DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is a first Office Action on the merits of the application. Claims 1 - 20 are presented for examination. Claims 3, 12, and 13 are rejected.
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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1, line 2 recites “3D”, but it is recommended that the term recites “3D (three-dimensional”) or “three-dimensional (3D)”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 10, line 1 recites “2D”, but it is recommended that the term recites “2D (two-dimensional”) or “two-dimensional (2D)”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 13, line 2 recites “are configure to be”, but it is recommended the phrase is amended to recite “are configured to be”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 1, 11, 14, 16, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1, line 14, claim 11, line 3, claim 14, line 4, claim 16, line 2, and claim 20, lines 2 - 3 recite “the coplanar”, but it is recommended for the phrase to recite “the coplanar outer ring tray and central tray”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 3, 12, and 13 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.
Claim 3 lacks antecedent basis for “the warp and weft directions” (Claim 3, line 2).
Suggested language: Amend the phrase to recite “warp and weft directions”.
Claim 12, line 2 recites “L” in parenthesis. However, it is unclear if this is part of the claim or not, due to the letter being in parenthesis. The letter in parenthesis makes it unclear if it is part of the claim or not, and renders the claim vague and indefinite.
Dependent claim 13 is rejected due to inherited claim deficiencies of claim 12.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter, with claims 3, 12, and 13 allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 1: The prior art of Shen (CN 2634477 Y) discloses a fabric pattern three-dimensional test device with a lifting system, shaft, shaft sleeve, and a rotating platform, Kong (CN 113188442 A) discloses a mounting adjusting plate, a four-station turntable, and a laser sensor, Herbert (“Measurement of Fabric Drape Using a Modified Drapemeter”) discloses a drape coefficient, and Mishra (“The Analysis of Fabrics’ Virtual Drape Possibilities in 3D Modeling Systems”) discloses a fabric drape coefficient, a drape test, and a drape meter and camera set up.
However, none of the references cited, including the prior art of Shen, Kong, Herbert and Mishra, taken either alone or in combination with the prior art of record discloses a swivel table for modeling three-dimensional fabric, including the table with a base having a turntable, along with a lifting platform with an outer ring tray and a central tray coplanar to each other, with the swiveling table able to lower the outer ring tray to be in a position below the central tray perpendicular to the base, for a fabric to rotate on the central tray for three-dimensional sensors to capture a rotating image of the fabric, in combination with the remaining elements and features of the claimed invention. It is for these reasons that the applicants’ invention defines over the prior art of record.
Dependent claims 2 - 20 are allowable under 35 U.S.C. 103 for depending from claim 1, an allowable base claim under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CEDRIC D JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-7089. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 4:30am - 2:00pm, F 4:30am - 11:30am.
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/Cedric Johnson/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2186
July 11, 2026
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