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 .
Claims 1, 4, 6-8, and 10-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garnick(10500935) in view of in view of Chashchukhin (9499035), or in the alternative under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garnick in view of Chashchukhin, and further in view Dooling (11292541) or Erez (manufacture of TPU2001 or TPU2003 , NPL dated Jan 2018).
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They can optionally be coated on both sides.
(15) A variety of materials for a vehicle cover can be used herein. As non-limiting examples provided for illustration purposes, vehicle covers intended to be water-resistant, water-repellant, and/or water proof can be made from: various plastics, polymers, polypropylene, latex, natural rubber, any elastic hydrocarbon polymer, Gore-Tex, vinyl, a variety of types of plastic derived from ethylene and chlorine, polyethelene sheeting (HDPE), Low-density polyethylene (LDPF), polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, PU or hypalon coated nylon or polyester fabric (which or without stretch), Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) sheeting, polyethylene (PE), fluoropolymer fabrics (such as any textile coated with fluoropolymers), any fluorinated plastics, various block copolymers, surface modified polymers, textiles covered with polyurethane compositions, textiles treated with various hydrophobic components, hydrophilic resins, water-repellent fibrous sheets and/or textiles impregnated with a water-repellent material, and/or waterproof thermoplastic resin film layers firmly bonded to the surfaces of textiles. Materials can be laminated, layered, coated, and/or impregnated to make the materials water-resistant and/or waterproof, for example with a waterproof resinous material such as a melamine-formaldehyde resin or polyacrylic ester resin, or by laminating waterproof thermoplastic resin films.
The covering also includes a waterproof and/or water resistant lower cover including a base panel dimensioned to cover at least a bottom of the vehicle and a plurality of side portions that extend from the base panel.
In another example, the waterproof upper cover and the waterproof lower cover can be made of a material selected from a flexible polymer, a cloth, or plastic.
The plurality of side portions can be dimensioned to extend to windows of the vehicle. In some examples, the cover can be made of a flexible, waterproof polymer.
The cover over the top of the vehicle and the cover underneath the vehicle can then be sealed together along peripheral edges thereof to create a water resistant or a water proof enclosure for the vehicle.
100) FIGS. 1-17 illustrate an embodiment of a vehicle cover 100 that is configured to enclose at least a bottom portion of a vehicle 110. The vehicle cover 100 can have a lower portion 100L and an upper portion 100u.
The vehicle 110 is then driven forward so that the back wheels 110b rest on top of the lower portion 100L of the cover 100 between the folds of the front 100f and the back 100b, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
As illustrated in FIGS. 11-13, the upper portion 100u and the lower portion 100L can be engaged at one or more initial points 116 through a variety of means, such as Velcro, hooks, buttons, snaps, web attachments, etc., to assist a user to enclose the vehicle 110. The upper portion 100u can then be completely positioned on a top of the vehicle, as illustrated in FIG. 14, and a user can close the cover 100 around the vehicle 110. The cover 100 can be closed by engaging peripheral edges of the upper portion 100u and the lower portion 100L through a variety of closure means. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, a zipper 118 can be integrated with peripheral edges of the upper and lower portions 100u, 100L, and a user can close the cover 100 by zipping the two portions 100u, 100L together to create a barrier between the vehicle 110 and the outside world.
Covering at least a bottom and at least part of each side of the vehicle can also include fastening the front and rear portions to one another using an engagement selected from a zipper or Velcro. When a zipper is employed, a tongue and/or extra material section can be added in various embodiments to prevent the zipper from scratching and/or otherwise damaging the vehicle.
A weight of the lower and upper covers can be configured not to exceed approximately 30 pounds, or more preferably approximately 25 pounds, or more preferably within a range of about 12 pounds to about 16 pounds. The lower cover can have different dimensions than the upper cover. At least one of the upper cover and the lower cover can have a lip extending around the peripheral edges thereof configured to resist water passage around the plurality of upper and lower fasteners.
(120) FIGS. 40-46 illustrate multiple embodiments of vehicle covers configured to protect against impact forces, such as from hail, and that can be used independently or used with and/or incorporated into any the covers discussed herein, such as cover 100.
For instance, the upper portion 100u could be made from PE, PU, or PVC and be between approximately 4 mm and approximately 5 mm thick while the lower portion 100L can be made from the same material or different material, such as PU-coated fabric, and can be thicker, such as between approximately 7 mm and approximately 10 mm thick.
