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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 13, and 17-20 are amended. Claims 2-12 and 14-15 are as previously presented. Claims 20 are newly added. Claims 17-20 have been renumbered. Therefore, claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on August 12, 2026 has been entered. Applicant’s amendment overcomes the previously set-forth objection to claims 15-17 and the U.S.C. 112(b) rejection regarding claims 13-20.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 08/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that none of the references disclose a horizontal track within the vehicle that allows for the base unit, boom, mounting platform, and welding unit to be retracted and contained entirely within the vehicle.
It is the Examiner’s position that Coomer actually discloses the horizontal track that allows for fully retraction of the welding device into the vehicle and this is done for protection and ease of transportation from Para. 0076.
In the interest of compact prosecution, the Examiner presents additional prior art Worgotter (ES 2795656 T3) that also includes the feature of a mobile welding station that travels on rails within the vehicle.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 13 includes the new limitation, “slidable base unit is configured to slide longitudinally along the track, wherein when the slidable unit slides toward the first position, the slidable base unit”, where the second term of “slidable unit” should be “slidable base unit” instead.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3-4, 7, 12-13, 15, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coomer (US 20050067381 A1) in view of Barger et al. (US 3482076 A, hereinafter Barger).
Regarding claim 1, Coomer discloses a deployable mobile welding system (Abstract, “a mobile weld delivery unit”) comprising:
a vehicle (Para. 0078, “The preferred weld delivery unit 100, shown in FIG. 25, will essentially be a welding skid 506 mounted in a transport vehicle such as a truck 104.”) having an internal space and an opening to access the internal space at the rear of the vehicle (Modified Fig. 22, where the internal space of the vehicle and the opening to access the internal space at the rear of the vehicle are shown);
a slidable base unit disposed on a track within the vehicle (Para. 0095, “The robot 500 welding range from the weld delivery unit is only limited by the length of the umbilical 510. Thus the robot 500 can be readily and quickly stored or deployed for use.”, where Fig. 24 shows that the welding robot 500 includes a railing system that allows it to extend out of the vehicle and where the extension is limited by the umbilical cord 510, where Fig. 22 shows that the railing system to allowing the welding robot to extend is located within the vehicle, where 426 is construed to be the slidable base unit), wherein the track runs horizontally within the internal space from a first position within the internal space to a second position at the opening of the internal space at the rear of the vehicle (Modified Fig. 22, where the horizontal track that is within the internal space goes between a first and second position as shown and is positioned to run horizontally as Fig. 22 is a bird’s eye view, Para. 0047, “FIG. 22 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the weld delivery unit.”);
a mounting platform attached to an end of an extension from the slidable base unit (Para. 0094, “It will be seen that the robot, as is known to one in the robotics art, has a base 430 mounted to rotational bearing 432”, and Fig. 22, where the mounting platform of the robot extends from the structure holding onto the rails within the vehicle that is 426); and
a welding unit extending from the mounting platform (Para. 0094, “base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”),
wherein the slidable base unit is configured to slide longitudinally along the track, wherein when the slidable unit slides toward the first position, the slidable base unit, the boom, the mounting platform, and the welding unit are fully contained within the vehicle (Modified Fig. 22, where the slidable base unit or 426 is shown to be attached to the rails within the vehicle, where the base unit can be slid to fully retract the entire welding system within the vehicle, Para. 0076, “The weld delivery unit 100, as shown in FIG. 25, has sufficient space to receive the welder 114 itself; control devices 116 generator 118, induction heater 502, boom not shown and shielding gas 516; as well as the welding robot 500 shown in FIG. 24 stored on the unit 100 retracted in the body of the truck for protection and ease of transportation.”).
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Modified Figure 22, Coomer
Coomer does not disclose:
a boom extending from the slidable base unit.
