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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 December 8, 2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 25 be found allowable, claim 28 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 21-23, 25 and 27-28, 30, and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hansen et al. (US 2019/0296290) in view of Jeon (KR 10233895, see previously provided machine translation) and Cole, Jr. et al. (US 2007/0024237).
Regarding claims 1-2, 25, 27-28 and 30, Hansen discloses a portable power source moveable over a support surface, the portable power source comprising:
a power supply (54);
a frame including
a housing (14) at least partially surrounding the power supply, and
a roll cage (42) positioned outside of the housing (see e.g., Fig. 1 and ¶0039);
at least one wheel attached to the frame by an axle (see Fig. 17 showing a wheeled dolly coupled to the frame via connectors 344);
a handle coupled to the frame (see Fig. 17 showing the frame-coupled wheeled dolly with a handle), the handle including a user engagement portion (e.g., the horizontally oriented upper portion) and at least one upright member (e.g., the vertically oriented portions that support the handle).
While Hansen discloses that the roll cage (42) has rubber feet (74; see Fig. 1), it does not disclose that the wheels can be locked in place or that the frame-mounted feet engage the ground when the portable power source is arranged to be wheeled (i.e., when the wheeled dolly is coupled to its frame).
Jeon teaches a two-wheeled manually operated wheeled transport having a frame (10) supports a wheel and that the cart’s wheel can include a braking/locking feature that includes a clamp (e.g., the wheel-engaging brake pads of clamp 60; see Fig. 2, hereinafter denoted “60”) that moves from a clamped position where the arms (61) engage the rims of the wheel (see e.g., Fig. 2 and ¶0025) to a release position, the clamp (“60”) preventing rotation of the wheel in the clamped position, and the clamp allowing rotation of the wheel in the release position (see e.g., ¶0039 describing how the clutching mechanism 70 of Figs. 3-7 allow for the wheel clamp to be locked and unlocked/released).
Cole teaches another piece of power-related jobsite equipment having a framework with a roll cage (120) that surrounds and protects a housing (12; see e.g., Fig. 1 and ¶0025). The housing at least partially surrounding a power supply (87, see battery socket 86 in Fig. 5). The framework having wheels (160, see Fig. 8 and ¶0031) and a retractable handle (162) that is slidable relative to the frame between a retracted position and an extended position (see ¶0031 describing the handle as retractable and slidable on frame-mounted brackets 164) while the opposite end of the framework’s roll cage has ground-engaging feet (124, see Fig. 8 and ¶0025).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the portable power source of Hansen to include a clamp-based wheel lock as taught by Jeon and to integrate the wheels and handle within the framework as taught by Cole to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., adding wheel locks to a rolling work cart and making an otherwise separate component, such as a dolly wheel and handle, integral) to known devices (e.g., wheeled work carts having tubular frameworks) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (e.g., -------a work cart that is more compact through part integration and making it more collapsible and which can be secured/locked at a desired location).
Regarding claims 4 and 32, the clamp of Jeon, as applied in the above combination, further comprises an actuator (e.g., arms 61/62) coupled to the clamp/pads (“60”) to selectively engage the wheel.
Regarding claims 5 and 33, as discussed in the above combination, the clamp of Jeon provides for a clutch (70) that selectively allows for the clamp to locked and unlocked from the wheel. The clutch (70) includes a return spring (75; see ¶0076) that biases the clamp toward the unlocked/original state.
Regarding claims 6 and 34, as discussed in the above combination, Jeon teaches that its wheel clamp assembly includes a clamp/brake pad (“60”) that is coupled to a first actuator (e.g., clamp arms 61/62 read upon a first actuator that moves the clamp “60” between the clamped and released positions). Jeon further teaches that the clamping assembly includes a second actuator (e.g., lever 42) that is attached to the clamp (“60”) via the wire (50).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wheel lock of the Hansen combination to further includes a hand lever/actuator that drives the wheel clamp as taught by Jeon to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation being to allow a user to clamp the wheels using a remote/hand operation rather than directly engaging the wheel-disposed clamp to improve usability and user comfort and safety.
