B).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ukei et al. (JP 2019165699) and Koichi et al. (JPH11289963) as detailed above, and further in view of Chia (CN 203801581)
With regard to claim 7, Ukei and Koichi teach the invention as claimed; however, the citations do not teach an agitating mechanism is provided in an inner portion of the hopper, the agitating mechanism mixing while agitating the half kneaded noodle skin raw material and the wrap off-cuts piece fed by the feeding conveyor. However, Chia from the same field of endeavor directed toward an automatic forming machine for open pot stickers teaches the aforementioned limitation: roller 21 situated in dough storage container 1 mixes while agitating dough A.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the hopper 1 in the Ukei reference, to include the agitating mechanism 21, as suggested and taught by Chia, for the purpose of providing enhanced mixing and movement of the dough product contained therein.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 10-16 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 (e.g,., with regard to claim 4, a new independent claim which includes ALL of the limitations of claims 1, 2, and 4 as the cited prior art does not teach the limitations of at least a scarper is arranged below the rotary blade and the rotating roller, the scraper scraping off noodle dregs which are attached to a leading end of a plate blade in the rotary blade and an outer periphery surface of the rotating roller).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH W ISKRA whose telephone number is (313) 446-4866. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 09:00-17:00 EST.
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/JOSEPH W ISKRA/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761