However, Barger discloses, in the similar field of mobile welding systems (Section 1, lines 55-57, “a base assembly traveling on a set of tracks for the purpose of alignment with respect to the plates to be welded.”), where a boom can extend out from a slidable base unit (Claim 5, “a side beam car slideably mounted on said horizontal ram so as to permit relative movement therebetween; an actuating means for reciprocally moving said side beam car with respect to said horizontal ram”; and Claim 1, “a traveling base assembly; a vertical mast mounted on said base assembly; a vertically adjustable ram supporting means mounted on said vertical mast; a horizontal ram supported by said ram supporting means; a welding means reciprocally mounted on said horizontal ram”, where the traveling base is the slidable base unit, where the ram is the boom, and where the welding means or welding robot is mounted on the ram through the side beam car). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the slidable base unit and robot in Coomer to include a boom located in between the two structures as taught by Barger.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the range of motion for the robot welder, where the boom can be extended to increase the distance that the robot can be placed from the vehicle, as stated by Barger, Section 5, lines 2-8, “The motor 28 is actuated to raise or lower the apron assembly 22 on tracks 52 to the particular height at which the welding seam is to be initiated whereupon the horizontal ram 24 is moved longitudinally with respect to the supporting apron assembly 22 until the forward end thereof is adjacent the vertical welding groove between the work pieces.”, where the boom or ram allows for the welding device to reach the correct positions for welding.
Regarding claim 3, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the slidable base unit comprises rollers for rolling the slidable base unit along the track within the vehicle.
However, Barger discloses where the slidable base unit includes rollers for rolling the slidable base along a track (Section 2, lines 57-59, “A base 12, having wheels 14, 14' cooperating with the tracks 16, 16' is propelled by a motor 17 of any well-known type.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the slidable base unit along a track within a vehicle in modified Coomer to include rollers on the base unit for sliding as taught by Barger.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use a structure that can be moved along a track, where rollers are shown as one such structure that allows for movement along a track, as stated by Barger, Section 2, lines 57-59, “A base 12, having wheels 14, 14' cooperating with the tracks 16, 16' is propelled by a motor 17 of any well-known type.”.
Regarding claim 4, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the boom is extendable (Teaching from Barger, Section 5, lines 2-8, “The motor 28 is actuated to raise or lower the apron assembly 22 on tracks 52 to the particular height at which the welding seam is to be initiated whereupon the horizontal ram 24 is moved longitudinally with respect to the supporting apron assembly 22 until the forward end thereof is adjacent the vertical welding groove between the work pieces.”).
Regarding claim 7, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit is rotatable relative to the mounting platform (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the mounting platform or base 430 includes a bearing 432 that rotates the welding unit 440).
Regarding claim 12, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit comprises a cold metal transfer (CMT) welding head, a laser hot wire welding head, a laser powder welding head, or a metal inert gas welding head (Coomer, Claim 2, “The on site railroad rail welding repair apparatus of claim 1 wherein the arc welder is a gas shielded arc welder, or electroslag arc welder, or a hidden arc welder, or an inert gas arc welder.”, where the inert gas arc welding to used for metals, Claim 1, “an arc welder that fills the void with appropriate molten metal and causes the molten metal and the rail at the rail-void interface to bond.”).
Regarding claim 13, Coomer discloses a method of using a deployable mobile welding system (Para. 0072, “The welding operation will be accomplished by the following steps: placing a ceramic base mold below the rail base and then commencing the welding operation whereby approximately a 1 to 3 inch void between the rail walls 22 and 24 is filled by welding material.”), the method comprising the steps of:
providing a railroad track requiring welding (Claim 1, “An on site railroad rail welding repair apparatus wherein a railroad rail is an operating railroad track and a defect in the rail has been removed to provide a void and a rail-void interface…an arc welder that fills the void with appropriate molten metal”);
providing a vehicle (Para. 0078, “The preferred weld delivery unit 100, shown in FIG. 25, will essentially be a welding skid 506 mounted in a transport vehicle such as a truck 104.”) having an internal space and an opening to access the internal space at the rear of the vehicle (Modified Fig. 22, where the internal space of the vehicle and the opening to access the internal space at the rear of the vehicle are shown),
the vehicle comprising a slidable base unit disposed on a track within the vehicle (Para. 0095, “The robot 500 welding range from the weld delivery unit is only limited by the length of the umbilical 510. Thus the robot 500 can be readily and quickly stored or deployed for use.”, where Fig. 24 shows that the welding robot 500 includes a railing system that allows it to extend out of the vehicle and where the extension is limited by the umbilical cord 510, where Fig. 22 shows that the railing system to allowing the welding robot to extend is located within the vehicle), wherein the track runs longitudinally within the internal space from a first position within the internal space to a second position at the opening of the internal space (Modified Fig. 22, where the horizontal track that is within the internal space goes between a first and second position as shown and is positioned to run horizontally as Fig. 22 is a bird’s eye view, Para. 0047, “FIG. 22 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the weld delivery unit.”),
