DETAILED ACTION
This is a first action on the merits addressing the disclosure provided 07 December 2012.
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 .
Status of the Claims
The following is the status of the claims under consideration:
Claims 1-10 are pending and examined; of those:
Claims 1, 5 and 8 are independent
Claims 2-4, 6 and 7 are dependent
No claims are withdrawn
No claims are cancelled
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement dated 07 December 2022, is entered and considered.
Drawings
The drawings dated 07 December 2022, are entered.
Claim Interpretation
For purposes of examination, the language of the claims is interpreted as follows:
Words such as “horizontal”, “vertical” and their equivalents are interpreted as though the claimed invention is in an orientation equivalent to an installed position; these words typically are associated with the surface of the Earth and remain constant regardless of the orientation of the invention.
“slightly” as used throughout the claims is interpreted in light of the language of the disclosure (see e.g., Specification: page 11, beginning at line 11). While not reading limitations of the specification into the claims, the specification does provide support for this language and is not indefinite under 35 USC 112.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 and Claim Objections
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 1-10 are 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.
Below is a reproduction of applicant’s claims, with the examiner’s comments in bold italics. The examiner may not directly address each instance of repetitive matters (e.g., antecedent basis) for brevity.
Claim 1: A clearance indicator assembly for controlling approach to a building structure, comprising:
a vertical support post securely mounted on a surrounding terrain and extending vertically upward therefrom;
at least one horizontal clearance bar mounted on the vertical support post to extend outwardly therefrom in a generally perpendicular direction, the horizontal clearance bar being positioned above the surrounding terrain a predetermined clearance height indicating the maximum permissible height for a vehicle attempting to move past the indicator assembly;
the horizontal clearance bar having an angular "V" shape as viewed from the side (lacks antecedent basis; also indefinite as to what “side” is being referenced), with an apex which points in the direction of an on-coming vehicle (a vehicle has already been presented; also applicant is encouraged to review “on-coming” to ensure this is the intended language and not “oncoming”) and oppositely extending, flared sides;
the horizontal clearance bar being mounted on the vertical support post by a mounting mechanism made up of a mounting plate and an associated pivot mechanism which pivots the clearance bar between a first, stationary position and a second displaced position when contacted by a vehicle (“a vehicle” has already been presented); and
wherein the mounting plate has mounting holes (lacks antecedent basis, e.g., “a plurality of mounting holes” or equivalent language supported by the specification) provided thereon in a given pattern (indefinite as to the metes and bounds of what constitutes “given pattern” as this is an open-ended term) and the vertical support post has mating mounting holes arranged in a given pattern (indefinite for reasons previously provided), and wherein the mounting holes on the vertical support post are offset from center (indefinite as to with what feature a “center” is located) slightly from the pattern of holes on the mounting plate, so that the horizontal clearance bar is mounted at a slight upward angle with respect to the surrounding terrain.
Claim 2: The clearance indicator assembly of Claim 1, wherein the mounting plate has four mounting holes (indefinite as written, as it is unclear if these are the same or different “mounting holes” previously claimed) provided thereon which are square with respect to an outer face of the mounting plate, and wherein the mating mounting holes provided on the vertical support post are offset from center at a slight angle from the holes in the mounting plate, when the mounting plate is mounted on the vertical support post.
Claim 4: The clearance indicator assembly of Claim 2, wherein the vertical support post is a polygonal tubular member having two pairs of opposing sides and wherein the support post (applicant is encouraged to amend to “vertical support post” for consistency, if this indeed references the vertical support post) is provided with a second pre-drilled hole pattern opposite a first pre-drilled pattern which is a mirror image of the first (indefinite as written as it reads as though the first pattern is a mirror image of itself), so that a first clearance bar can be mounted on either of opposite sides (indefinite as written, as it is unclear if the “opposite sides” are the same or different as a pair of “opposing sides” previously claimed) of the support post (see above regarding “support post”), or a pair of horizontal clearance bars can be mounted on opposite sides of the vertical support post.