(106) The cover 100 can be made from a variety of materials, such as …a variety of types of plastic derived from ethylene and chlorine, fluoropolymer fabrics (such as any textile coated with fluoropolymers), any fluorinated plastics, various block copolymers, surface modified polymers, textiles covered with polyurethane compositions
Regarding claim 1, Garnick teaches a method for using a vehicle cover, comprising the steps of: providing a base (100L, figs. 15-17, 120f fig. 23, 300L Fig. 24, 385L, fig. 35 ); providing a flexible enclosure (100U, figs. 15-17, 120S fig. 23, 300U Fig. 24, 385U, fig. 35 figs.) attached to the base, driving the vehicle onto the base (fig. 2), wherein the base is sufficiently durable to be driven upon by the vehicle without the base tearing or puncturing; covering an upper portion of the vehicle with the flexible enclosure; and completely encapsulating the vehicle in a water resistant manner within the base and the enclosure, by attaching the enclosure to the base (via zipper 118).
With respect to the step of waterproof plastic base coated on each side with a thermoplastic polyurethane, it is noted that claim 1 recites “a waterproof plastic base coated on each side with a thermoplastic polyurethane”, note Garnick teaches:
polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, PU or hypalon coated nylon or polyester fabric waterproof thermoplastic resin film layers firmly bonded to the surfaces of textiles. Materials can be laminated, layered, coated, and/or impregnated to make the materials water-resistant and/or waterproof (note the plurality of surfaces and note the materials can be layered)
And note the plurality of textiles material being used.
(15) A variety of materials for a vehicle cover can be used herein. As non-limiting examples provided for illustration purposes, vehicle covers intended to be water-resistant, water-repellant, and/or water proof can be made from: various plastics, polymers, polypropylene, latex, natural rubber, any elastic hydrocarbon polymer, Gore-Tex, vinyl, a variety of types of plastic derived from ethylene and chlorine, polyethelene sheeting (HDPE), Low-density polyethylene (LDPF), polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, PU or hypalon coated nylon or polyester fabric (which or without stretch), Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) sheeting, polyethylene (PE), fluoropolymer fabrics (such as any textile coated with fluoropolymers), any fluorinated plastics, various block copolymers, surface modified polymers, textiles covered with polyurethane compositions, textiles treated with various hydrophobic components, hydrophilic resins, water-repellent fibrous sheets and/or textiles impregnated with a water-repellent material, and/or waterproof thermoplastic resin film layers firmly bonded to the surfaces of textiles. Materials can be laminated, layered, coated, and/or impregnated to make the materials water-resistant and/or waterproof, for example with a waterproof resinous material such as a melamine-formaldehyde resin or polyacrylic ester resin, or by laminating waterproof thermoplastic resin films. Vehicle covers intended to lessen and/or prevent hail damage can include: Kevlar and para-aramid synthetic fibers generally; other aramids such as Nomex and Technora; rigid plastics such as polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, and high-density polypropylene; common textile fibrous fabrics such as cotton and wool, and a variety of other materials.
(106) The cover 100 can be made from a variety of materials, such as the materials discussed above including various plastics, polymers, polypropylene, latex, natural rubber, any elastic hydrocarbon polymer, Gore-Tex, vinyl, a variety of types of plastic derived from ethylene and chlorine, fluoropolymer fabrics (such as any textile coated with fluoropolymers), any fluorinated plastics, various block copolymers, surface modified polymers, textiles covered with polyurethane compositions, textiles treated with various hydrophobic components, hydrophilic resins, water-repellent fibrous sheets and/or textiles impregnated with a water-repellent material, waterproof thermoplastic resin film layers firmly bonded to the surfaces of textiles, Kevlar and para-aramid synthetic fibers generally, other aramids such as Nomex and Technora, rigid plastics such as polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, and high-density polypropylene, common textile fibrous fabrics such as cotton and wool, various natural and/or synthetic foams, and a variety of other materials. The cover 100 can be made from a single material or a variety of materials. Different portions of the cover 100 can be formed from different materials, and the materials can have a variety of thicknesses and tensile properties depending on the desired results. For example, the lower portion 100L can be thicker or denser than the upper portion 100u. For example, the upper and lower cover can each have a same thickness or a different thickness of between approximately 3 mm and approximately 20 mm, and more preferably between approximately 5 mm and approximately 15 mm, and more preferably between approximately 5 mm and approximately 10 mm. The cover 100 can be configured to prevent and/or reduce hail damage to the vehicle when the cover at least partially encloses the vehicle, for example by being made of a thick and/or padded material designed to resist and/or absorb impact (discussed in more detail below). The cover 100 can have one or more layers, for example having an outer layer of one material and an inner layer of another material. Layers can be stacked like a sandwich or fully enclosing one another.