a mounting platform attached to an end of an extension from the slidable base unit (Para. 0094, “It will be seen that the robot, as is known to one in the robotics art, has a base 430 mounted to rotational bearing 432”, and Fig. 22, where the mounting platform of the robot extends from the structure holding onto the rails within the vehicle 426), and a welding unit extending from the mounting platform (Para. 0094, “base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”),
wherein the slidable base unit is configured to slide longitudinally along the track, wherein when the slidable unit slides toward the first position, the slidable base unit, the boom, the mounting platform, and the welding unit are fully contained within the vehicle (Modified Fig. 22, where the slidable base unit or 426 is shown to be attached to the rails within the vehicle, where the base unit can be slid to fully retract the entire welding system within the vehicle, Para. 0076, “The weld delivery unit 100, as shown in FIG. 25, has sufficient space to receive the welder 114 itself; control devices 116 generator 118, induction heater 502, boom not shown and shielding gas 516; as well as the welding robot 500 shown in FIG. 24 stored on the unit 100 retracted in the body of the truck for protection and ease of transportation.”);
placing the vehicle at a location where the welding unit is capable of welding the railroad track (Para. 0078, “The preferred weld delivery unit 100, shown in FIG. 25, will essentially be a welding skid 506 mounted in a transport vehicle such as a truck 104. Equipped with a boom not shown, the weld delivery unit 100 can deploy the rail repair alignment device 201, the weld containment device 290 and the portable welding robot 500 which together are called the robotic welding head 508.”, where the transport vehicle would first need to be placed near the rail that needs repair);
moving the slidable base unit along the track to deploy an extension from the vehicle (Para. 0078, “The preferred weld delivery unit 100, shown in FIG. 25, will essentially be a welding skid 506 mounted in a transport vehicle such as a truck 104. Equipped with a boom not shown, the weld delivery unit 100 can deploy the rail repair alignment device 201, the weld containment device 290 and the portable welding robot 500 which together are called the robotic welding head 508.”, where after the vehicle is positioned near the rail that needs repair, the weld delivery unit is deployed through sliding along a track and the welding robot with an extension of the robotic arms would be extended out of the vehicle, where the track is shown in Fig. 22);
positioning the extension at a position where the welding unit is capable of welding the railroad track (Para. 0094, “While the robot 408 is typical in that it operates in three dimensions using controller 410, the ability to remotely place the robot at a specific weld location provides a major departure from known art. This portability provides considerable advantages when used in the field as a robotic welding head 508. Instead of a work piece being brought to and located proximate a fixed robot, this apparatus brings the welder to the work piece-in this case railroad rail 10-and uses interfacing with rail 10 to automatically weld the slot 28 in rail 10.”, where the entire robotic welding system is brought close to the railroad track that requires repair, where the extension connected to the robotic head that has the welder would also be close to the railroad track because the robotic head is directly connected to the extension; therefore if the head is close to the railroad track, then the extension must also be close; where in the teaching from Barger below, the extension can be an extendable boom, and the boom would then be close to the railroad track); and
manipulating the welding unit to weld the railroad track (Para. 0094, “Instead of a work piece being brought to and located proximate a fixed robot, this apparatus brings the welder to the work piece-in this case railroad rail 10-and uses interfacing with rail 10 to automatically weld the slot 28 in rail 10.”, where the robotic welding head is brought close to the railroad track that needs repair and starts welding to repair the track).
Coomer does not disclose:
a boom extending from the slidable base unit;
However, Barger discloses, in the similar field of mobile welding systems (Section 1, lines 55-57, “a base assembly traveling on a set of tracks for the purpose of alignment with respect to the plates to be welded.”), where a boom can extend out from a slidable base unit (Claim 5, “a side beam car slideably mounted on said horizontal ram so as to permit relative movement therebetween; an actuating means for reciprocally moving said side beam car with respect to said horizontal ram”; and Claim 1, “a traveling base assembly; a vertical mast mounted on said base assembly; a vertically adjustable ram supporting means mounted on said vertical mast; a horizontal ram supported by said ram supporting means; a welding means reciprocally mounted on said horizontal ram”, where the traveling base is the slidable base unit, where the ram is the boom, and where the welding means or welding robot is mounted on the ram through the side beam car). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the slidable base unit and robot in Coomer to include a boom located in between the two structures as taught by Barger.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the range of motion for the robot welder, where the boom can be extended to increase the distance that the robot can be placed from the vehicle, as stated by Barger, Section 5, lines 2-8, “The motor 28 is actuated to raise or lower the apron assembly 22 on tracks 52 to the particular height at which the welding seam is to be initiated whereupon the horizontal ram 24 is moved longitudinally with respect to the supporting apron assembly 22 until the forward end thereof is adjacent the vertical welding groove between the work pieces.”, where the boom or ram allows for the welding device to reach the correct positions for welding.