Regarding claims 21-23¸ Hansen discloses that portable power source is configured to be operated on uneven support surfaces (e.g., a worksite, see ¶0004), and wherein the roll cage (42) is configured to protect and transport the power supply if it tips over (see ¶0039).
Claims 3 and 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hansen in view of Brewer et al. (US 2018/0229745) and Cole.
Regarding claims 3-31, as discussed above with respect to claim 1, Hansen discloses a portable power source moveable over a support surface, the portable power source comprising:
a power supply (54);
a frame including
a housing (14) at least partially surrounding the power supply, and
a roll cage (42) positioned outside of the housing (see e.g., Fig. 1 and ¶0039);
at least one wheel attached to the frame by an axle (see Fig. 17 showing a wheeled dolly coupled to the frame via connectors 344);
a handle coupled to the frame (see Fig. 17 showing the frame-coupled wheeled dolly with a handle), the handle including a user engagement portion (e.g., the horizontally oriented upper portion) and at least one upright member (e.g., the vertically oriented portions that support the handle).
While Hansen discloses that the roll cage (42) has rubber feet (74; see Fig. 1), it does not disclose that the wheels can be locked in place or that the frame-mounted feet engage the ground when the portable power source is arranged to be wheeled (i.e., when the wheeled dolly is coupled to its frame).
Brewer teaches another manually operated wheeled transport where a frame (e.g., rails 110, 112) supports a wheel (130) via an axle (508; see Fig. 12 and ¶0055). The cart can include a braking/locking feature that has axle (508) including a brake disk (520 in Fig. 12, but denoted 517 in ¶0055) and includes a clamp (e.g., caliper 510, see ¶0057) that moves from a clamped position where the caliper engages the disk (517/520) of the axle (see e.g., ¶s 0057-0061 describing how the caliper selectively applies and releases a braking force to the disk) to a release position, the clamp (510) preventing rotation of the wheel in the clamped position, and the clamp allowing rotation of the wheel in the release position (see ¶s 0057-0061).
Cole teaches another piece of power-related jobsite equipment having a framework with a roll cage (120) that surrounds and protects a housing (12; see e.g., Fig. 1 and ¶0025). The housing at least partially surrounding a power supply (87, see battery socket 86 in Fig. 5). The framework having wheels (160, see Fig. 8 and ¶0031) and a retractable handle (162) that is slidable relative to the frame between a retracted position and an extended position (see ¶0031 describing the handle as retractable and slidable on frame-mounted brackets 164) while the opposite end of the framework’s roll cage has ground-engaging feet (124, see Fig. 8 and ¶0025).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the portable power source of Hansen to include a clamp-based disk-based wheel lock as taught by Brewster and to integrate the wheels and handle within the framework as taught by Cole to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., adding wheel locks to a rolling work cart and making an otherwise separate component, such as a dolly wheel and handle, integral) to known devices (e.g., wheeled work carts having tubular frameworks) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (e.g., -------a work cart that is more compact through part integration and collapsibility and which can be secured at a desired location).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 27 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. The applicant’s arguments related to whether the Jeon secondary reference has two feet has been considered and while the examiner does not necessarily agree that one skilled in the art would fail to understand that the secondary Jeon reference provides for two feet coupled to the roll cage (see Fig. 1 showing the downwardly depending leg being mounted at the corner of the cart above leader line 60), another secondary reference (Cole) has been introduced to teach a two wheeled battery cart can have a pair of ground-engaging feet on a roll cage opposite of the wheels.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE CLEMMONS whose telephone number is (313)446-4842. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-4:30 EST Monday-Friday.
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, J Allen Shriver can be reached on 303-297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/STEVE CLEMMONS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613