Claim 5: A clearance indicator assembly for controlling approach to a building structure, comprising:
a vertical support post securely mounted on a surrounding terrain and extending vertically upward therefrom;
at least one horizontal clearance bar mounted on the vertical support post to extend outwardly therefrom in a generally perpendicular direction, the horizontal clearance bar being positioned above the surrounding terrain a predetermined clearance height indicating the maximum permissible height for a vehicle attempting to move past the indicator assembly;
the horizontal clearance bar having an angular "V" shape as viewed from the side, with an apex which points in the direction of an on-coming vehicle and oppositely extending, flared sides;
the horizontal clearance bar being mounted on the vertical support post by a mounting mechanism made up of a mounting plate and an associated pivot mechanism which pivots the clearance bar between a first, stationary position and a second, displaced position when contacted by a vehicle, the pivot mechanism including an associated barrel hinge, the clearance bar being rotatably mounted on the barrel hinge, and wherein a center bolt passes through a central opening in the barrel hinge, the bolt having an extended length which is fitted with a torsion spring which cooperates with the barrel hinge to pre-tension the horizontal clearance bar in the first, stationary position before the bar is contacted by a vehicle; and
wherein the mounting plate has mounting holes provided thereon in a given pattern and the vertical support post has mating mounting holes arranged in a given pattern, and wherein the mounting holes on the vertical support post are offset from center slightly from the pattern of holes on the mounting plate, so that the horizontal clearance bar is mounted at a slight upward angle with respect to the surrounding terrain. The language of this claim that is common with claim 1 is rejected for reasons previously provided, which will not be repeated here for brevity.
Claim 6: The clearance assembly of Claim 5, wherein the holes in the vertical support post are offset at an angle of about 5° from square, so that the mounting plate is canted at about a 5° angle when it is mounted on the vertical support post. The language of this claim that is common with language previously addressed is rejected for reasons previously provided, which will not be repeated here for brevity.
Claim 7: The clearance assembly of Claim 5, wherein the mounting mechanism includes a stop bolt which extends outwardly from the clearance bar and which contacts the mounting plate at one end when the horizontal clearance bar in the relaxed, rest position (“relaxed, rest position” lacks antecedent basis) at an approximate 90° contact point, the position of the stop bolt being adjustable in the field to line up the horizontal clearance bar in a position approximately perpendicular to the vertical support post.
Claim 8: A method of assembling a clearance indicator for controlling approach to a building structure, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a vertical support post securely mounted on a surrounding terrain and extending vertically upward therefrom;
providing a first horizontal clearance bar for mounting on the vertical support post so that the clearance bar extends outwardly therefrom in a generally perpendicular direction, the horizontal clearance bar being positioned above the surrounding terrain a predetermined clearance height indicating the maximum permissible height for a vehicle attempting to move past the indicator assembly once mounted;
the horizontal clearance bar having an angular "V" shape as viewed from the side, with an apex which points in the direction of an on-coming vehicle and oppositely extending, flared sides;
providing a mounting mechanism for mounting the horizontal clearance bar on the vertical support post, the mounting mechanism being made up of a mounting plate and an associated pivot mechanism which pivots the clearance bar between a first, stationary position and a second, displaced position when contacted by a vehicle;
wherein the mounting plate has mounting holes provided thereon in a given pattern and the vertical support post has mating mounting holes arranged in a given pattern, and wherein the mounting holes on the vertical support post are offset from center slightly from the pattern of holes on the mounting plate, so that the horizontal clearance bar is mounted at a slight upward angle with respect to the surrounding terrain;
wherein the vertical support post is a polygonal tubular member having two pairs of opposing sides and wherein the support post is provided with a second pre-drilled hole pattern opposite a first pre-drilled pattern which is a mirror image of the first; and mounting the first horizontal clearance bar on a selected opposing side of the vertical support post. The language of this claim that is common with language previously addressed is rejected for reasons previously provided, which will not be repeated here for brevity.
Those claims listed under this heading but not directly addressed are rejected as being dependent from a rejected claim, either directly or indirectly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 would be allowable upon overcoming the rejections under 35 USC 112(b) and objections raised above. The claims would be subject to further consideration pending resolution of the issues addressed above, however the examiner has no art to cite against the claims at this time.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
For similar barrier systems:
Neusch (U.S. Patent 11,781,275 B2) – discloses a barrier member that includes a vertical post (34), two horizontal bars (16), and a joint (18) that permits movement between the vertical post and horizontal bars.
Neusch (U.S. Patent 11,162,234 B2) – discloses a barrier member with a vertical post (21), two horizontal bars (16) and a joint (18) that joins the two and permit movement between the vertical post and horizontal bars.
Jiang, et al. (CN 108265640 A) – teaches a vertical member (1) horizontal members (32) that are used in road height-limiting technology.
Farber (U.S. Patent 8,181,392 B1) – discloses a barrier with a vertical post (14) connected to a horizontal bar (42), a hinge-and-spring connection (Figs. 4 and 5) connecting the vertical post to horizontal bar to permit movement between the two.
Haney (U.S. Patent 5,474,016) – discloses a barrier with a vertical post (24), a horizontal bar (proximate 49).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM V GILBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-9055. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 0800-0430 Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eileen Lillis can be reached at 571.272.6928. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM V GILBERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993