The examiner submits: a) note the teachings of the material of TPU, nylon and material, b) Note that the teachings that the material can be layered or laminated on two side, c) With the explicit teaching of that TPU can be used to coat on both sides or layered or stacked, the material meet the claimed limitation: 1)any of the cited waterproof plastic base with TPU on both sides, or 2) TPU that can be stacked at 3 layers, or 3) that Nylon coated on both sides with TPU.
With respect to the limitation of de-pressurizing the vehicle cover by removing air inside the vehicle cover,
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(19) The vacuum valve 114 is a commercially available valve that is inserted through the plastic sheath 112. The purpose of the vacuum valve 114 is to allow for the connection of the vacuum pump 102 so that the vacuum can be drawn within the plastic sheath 112. In the first potential embodiment of the disclosure, a commercially available vacuum check valve was used. Methods to install and seal valves through plastic sheath are well known and documented in the art.
Chashchukhin teaches that it is known in the art to de-pressuring a vehicle by removing air inside via a vacuum in the same manner as applicant’s. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a valve structure 114 and a pump as taught by Chashchukhin to keep the vehicle stationary and not floating.
Regarding the limitation that the completely encapsulating the vehicle in an air and waterproof by hermetically sealing the enclosure to the base, a) note the numerous explicit teaching that “vehicle covers intended to be … water proof” which means the entire cover is hermetically sealed, b) Note that there is no structural, material, and or method differences between the claimed cover and the cover of Garnick in view of Chashchukhin c) note that the method claim is comprised of method steps and must be distinguished over the prior art’s method step. In this case the step of “completely encapsulating the vehicle” does not impart any steps taught in Garnick’905, d) Garnick’905 also teaches the cover being waterproof with TPU coated on both sides and using a waterproof zipper as set forth above.
In the alternative, note that woven nylon is very common textile fabric, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide nylon coated on both sides with TPU to provide the desired available and/or performance and/or cost-effective material for the cover. Applicant is noted of that “Among the inventions that the law deems obvious are those modest, routine, everyday, incremental improvements of an existing product or process that confer commercial value (otherwise they would not be undertaken) but do not involve sufficient inventiveness to merit patent protection. This class of inventions is well illustrated by efforts at routine experimentation with different standard grades of a material used in a product-standard in the sense that their properties, composition, and method of creation are well known, making successful results of the experimentation predictable, citing from Steven D. Ritchie and H. David Reynard v. Vast Resources.
In the alternative, Dooling teaches the material can be two side coated fabrics:
In one embodiment, the waterproof polymer-coated fabric comprises various weights of poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coated polyester fabric, including various weights or grades as are known in the art ranging from 18 oz. to 40 oz., and including one-side coated and two-side coated fabrics. In another embodiment, the waterproof polymer-coated fabric comprises various weights of polymer-coated nylon. In another embodiment, the waterproof polymer sheet or film comprises various weights or -coated fabric comprises various weights or grades of polymer-coated nylon. In another embodiment, the waterproof polymer sheet or film comprises sheets and films of various weights and grades of polyurethane.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide waterproof plastic base coated on each side with a thermoplastic polyurethane as taught by Dooling to provide the desired material for the cover and for added protection. Also, it would have been obvious to provide thermoplastic polyurethane on both sides of the fabric in the material of Garnick to provide the desired protection.
Also, in the alternative, Erez teaches the TPU material as claimed with the same claimed functionalities. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the material of either TPU2001 or TPU2003 to provide the desired material for the security and/or durability.
Regarding claim 4, note the teaching of a flap (tongue) in the same manner as applicant’s to prevent scratching.
“When a zipper is employed, a tongue and/or extra material section can be added in various embodiments to prevent the zipper from scratching and/or otherwise damaging the vehicle.”
