DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed June 6, 2023. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1-20 stand rejected as set forth below.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Australia on December 9, 2020, September 21, 2021 and April 24, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the AU2020904570, AU2021903035, AU2023901215 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the shading in figures 8-12 renders part of the drawing illegible when reproduced, see 37 CFR 1.84(l) and (p)(1). Figure 7 is objected to as it appears there are missing lines denoting the top of the frame member 910 making it unclear how element 140 is attached on the side of the frame member and the guardrail is on top of the frame member. Lines also appear to be missing in figures 1 and 2 defining the frame member, this is perhaps due to the quality of the lines that should be singular black lines. Figures 3 and 4 are objected to because the lines are so light when reproduced that they cannot be distinguished.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-9, 11-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by May (US Pub 2015/0298613).
In regard to Claim 1, May discloses a guard rail assembly for a chassis of a vehicle (Fig 1), said assembly comprising: at least one guard rail (55) (Fig 1); two or more support members (60) for supporting the at least one guard rail relative to the chassis (Fig 1), each of said support members having an upper end pivotally coupled to the at least one guard rail [0043] and an opposed lower end pivotally mountable to the chassis [0044]; an actuating mechanism (250) for raising and lowering the two or more support members and the at least one guard rail relative to the chassis between a folded position in which the two or more support members and the at least one guard rail are folded relative to the chassis and an operable position in which the two or more support members extend proud from the chassis with the at least one guard rail extending therebetween (Figs 1, 5) [0063]; and a pivot arm (40) extending from a lower end of at least one of the support members for interconnecting the support member with the actuating mechanism (Figs 1, 2, 5) [0063].
In regard to Claim 2, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the at least one guard rail comprises two guard rails (55, 85) supported relative to the chassis by the two or more support members (Fig 1).
In regard to Claim 3, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the two guard rails comprise a top guard rail pivotally coupled to the upper end of each of the two or more support members and a lower guard rail pivotally coupled about midway along a length of each of the two or more support members (Fig 1).
In regard to Claim 4, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the two or more support members are pivotally mounted at their respective lower ends to the chassis so as to be pivotable about their lower ends and such that the respective upper ends are pivotable between the folded and operable positions [0043, 0044].
In regard to Claim 5, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the upper end of each support member is pivotable about a range of movement of about 90 degrees between the folded and operable positions (Figs 1, 4).
In regard to Claim 6, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the lower end of each support member comprises a bore defined thereon and configured to receive a pivot pin therethrough for pivoting the lower end relative to the chassis (Fig 2) [0043].
In regard to Claim 7, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the actuating mechanism comprises one or more linear actuators [0062].
In regard to Claim 8, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the pivot arm comprises a pair of opposed ends and an elongate body extending therebetween in an angled orientation (Figs 1, 2, 5).
In regard to Claim 9, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the opposed ends comprise a proximal end fixedly connected to the lower end of the at least one of the support members and an opposed distal end configured to interconnect with the actuating mechanism (Fig 2).
In regard to Claim 11, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the pivot arm extends through an elongate opening (167) defined in a rail of the chassis (Fig 2).
In regard to Claim 12, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein, in use, the pivot arm pivots about the proximal end together with the at least one of the support members and the distal end is pivoted towards and away from the actuating mechanism to raise and lower the support members and the at least one guard rail between the folded and operable positions (Figs 1, 2, 5) [0063].
In regard to Claim 13, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the actuating mechanism comprises a linear actuator located beneath the assembly and configured to move between extended and retracted positions to pivot the pivot arm and thus the at least one of the support members and the at least one guard rail between the folded and operable positions [0062] (Figs 1, 2, 5).
In regard to Claim 14, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the linear actuator is pivotally coupled to each of the pivot arm and an outer side wall of a longitudinally extending side frame of the chassis, or a rail mounted thereon, by a mounting bracket located thereon [0062] (Figs 1, 2, 5).
In regard to Claim 16, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, further comprising a chassis mount for mounting the assembly to an outer upper edge of a longitudinally extending side frame (205) of the chassis (Figs 1-5).
In regard to Claim 17, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the chassis mount comprises an edge rail (45) configured to fit over the outer upper edge and one or more mounting brackets (90) for mounting the edge rail to the outer upper edge of the chassis (Fig 2).
In regard to Claim 18, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, wherein the two or more support members are pivotally mounted to the edge rail (Figs 1-3) [0044].
In regard to Claim 19, May discloses a method of erecting a guard rail on a chassis of a vehicle, said method comprising: fitting a guard rail assembly according to claim 1 to the chassis of the vehicle (Fig 1); and raising the two or more support members and the at least one guard rail relative to the chassis to the operable position (Fig 1).
In regard to Claim 20, May discloses the method as described above, wherein the raising comprises activating the actuating mechanism to pivot the pivot arm associated with one of the two or more support members to thus raise the two or more support member and the at least one guard rail relative to the chassis to the operable position [0043, 0063] (Fig 1).
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over May.
In regard to Claim 10, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, but does not specifically disclose the pivot arm is arranged in an offset arrangement with the lower end of the at least one of the support members so that it may extend alongside the chassis. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the in-line arrangement of the pivot arm/support member arrangement to being offset so that the pivot arm does not have to penetrate through frame 45 and thus limiting opportunities for misalignments between the elements.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over May as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Conney et al. (US Pub 2013/0119651) (hereinafter Conney).
In regard to Claim 15, May discloses the guard rail assembly as described above, but does not disclose two pivot arms. Conney teaches the pivot arm comprises two or more pivot arms mechanically linked together so that movement of a first pivot arm by an associated said actuating mechanism drives movement of other said pivot arms thereby synchronizing movement of two or more discrete said guard rails (Fig 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the assembly of May by duplicating the guardrails and pivot arms and linking them together as taught by Conney, in order to protect a user from falling from either side of the platform.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See list of references on PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brian Mattei whose telephone number is (571)270-3238. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00 to 5:00.
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/BRIAN D MATTEI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3635