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 § 103
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, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krutz (US 4265076 A) in view of Smith (US 4446678 A).
Regarding claim 1, Krutz discloses a mower (32) comprising:
a blade (67) that mows grass;
a power generation unit (40) that generates a driving force for rotating the blade;
a housing (fig. 3) that covers the blade (67); and
a milling unit (17, 18) that subdivides grass mowed by the blade and discharged from the housing;
an accommodation unit that accommodates the mowed grass subdivided by the milling unit and includes a separation unit (25) that separates moisture from the subdivided grass (col. 3 lines 52-54); and
a storage unit (76) that stores the moisture separated from the mowed grass by the separation unit,
wherein the milling unit includes a pair of rollers (17, 18) that rotate while being in contact with each other to grind mowed grass, and
wherein the separation unit (25) is disposed rearward and downward (see fig. 3) from the milling unit (17, 18), and is configured to separate only moisture from the subdivided grass while the subdivided grass and moisture discharged from the milling unit naturally fall due to their own weight (fig. 3, col. 3 lines 52-54).
Krutz does not disclose wherein the separation unit is configured to discharge the separated moisture to outside the accommodation unit.
In the same field of endeavor, Smith discloses a storage unit (127) that allows collected moisture to be discharged outside of the mower (col. 6 lines 67-68).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have configured the separation unit of Krutz to discharge separated moisture to outside of the accommodation unit, as disclosed by Smith, so that the collected moisture may be periodically emptied to a larger tank or tank truck when full to allow mowing and moisture collection to continue for increased harvesting times.
Regarding claim 5, Krutz, of the resultant combination, discloses the mower according to claim 1, further comprising a power transmission unit that transmits a driving force generated by the power generation unit to the pair of rollers of the milling unit (col. 3 lines 6-17).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krutz (US 4265076 A) in view of Smith (US 4446678 A), and further in view of Doering (US 3808627 A).
Regarding claim 6, the resultant combination discloses the mower according to claim 1.
The combination does not disclose a power transmission unit that transmits a driving force generated by rotation of a wheel of the mower to the pair of rollers of the milling unit.
In the same field of endeavor, Doering discloses a power transmission unit (40) that transmits a driving force generated by rotation of a wheel (12) to a milling unit (compression rollers 22, 24, col. 3 lines 19-23)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have provided the resultant combination with a power transmission unit that transmits a driving force generated by rotation of a wheel of the mower to the pair of rollers of the milling unit, as disclosed by Doering, to ensure that power transmitted to the wheels is also transmitted to the milling unit, resulting in a more efficient device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection applied utilizes a new interpretation of the prior art reference in light of the claim amendments. Please see the above rejections for further details.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6016644 A discloses a mower wherein liquid is both collected and returned to the ground.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MADELINE RUNCO whose telephone number is (469)295-9123. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4:30 M-F.
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/MADELINE I RUNCO/ Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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