Regarding claim 6, note the cover in fig. 40 that can be used with any cover in the ‘935 Garnick.
Regarding claims 7-8 note the material is nylon (fabric) with at least one side coated with thermoplastic polyurethane (plastic).
Regarding claim 10, note the check valve 114 in Chashchukhin as applied above with the vacuum comprises the one-way valve as claimed.
Regarding claim 11, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the enclosure is capable of holding a negative pressure of air within the working volume for at least about 5 minutes to prevent water from entering and damage the car. Note that this functional limitation does not impart any structure over the check valve in Chashchukhin.
Regarding claims 12-13, regarding the tensile strength, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a tensile strength of greater than about 200 pounds/inch in both warp and weft directions to provide the desired strength and/or durability for the cover.
Regarding claims 14-16, note the weight cited above.
Regarding claims 17-18, given the cited weight in Garnick similar to that of applicant’s. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the weight of the base of 2 ounces/yard2 to provide a desired weight for the material for the vehicle.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garnick rejections, as set forth above in paragraph 3, and further in view of Fodge (20090293198).
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In the alternative, Fodge teaches that it is known in the art to provide a flap on the inside at 56/52. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a flap as taught by Fodge to provide protection for zipper to keep adding sealing strength.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garnick rejection as set forth above in paragraph 3 and further in view of Halkey-Robers (C730ROA, dated 07/18/2019).
In the alternative, Halkey-Robers teaches the same valve as applicant, the C730ROA, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the C730ROA valve in Garnick to provide the desired valve for the cover.
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garnick in view of Markley et al. (8764098) or Korros (20180118010). In the alternative, Markley teaches the same material and weight:
In a preferred embodiment, each of the panels (10, 15, 20, and 25) may comprise 1.9 ounces per square yard polyurethane coated nylon rip stop material.
Korros teaches a vehicle cover with the claimed weight.
The woven synthetic material comprises a weight ranging between 0.75 and 1.15 ounces per square yard. In one specific aspect, the woven synthetic material comprises a weight ranging from between 0.9 and 1.1 ounces per square yard. In another aspect the woven synthetic material comprises a weight of 0.96 ounces per square yard.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the weight of less than 2 ounces/yard2 to provide the desired weight material for the cover and/or for easy to operate and install.
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Note the amended claim do not read over the applied Garnick in view of in view of Chashchukhin.
Applicant asserts that “Garnick fails to disclose the use of woven nylon coated on both sides with TPU”, it is noted that claim 1 recites “a waterproof plastic base coated on each side with a thermoplastic polyurethane”, note the explicit teachings in Garnick
The examiner submits: a) in claim 1, there is no specificities of a “nylon material”, b) note the teachings that any waterproof material cited can be layered or laminated on two side, c) material in Garnick encompasses the nylon and TPU coated on both sides as applied above.
The new limitation of the completely encapsulating the vehicle in an air and waterproof by hermetically sealing the enclosure to the base, a) note the numerous explicit teaching that “vehicle covers intended to be … water proof” which means the entire cover is hermetically sealed, b) Note that there is no structural, material, and or method differences between the claimed cover and the cover of Garnick in view of Chashchukhin c) note that the method claim is comprised of method steps and must be distinguished over the prior art’s method step. In this case the step of “completely encapsulating the vehicle” does not impart any steps taught in Garnick’905, d) Garnick’905 also teaches the cover being waterproof with TPU coated on both sides and using a waterproof zipper as set forth above.
For the rejection with either Dooling and Erez. Applicant asserts that there are no motivation to combine Garnick with Dooling and Erez. As set forth above, the material being used making a waterproof car cover is numerous as cited by Garnick and these material can be layered, combined or stacked using lamination, stitching, adhesive, binding, melting, bonding, impregnation with numerous type of material including films and textiles including common and natural textiles. Thus, from the Garnick reference along, one or ordinary skill in the art can experiment with numerous types of the combinations of material taught by Garnick encompassing the material of waterproof plastic base coated on both sides with TPU.
As set forth previously, the use of material including either Dooling or Errez is of routine experimentation with different material available commercially to provide the desired performance and/or availability and/or cost-effective material for manufacturing the cover
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRI M MAI whose telephone number is (571)272-4541. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm (Mon-Friday).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Jenness can be reached at (571) 270-5055. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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TRI M. MAI
Examiner
Art Unit 3733
/TRI M MAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733