Regarding claim 15, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses wherein the boom is extendable (Teaching from Barger, Section 5, lines 2-8, “The motor 28 is actuated to raise or lower the apron assembly 22 on tracks 52 to the particular height at which the welding seam is to be initiated whereupon the horizontal ram 24 is moved longitudinally with respect to the supporting apron assembly 22 until the forward end thereof is adjacent the vertical welding groove between the work pieces.”), and
further comprising the step of: extending the boom from the slidable base unit when positioning the boom near the railroad track requiring welding (Coomer, Para. 0094, “While the robot 408 is typical in that it operates in three dimensions using controller 410, the ability to remotely place the robot at a specific weld location provides a major departure from known art. This portability provides considerable advantages when used in the field as a robotic welding head 508. Instead of a work piece being brought to and located proximate a fixed robot, this apparatus brings the welder to the work piece-in this case railroad rail 10-and uses interfacing with rail 10 to automatically weld the slot 28 in rail 10.”, where the entire robotic welding system is brought close to the railroad track that requires repair, where the extension connected to the robotic head that has the welder would also be close to the railroad track because the robotic head is directly connected to the extension; therefore if the head is close to the railroad track, then the extension must also be close; where in the teaching from Barger below, the extension can be an extendable boom, and the boom would then be close to the railroad track).
Regarding claim 19, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit comprises a cold metal transfer (CMT) welding head, a laser hot wire welding head, a laser powder welding head, or a metal inert gas welding head (Coomer, Claim 2, “The on site railroad rail welding repair apparatus of claim 1 wherein the arc welder is a gas shielded arc welder, or electroslag arc welder, or a hidden arc welder, or an inert gas arc welder.”, where the inert gas arc welding to used for metals, Claim 1, “an arc welder that fills the void with appropriate molten metal and causes the molten metal and the rail at the rail-void interface to bond.”).
Regarding claim 20, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses further comprising the steps of:
moving the slidable base toward the first position (Coomer, modified Fig. 22, where the slidable base 426 is shown to be in a second position, where the first position would be at the other end position of the rail within the vehicle); and
retracting the boom, the mounting platform, and the welding head fully into the vehicle through the opening (Coomer, Modified Fig. 22, where the slidable base unit or 426 is shown to be attached to the rails within the vehicle, where the base unit can be slid to fully retract the entire welding system within the vehicle, Para. 0076, “The weld delivery unit 100, as shown in FIG. 25, has sufficient space to receive the welder 114 itself; control devices 116 generator 118, induction heater 502, boom not shown and shielding gas 516; as well as the welding robot 500 shown in FIG. 24 stored on the unit 100 retracted in the body of the truck for protection and ease of transportation.”).
Claims 2 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coomer (US 20050067381 A1) in view of Barger et al. (US 3482076 A, hereinafter Barger) in further view of Lipnevicius et al. (US 20130119032 A1, hereinafter Lipnevicius).
Regarding claim 2, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the base unit is rotatable such that the boom rotates roughly about 180 degrees when deployed from the vehicle.
However, Barger discloses that the base unit is rotatable (Section 2, lines 60-64, “The mast 18 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis by a motor 19, the motor 19 serving to rotate the base portion 18' of the mast 18 about the center bearing 20 within the safety ·lugs 20'”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the base unit in modified Coomer to be rotatable as taught by Barger.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to allow the base unit to cover more areas for welding, as stated by Barger, Section 2, lines 60-64, “The mast 18 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis by a motor 19, the motor 19 serving to rotate the base portion 18' of the mast 18 about the center bearing 20 within the safety ·lugs 20'”.
