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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zheng et al (WO 2020/082989), a.k.a. Zheng ‘989, as interpreted by Zheng et al (US 20210383633 A1), a.k.a. Zheng.
Regarding Claim 1, Zheng discloses
a sheet-type medium accumulating and separating device, i.e., cash recycling and handling device (20), as illustrated in figure 13,
comprising a frame, i.e., box body (100), as illustrated in figure 1, for example, and a paper pressing mechanism, i.e., first lifting platform (113) with second lifting platform (122) and various rollers and internal mechanisms, as illustrated in figure 1, wherein the frame (100) is provided with an storage cavity, i.e., first cash storage cavity (110) or second cash storage cavity (120) as illustrated in figure 1, and as mentioned at paragraph 30, for example, for accommodating sheet-type media, i.e., banknotes, as mentioned in paragraph 3, last sentence, for example, in a stacking direction of the sheet-type media in the storage cavity, as mentioned at paragraph 30, noting the mention in the fifth sentence of “[a] first lifting platform 113 is provided inside the first cash storage cavity 110, and the first lifting platform 113 is capable of moving back and forth in the preset direction and can be located at a first dispensing position adjacent to the first outlet 112” which is construed as the stacking direction, for example, a paper inlet, i.e., first inlet/outlet (101) or second inlet/outlet (121), for example, is provided at a first end of the storage cavity (110, 120), i.e., the upper end as shown in figure 1, for example, a paper outlet, i.e., first inlet/outlet (101) or second inlet/outlet (121), as illustrated in figure 1, and a paper kicking roller, i.e., separation roller (261), as illustrated in figure 1 and as mentioned at paragraph 50, are provided at a second end of the storage cavity (110, 120), i.e., the lower end of storage cavity (110), for example, as shown in figure 1, and a paper supporting plate, i.e., first lifting platform (113), as illustrated in figures 1-3 and 5 and as mentioned at paragraph 35, for example, for supporting the sheet-type media is further provided in the storage cavity (110, 120); and
the paper pressing mechanism (113, 122) comprises a paper pressing plate, i.e., stressed part (221), as mentioned at paragraph 34 and as illustrated in figure 6, and a driving assembly, i.e., driving part (222) and/or driving assembly (250) including first motor (251) with driving wheel (252), belts (253) and pulleys (254) as mentioned at paragraph 49, wherein the paper pressing plate (221) has a first position and a second position arranged in the stacking direction, the paper pressing plate, (221) comprises a paper pressing part (222) located within the storage cavity (110, 120), as mentioned at paragraphs 34 and 35, the driving assembly (250) is mounted to the frame (210) and is in transmission connection with the paper pressing plate (221), and the driving assembly (250) is configured to drive the paper pressing plate (222), noting that the lifting platform (113) is moved by the driving assembly and trips the stressed part to move and cause a pressing force, to move between the first position and the second position; when the paper pressing plate (222) is in the first position, the paper pressing part (222) is adjacent to the paper outlet (101) to press sheet-type media towards the paper kicking roller (261); and when the paper pressing plate (222) is in the second position, the paper pressing part (222) is adjacent to the paper inlet (101). Note also that first switching member (150) and second switching member (140), as illustrated in figures 1-9, is also caused to move between a first position and a second position, as mentioned at paragraphs 30-32, as follows.
