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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 12-18, in the reply filed on 1/7/2026 is acknowledged.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Para. 0050 recites “unlocked position 504” but reference character 504 is for the locked position.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 12-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Novotny et al. (US 20210220680), hereinafter Novotny.
Regarding claim 12, Novotny teaches of (fig. 2) a fall protection locking system (abstract, locking system for fall protection) comprising:
a housing (housing 130) defining a guide path (guide path160) configured to receive a guide member (guide member 300), wherein the housing (130) is configured to slide along the guide member (fig. 3A, ¶0023, The distal end of the housing is sized to slidably receive a guide member, such as a rope, a cable, and/or the like);
a primary braking lever (braking lever 115) rotatably coupled in the housing (¶0025, A braking lever 115 is rotatably connected between the housing 130), the primary braking lever (115) comprising:
a first end (fig. 2, breaking end 210) configured to engage with the guide member (300) (fig. 2, ¶0027, the braking end 210 of the braking lever 115 positioned in the locked position, such that the braking end 210 may be engaged with the guide member);
a second end (top arm portion 195, shock absorber 185) comprising a shock absorber (185) configured to deform during a fall instance (abstract, shock absorber configured to deform during a fall instance), wherein the primary braking lever (115) defines a speed reduction curve (curve at end 210) located between the first end thereof and the second end thereof (seen in fig. 2); and
a connecting portion extending between the first end and the second end (fig. 2, portion between the first end 210 and the second end), the connecting portion comprising at least one hook (one or more hooks 190) configured to engage the second end with the connecting portion (seen in fig. 2); and
a secondary braking lever (secondary braking feature 200) rotatably coupled in the housing (¶0027, secondary braking feature 200 may be rotatably attached to at least one of the housing 130, the cover plate 140, or the guide wheel locking plate 150A, 150B) and defining a second arcuate surface (figs. 2 and 4B, braking surface 205) configured to engage with the guide member (300), wherein the secondary braking lever (200) is configured independent from the primary braking lever (115) (¶0032, the secondary braking feature 200 may be completely independent of the braking lever 115).
Regarding claim 13, Novotny teaches of claim 12, and wherein the speed reduction curve is one of a logarithmic spiral curve, a hyperbolic curve, a parabolic curve, or an exponential curve (fig. 3B, speed reduction curve at end 210 resembles at least a parabolic curve).
Regarding claim 14, Novotny teaches of claim 12, and (annotated fig. 1 below) wherein the secondary braking lever (200) defines a third aperture (aperture of the pin in the center of the spring 215) configured to engage with a second pin defining a second pivot, wherein the secondary braking lever (200) is configured to rotate about the second pivot (¶0027, secondary braking lever 200 rotates about the second pivot of the pin).
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Annotated Fig. 1: fig. 2 of Novotny
Regarding claim 15, Novotny teaches of claim 14, and (fig. 4A) the secondary braking lever (200) is spring biased (spring 215) against rotation due to gravity when the fall protection locking system is stationary or subjected to minimum movement (¶0031, the secondary braking feature 200 may include a pre-loaded spring 215 configured to counteract the force of gravity on the secondary braking feature 200. As such, in an instance the locking system 100 is not moving or moving slowly, the force due to gravity may be counteracted by the spring 215, such that the secondary braking feature 200 has minimal to no rotational movement.).
Regarding claim 16, Novotny teaches of claim 15, and (fig. 4B) wherein the secondary braking lever (200) is configured to rotate into engagement with the guide member (300), due to change in the center of gravity of the secondary braking lever, during the fall instance (¶0031, In an instance in which the locking system 100 is experiencing a fall instance, the force of gravity may decrease on the secondary braking feature. In such an instance, the force from the spring 215 has little or no counter force due to gravity and causes the secondary braking feature to rotate in the counter clockwise position, such that the braking surface 205 of the secondary braking feature 200 rotates into contact with the guide member 300 as shown in FIG. 4B).
Regarding claim 18, Novotny teaches of claim 12, and (annotated fig. 1 and fig. 3A) wherein the primary braking lever is spring (spring at the primary braking lever 115) biased against rotation thereof (the spring is biased against the rotation thereof as seen in figs. 2 and 3A).
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Novotny in view of Gossen (EP 2200702).
Regarding claim 17, Novotny teaches of claim 12, but does not appear to teach of wherein a diameter of the guide member is in a range of about 8 mm to about 10 mm.
Gossen teaches of (fig. 8) wherein a diameter of the guide member (ropes S) is in a range of about 8 mm to about 10 mm (p. 5, ropes S can be 8 mm, 10 mm, and 3/8 inches, which is 9.5 mm).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Novotny to incorporate the teachings of Gossen of wherein a diameter of the guide member is in a range of about 8 mm to about 10 mm in order to use diameters typical for guide members in the USA and Europe and to be dimensioned so that guide members of different diameters can be accommodated as motivated by Gossen on p. 3.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
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/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647