Further, Lipnevicius discloses, in the similar field of welding systems (Abstract, “An arc welding system”), where the base unit can be rotatable over 360 degrees (Para. 0012, “Arc welding system 100 has a robotic arm 102 that rotates about joint 132, giving first end 108 a full range of motion in a three dimensional space.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the base unit in modified Coomer to include the joint that allows for 360 degree rotation as taught by Lipnevicius.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to give the welding robot full range of motion in a three dimensional space, as stated by Lipnevicius, Para. 0012, “Arc welding system 100 has a robotic arm 102 that rotates about joint 132, giving first end 108 a full range of motion in a three dimensional space.”.
Regarding claim 14, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
further comprising the step of: rotating the base unit to rotate the boom toward the railroad track requiring welding.
However, Barger discloses that the base unit is rotatable (Section 2, lines 60-64, “The mast 18 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis by a motor 19, the motor 19 serving to rotate the base portion 18' of the mast 18 about the center bearing 20 within the safety ·lugs 20'”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the base unit in modified Coomer to be rotatable as taught by Barger, where the base unit in modified Coomer is connected to the boom and would rotate the boom as well, where Coomer discloses where the robot welding head is rotated and brought to the railroad tracking requiring repair/welding.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to allow the base unit to cover more areas for welding, as stated by Barger, Section 2, lines 60-64, “The mast 18 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis by a motor 19, the motor 19 serving to rotate the base portion 18' of the mast 18 about the center bearing 20 within the safety ·lugs 20'”.
Further, Lipnevicius discloses, in the similar field of welding systems (Abstract, “An arc welding system”), where the base unit can be rotatable over 360 degrees (Para. 0012, “Arc welding system 100 has a robotic arm 102 that rotates about joint 132, giving first end 108 a full range of motion in a three dimensional space.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the base unit in modified Coomer to include the joint that allows for 360 degree rotation as taught by Lipnevicius.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to give the welding robot full range of motion in a three dimensional space, as stated by Lipnevicius, Para. 0012, “Arc welding system 100 has a robotic arm 102 that rotates about joint 132, giving first end 108 a full range of motion in a three dimensional space.”.
Claims 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coomer (US 20050067381 A1) in view of Barger et al. (US 3482076 A, hereinafter Barger) in further view of Chen et al. (CN 113351992 A, hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 5, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 4, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the boom is extendable via a pneumatic or a hydraulic cylinder.
However, Chen discloses, in the similar field of welding systems (Abstract, “The invention relates to a welding system”), where the robotic welder can be extended using hydraulic actuators (Page 8, Para. 1, “The motion of the robot 12 may be provided by means of a servo motor, a linear and rotary transducer, a pneumatic actuator, a hydraulic actuator, or any associated type of actuation mechanism. Likewise, the robot 12 may have six degrees of freedom of motion, as shown, or have any other suitable number of degree of freedom of motion.”, where hydraulic actuators include hydraulic cylinders). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the robotic welder with its extension structures like the boom in modified Coomer to include using hydraulic actuators as taught by Chen.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use different types of motion control actuators, where Chen lists actuation mechanisms that all are capable of creating motion and where the selection of a specific actuator would be a mere matter of user design choice, as stated by Chen, Page 8, Para. 1, “The motion of the robot 12 may be provided by means of a servo motor, a linear and rotary transducer, a pneumatic actuator, a hydraulic actuator, or any associated type of actuation mechanism.”.
Claims 6, 8-11, and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coomer (US 20050067381 A1) in view of Barger et al. (US 3482076 A, hereinafter Barger) in further view of Tamura et al. (JP 2015205330 A, hereinafter Tamura).
Regarding claim 6, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the welding unit extends from a bottom surface of the mounting platform.
However, Tamura discloses, in the similar field of movable welding apparatuses (Page 2, Para. 3, “welding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 2, a support 3, a laterally stretchable body 4, a longitudinally stretchable body 5, and a robot 6.”), where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface of the mounting platform (Page 6, Para. 1, “The robot 6 is attached to the lower end of the longitudinally extending body 5.”, and where the longitudinally extending body 5 or mounting platform is connected to the boom, Page 6, Para. 1, “The vertical stretchable body 5 is attached to the distal end of the horizontal stretchable body 4”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting platform with joints connecting to a welding unit in modified Coomer to include a direct connection between the mounting platform and the welding unit as taught by Tamura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to reduce the complexity of the attachments between the mounting platform and the welding unit, where a singular transverse and longitudinal connection can still provide the welding unit with repositioning abilities, as stated by Tamura, Abstract, “The post is made movable according to the movement of the running body, and is equipped with two or more longitudinal expansion bodies capable of expanding in the longitudinal direction so that the welding apparatus can be stepwise extended or stepwise shrunken to the original position before the extension. The welding apparatus may comprise both a transverse expansion body and a longitudinal expansion body.”.