[0030] FIG. 1 is a section view of a cash box 010 in a first state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a structural schematic view of a first view of a linkage assembly 200 and a first switching member 150 when a first lifting platform 113 is in a first dispensing position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a structural schematic view of the first view of a linkage assembly 200 and a first switching member 150 when a first lifting platform 113 is in an initial position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a cash box 010 is provided in the embodiment. The cash box 010 includes a box body 100, a transfer passage 130, a first switching member 150 and a linkage assembly 200, wherein the box body 100 is provided with a first inlet and outlet 101. A first cash storage cavity 110 and a second cash storage cavity 120 are provided in the box body 100 in a preset direction. The two ends of the first cash storage cavity 110 are provided with a first inlet 111 and a first outlet 112 respectively in the preset direction. A first lifting platform 113 is provided inside the first cash storage cavity 110, and the first lifting platform 113 is capable of moving back and forth in the preset direction and can be located at a first dispensing position adjacent to the first outlet 112. The end of the second cash storage cavity 120 adjacent to the first outlet 112 is provided with a second inlet and outlet 121. The transfer passage 130 connects the first inlet with outlet 101 and the second inlet and outlet 121. The first switching member 150 is rotatably provided in the transfer passage 130 and can be located at a first position or a second position. When the first switching member 150 is located at the first position, the first inlet and outlet 101 is connected with the first outlet 112 by at least a part of the transfer passage 130 and the first inlet and outlet 101 is disconnected from the second inlet and outlet 121 by the first switching member 150. When the first switching member 150 is located at the second position, the first inlet and outlet 101 is disconnected from the first outlet 112 by the first switching member 150 and the first inlet and outlet 101 is connected with the second inlet and outlet 121 by the transfer passage 130. The linkage assembly 200 is in transmission connection with the first switching member 150, and it is engaged with or separated from the first lifting platform 113. When the first lifting platform 113 moves to the first dispensing position, the first lifting platform 113 is engaged with the linkage assembly 200 to rotate the first switching member 150 to the first position. When the first lifting platform 113 leaves the first dispensing position and moves to the first inlet 111, the first lifting platform 113 is separated from the linkage assembly 200, and the linkage assembly 200 rotates the first switching member 150 to the second position. According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the cash box 010 does not need to be provided with a separate driving mechanism to control the switch of the first switching member 150 between the first position and the second position, instead, the linkage assembly 200 is driven by the first lifting platform 113 moving to the first dispensing position to drive the linkage assembly 200 which accordingly rotates the first switching member 150 to the first position, or uses the linkage assembly 200 drive the rotation of the first switching member 150 to the second position when the first lifting platform 113 moves toward the first inlet 111, thus reducing the cost and simplifying the control of the cash box 010.
[0031] In this embodiment, the cash box 010 further includes a second switching member 140 rotatably arranged in the transfer passage 130, and the second switching member 140 is configured to control the connection or disconnection between the first inlet and outlet 101 and the first inlet 111. The preset direction is vertical in this embodiment, and the first cash storage cavity 110 is located above the second cash storage cavity 120. The first lifting platform 113 arranged inside the first cash storage cavity 110 has an initial position; when the first lifting platform 113 is located at the initial position, the first switching member 150 is just located at the second position; In the process that the first lifting platform 113 moves from the initial position toward the first inlet 111, the first switching member 150 stays at the second position. A second lifting platform 122 is arranged inside the second cash storage cavity 120. It should be noted that the initial position refers to the position that the first lifting platform 113 can reach when the first cash storage cavity 110 stores the maximum number of cash. In this embodiment, since the preset direction is vertical, the initial position is the lowest position that the first lifting platform 113 can reach, and the first dispensing position is below the initial position.
[0032] In some embodiments, the second switching member 140 is arranged adjacent to the first inlet 111 and the first switching member 150 is arranged adjacent to the first outlet 112; the second switching member 140 is in transmission connection with a motor, and the motor drives the second switching member 140 to rotate, thus connecting or disconnecting the first inlet and outlet 101 and the first inlet 111; the first cash storage cavity 110 is used for storing a first type of cash, and the second cash storage cavity 120 is used for storing a second type of cash.
Emphasis provided.
Regarding Claim 2, Zheng discloses
further comprising a guide plate, i.e., first guide plate (271), as mentioned at paragraph 51 and as illustrated in figure 1, or second guide plate (272), as mentioned at paragraph 53, as illustrated in figure 1, for example, wherein the guide plate (271, 272)
comprises a first guide surface, i.e., noting that the first and second guide plates (271, 272) has a guide surface, and the first guide surface of guide plate (271, 272) is configured to guide sheet-type media entering the storage cavity (110) via the paper inlet (110) to be stacked on the paper supporting plate (113); and when the paper pressing plate (221) is in the second position, the paper pressing part (221) is adjacent to the guide plate (271, 272), noting that the lifting platform (113) can also be construed as pressing banknotes.
Note also that first and second switching members (140, 150) also guide banknotes and rotate in order to guide the banknotes into various locations or to prevent them from moving through certain transportation paths.