Regarding claim 8, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit comprises a rotatable mounting base extending from a surface of the mounting platform (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the mounting platform or base 430 includes a bearing 432 that rotates the welding unit 440).
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface of the mounting platform.
However, Tamura discloses, in the similar field of movable welding apparatuses (Page 2, Para. 3, “welding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 2, a support 3, a laterally stretchable body 4, a longitudinally stretchable body 5, and a robot 6.”), where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface of the mounting platform (Page 6, Para. 1, “The robot 6 is attached to the lower end of the longitudinally extending body 5.”, and where the longitudinally extending body 5 or mounting platform is connected to the boom, Page 6, Para. 1, “The vertical stretchable body 5 is attached to the distal end of the horizontal stretchable body 4”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting platform with joints connecting to a welding unit in modified Coomer to include a direct connection between the mounting platform and the welding unit as taught by Tamura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to reduce the complexity of the attachments between the mounting platform and the welding unit, where a singular transverse and longitudinal connection can still provide the welding unit with repositioning abilities, as stated by Tamura, Abstract, “The post is made movable according to the movement of the running body, and is equipped with two or more longitudinal expansion bodies capable of expanding in the longitudinal direction so that the welding apparatus can be stepwise extended or stepwise shrunken to the original position before the extension. The welding apparatus may comprise both a transverse expansion body and a longitudinal expansion body.”.
Regarding claim 9, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit further comprises a first rotatable arm extending from rotatable mounting base (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the mounting platform or base 430 includes a bearing 432 that rotates the welding unit 440, where after the bearing 432 or the rotatable mounting base is an articulated arm 436 that is the first rotatable arm that extends from the rotatable mounting base).
Regarding claim 10, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit further comprises a second rotatable arm extending from an end of the first rotatable arm (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the series of joints 438 are the second rotatable arm connected after the first rotatable arm 436, where the features are shown in modified Fig. 22).
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Modified Figure 22, Coomer
Regarding claim 11, modified Coomer teaches the apparatus according to claim 10, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit further comprises a rotatable welding head extending from an end of the second rotatable arm (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where after the series of joints 438 that are the second rotatable arm, the system includes a welding head 440 that is shown in modified Fig. 22 to be rotatable).
Regarding claim 16, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above.
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the welding unit is disposed on a bottom surface of the mounting platform.
However, Tamura discloses, in the similar field of movable welding apparatuses (Page 2, Para. 3, “welding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 2, a support 3, a laterally stretchable body 4, a longitudinally stretchable body 5, and a robot 6.”), where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface and is disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform (Page 6, Para. 1, “The robot 6 is attached to the lower end of the longitudinally extending body 5.”, and where the longitudinally extending body 5 or mounting platform is connected to the boom, Page 6, Para. 1, “The vertical stretchable body 5 is attached to the distal end of the horizontal stretchable body 4”, where when the longitudinally extending body is not extended, the welding robot would be disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting platform with joints connecting to a welding unit in modified Coomer to include a direct connection between the mounting platform and the welding unit as taught by Tamura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to reduce the complexity of the attachments between the mounting platform and the welding unit, where a singular transverse and longitudinal connection can still provide the welding unit with repositioning abilities, as stated by Tamura, Abstract, “The post is made movable according to the movement of the running body, and is equipped with two or more longitudinal expansion bodies capable of expanding in the longitudinal direction so that the welding apparatus can be stepwise extended or stepwise shrunken to the original position before the extension. The welding apparatus may comprise both a transverse expansion body and a longitudinal expansion body.”.