Regarding Claim 3, Zheng discloses
wherein a first end of the guide plate, i.e., first and second switching members (140, 150) is rotatably connected to the frame (100), and a second end of the guide plate (140, 150) extends obliquely into the storage cavity (110, 120); the paper pressing part, either lifting platform (113) or stressed part (221) comprises a second guide surface, noting that these elements (113, 221) both have guide surfaces; when the paper pressing plate (113) is in the second position, the first guide surface and the second guide surface cooperate with each other to guide sheet-type media entering the storage cavity (110) via the paper inlet (101, 121) to be stacked on the paper supporting plate, i.e., first or second lifting platforms (113, 122).
Regarding Claim 12, Zheng discloses
a cash recycling and processing apparatus (020), as illustrated in figure 13, comprising at least one of a banknote input device, i.e., feeding mechanism (310), a banknote output device, i.e., dispensing mechanism (320), a temporary storage device (330) and a banknote box (010), wherein each of the banknote input device (310), the banknote output device (320), the temporary storage device (330), and the banknote input device comprises the sheet-type medium accumulating and separating device (200) according to claim 1, as illustrated in figure 13.
Regarding Claim 13, see the rejection of Claims 2 and 3, above.
Regarding Claim 14, see the rejection of Claims 2 and 3, above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 8, 9, 15 and 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.
Conclusion
Applicant is encouraged to contact the Examiner should there be any questions about this rejection or in an endeavor to explore potential amendments or potential allowable subject matter.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Regarding Claim 1, Moriwaki ‘716 discloses
a sheet-type medium accumulating and separating device, i.e., banknote handling device (10), as illustrated in figure 11,
comprising a frame, i.e., housing (12) and a paper pressing mechanism, i.e., paper sheet stacking and feeding apparatus (10), as illustrated in figure 7, wherein the frame (12) is provided with an storage cavity, i.e., the area inside housing (12), for accommodating sheet-type media, i.e., banknotes, checks and valuable securities, as mentioned in col. 1, lines 23-25, for example, in a stacking direction of the sheet-type media in the storage cavity, as mentioned at col. 6, lines 37-50, for example, a paper inlet, i.e., inlet-outlet (14) as illustrated in figure 1.
Note that Moriwaki also teaches note pressing member (28) that pivots about axis (28a) as illustrated in figures 1a and 7 with kicker roller (24) and feeding roller (20). Note also gate part (25) as illustrated in figures 1ba and 1bb with gate roller (22) and feeding roller (20) as illustrated in figure 7, for example.
Regarding Claim 1, Baranowski ‘853 discloses
a sheet-type medium accumulating and separating device, i.e., currency bill or banknote recycler (100, 100’, 100’’, 1700), as illustrated in figures 1A, 1F, 1H and 17a,
comprising a frame, i.e., storage bay frame comprising a left side frame (891) and a right side frame (892), as illustrated in figures 8d and 8e and as mentioned at paragraph 168, for example, and a paper pressing mechanism, i.e., paper sheet stacking and feeding apparatus (10), as illustrated in figure 7, wherein the frame (12) is provided with an storage cavity, i.e., storage bays (160a-160e, 360, 860) as illustrated in figures 1a, 3c and 8a, and as mentioned at paragraphs 77 and 154, for example, for accommodating sheet-type media, i.e., currency bills/banknotes, checks and valuable securities, as mentioned in paragraph 75, second sentence, for example, in a stacking direction of the sheet-type media in the storage cavity, as mentioned at abstract, noting the mention in the first sentence of “[a] generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end”, for example, a paper inlet, i.e., transport path (1120) and spaced plates (1183, 1184) and diverter (361) as illustrated in figures 3c, 6a and 6b, and as mentioned at paragraphs 145, 146 and 190, for example, is provided at a first end of the storage cavity (160a-160e, 360, 860), i.e., the upper end as shown in figure 3c, for example, a paper outlet, i.e., represented by input of dispenser (370) and feeding plate (372), as illustrated in figure 3c and as mentioned at paragraph 116, for example, and a paper kicking roller, i.e., stripping/drive roller (375), as illustrated in figure 3c and as mentioned at paragraphs 116-118, are provided at a second end of the storage cavity (160a-160e, 360, 860), i.e., the lower end as shown in figure 3c, and a paper supporting plate, i.e., retractable banknote support (540), as illustrated in figure 3c, for supporting the sheet-type media is further provided in the storage cavity (160a-160e, 360, 860).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY ALAN SHAPIRO whose telephone number is (571)272-6943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday generally between 8:30AM and 6:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anita Y Coupe can be reached at 571-270-3614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY A SHAPIRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
March 17, 2026
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