Regarding claim 17, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit comprises a rotatable mounting base extending from a surface of the mounting platform (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the mounting platform or base 430 includes a bearing 432 that rotates the welding unit 440),
further comprising the step of: rotating the welding unit when manipulating the welding unit to weld the railroad track (Coomer, Para. 0094, “rotational bearing 432 which enables the robot to rotate around a rotational axis 434”, and Para. 0073, “Using a continuous precisely controlled welding cycle will move the welding element back and forth across the void resulting in the filling of the void with metal material having mechanical properties commensurate with that of the metal in the rail itself.”, where the robot is moved back and forth during the weld and is moved toward the railroad that needs repair, where this movement would require rotating the welding unit).
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
where the welding unit is disposed on a bottom surface of the mounting platform.
However, Tamura discloses, in the similar field of movable welding apparatuses (Page 2, Para. 3, “welding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 2, a support 3, a laterally stretchable body 4, a longitudinally stretchable body 5, and a robot 6.”), where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface and is disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform (Page 6, Para. 1, “The robot 6 is attached to the lower end of the longitudinally extending body 5.”, and where the longitudinally extending body 5 or mounting platform is connected to the boom, Page 6, Para. 1, “The vertical stretchable body 5 is attached to the distal end of the horizontal stretchable body 4”, where when the longitudinally extending body is not extended, the welding robot would be disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting platform with joints connecting to a welding unit in modified Coomer to include a direct connection between the mounting platform and the welding unit as taught by Tamura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to reduce the complexity of the attachments between the mounting platform and the welding unit, where a singular transverse and longitudinal connection can still provide the welding unit with repositioning abilities, as stated by Tamura, Abstract, “The post is made movable according to the movement of the running body, and is equipped with two or more longitudinal expansion bodies capable of expanding in the longitudinal direction so that the welding apparatus can be stepwise extended or stepwise shrunken to the original position before the extension. The welding apparatus may comprise both a transverse expansion body and a longitudinal expansion body.”.
Regarding claim 18, modified Coomer teaches the method according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses wherein the welding unit further comprises a first rotatable arm extending from a rotatable mounting base (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the mounting platform or base 430 includes a bearing 432 that rotates the welding unit 440, where after the bearing 432 or the rotatable mounting base is an articulated arm 436 that is the first rotatable arm that extends from the rotatable mounting base), and
further comprises a second rotatable arm extending from an end of the first rotatable arm (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where the series of joints 438 are the second rotatable arm connected after the first rotatable arm 436, where the features are shown in modified Fig. 22), and
further wherein a rotatable welding head extends from an end of the second rotatable arm (Coomer, Para. 0094, “robot 500 has articulated arm 436 which is articulated to bearing 432 and base 430 having a series of joints 438 and, for this application, terminates in welder head 440.”, where after the series of joints 438 that are the second rotatable arm, the system includes a welding head 440 that is shown in modified Fig. 22 to be rotatable).
Modified Coomer does not disclose:
wherein the rotatable mounting base is disposed on a bottom surface of the mounting platform.
However, Tamura discloses, in the similar field of movable welding apparatuses (Page 2, Para. 3, “welding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 2, a support 3, a laterally stretchable body 4, a longitudinally stretchable body 5, and a robot 6.”), where the welding unit extends from a bottom surface and is disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform (Page 6, Para. 1, “The robot 6 is attached to the lower end of the longitudinally extending body 5.”, and where the longitudinally extending body 5 or mounting platform is connected to the boom, Page 6, Para. 1, “The vertical stretchable body 5 is attached to the distal end of the horizontal stretchable body 4”, where when the longitudinally extending body is not extended, the welding robot would be disposed on the bottom surface of the mounting platform). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting platform with joints connecting to a welding unit in modified Coomer to include a direct connection between the mounting platform and the welding unit as taught by Tamura; where the robot head connected to a bearing connected to the mounting platform in Coomer would have the bearing and robot be placed at the bottom surface of the mounting platform from the teaching of Tamura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to reduce the complexity of the attachments between the mounting platform and the welding unit, where a singular transverse and longitudinal connection can still provide the welding unit with repositioning abilities, as stated by Tamura, Abstract, “The post is made movable according to the movement of the running body, and is equipped with two or more longitudinal expansion bodies capable of expanding in the longitudinal direction so that the welding apparatus can be stepwise extended or stepwise shrunken to the original position before the extension. The welding apparatus may comprise both a transverse expansion body and a longitudinal expansion body.”.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN GUANHUA WEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9940 and whose email is kevin.wen@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
09/03/2026
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