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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is the first non-final office action on the merits. Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. ATA 50081/2021, filed on 02/10/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/17/2023 has been received and considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are accepted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, 8-10, 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Theurer (US 5660112 A).
Regarding claim 1, Theurer teaches (Fig. 1-4): An on-track maintenance machine (work car 1) for maintaining a superstructure with a track panel formed of sleepers (ties) and rails (track 4) fixed thereon that is supported on a ballast bed (col. 3, lines 23-28; Fig. 1-2), comprising a lifting and lining unit (lifting and lining unit 24) for track lifting and lining (Fig. 2) and a tamping unit (tamping unit 23) for track tamping (Fig. 2), wherein at least one rail treatment unit (rail grinding apparatus 50) for continuous reprofiling of the rails is arranged on a machine frame (1)(Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): the rail treatment unit (50) is arranged downstream of the lifting and lining unit (24) and the tamping unit (23) in a working direction (Fig. 2 and 4; col. 3, lines 57-65).
Regarding claim 6, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): a smoothing device, in particular a grinding tool (rail grinding apparatus 50), is arranged downstream of a rail treatment unit (operating device 22) in the working direction (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 8, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 6): a stabilizing unit (track stabilization unit 60) is arranged downstream of the tamping unit (23) in the working direction (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 9, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): a first machine section (1) comprises the lifting and lining unit (24) and the tamping unit (23) and that a second machine section (work car shown in Fig. 4) coupled to the first machine section comprises the rail treatment unit (50) for reprofiling the rails (Fig. 2 and 4).
Regarding claim 10, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2): an energy supply device (hydraulic fluid pump 11) is set up on one machine section (1)(Fig. 1) and that the other machine section (2) is connected to the energy supply device (11) via a supply line (hydraulic fluid line 12)(Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claim 12, Theurer teaches (Fig. 1-2 and 4): the track panel is lifted and lined on a track section by means of the lifting and lining unit (24), that the sleepers of the track panel are tamped by means of the tamping unit (23), and that the rails of the track panel are reprofiled by means of the rail treatment unit (rail grinding apparatus 50).
Regarding claim 13, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2 and 4): the lifting and lining unit (24) and the tamping unit (23) are moved forward in the working direction during successive work cycles and that the rail treatment unit (50) for reprofiling the rails is moved continuously in the working direction at a speed adapted to a duration of the work cycles (obvious for the speed of the on-track maintenance machine to be adapted to the duration of work cycles for efficient operations).
Regarding claim 14, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2 and 4): the lifting and lining unit (24), the tamping unit (23), the rail treatment unit (50) for reprofiling the rails, and a machine traction drive (motor 9 for driving undercarriages 17) are actuated in a coordinated manner via a central control device (control 16 operated by operator’s cab 15; Fig. 1-2).
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(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Theurer (US 5660112 A), in view of Cai et al. (CN 104612005 A, provided with translation).
Regarding claim 3, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): the rail treatment unit (rail grinding apparatus 50), but does not explicitly teach that the rail treatment unit comprises a milling tool, which in particular has a milling cutter head with an axis of rotation aligned transversely to a longitudinal direction of the machine.
However, Cai teaches an alternate track maintenance machine, wherein (Fig. 1-4): the rail treatment unit comprises a milling tool (grinding unit 11), which in particular has a milling cutter head (cutter heads 24, 24) with an axis of rotation (axis of blades 24, 24; Fig. 2) aligned transversely to a longitudinal direction of the machine (10)(Fig. 1-3).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Theurer to make the rail grinding apparatus a milling tool with cutter heads, which has a axis of rotation transverse to a longitudinal direction of the machine, as disclosed by Cai, with a reasonable expectation of success because milling the rails renews the track by grinding away the damaged top layer of steel, removing the defects as the track maintenance machine travels the track longitudinally.
Regarding claim 4, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): the rail treatment unit (rail grinding apparatus 50), but does not explicitly teach that the rail treatment unit comprises several milling tools arranged one behind the other and that in particular a front milling tool is designed as a roughing cutter and a rear milling tool is designed as a finishing cutter.
However, Cai teaches an alternate track maintenance machine, wherein (Fig. 1-4): the rail treatment unit comprises several milling tools (grinding units 11) arranged one behind the other and that in particular a front milling tool (24B, 25B) is designed as a roughing cutter (rough milling device) and a rear milling tool (24A, 25A) is designed as a finishing cutter (finish milling device)(para. 0140; Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Theurer to include several milling tools arranged one behind the other and that in particular a front milling tool is designed as a roughing cutter and a rear milling tool is designed as a finishing cutter, as disclosed by Cai, with a reasonable expectation of success because having a set of finishing milling cutters behind a set of front roughing milling cutters would improve the surface finish of the machined rail to meet requirements of high-speed railway lines (para. 0081, lines 6-11).
Regarding claim 5, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): the rail treatment unit (50), but does not explicitly teach that the rail treatment unit comprises a planing tool which, in particular, has cutting bodies that are designed to be movable in relation to a base body.
However, Cai teaches an alternate track maintenance machine, wherein (Fig. 1-4): the rail treatment unit (grinding units 11) comprises a planing tool (cutter heads 24, 24) which, in particular, has cutting bodies (milling cutter blades; para. 0114) that are designed to be movable in relation to a base body (Fig. 3-4; para. 0122).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Theurer to include a planing tool which, in particular, has cutting bodies that are designed to be movable in relation to a base body, as disclosed by Cai, with a reasonable expectation of success because the operation of the milling cutter blades would enable the forming of the top area of the rail head, for reshaping the rail (para. 0122).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Theurer (US 5660112 A), in view of Theurer et al. (US 4630541 A, known hereinafter as Theurer ‘541).
Regarding claim 11, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2): the supply line has a detachable connection (hydraulic coupling 13) between the machine sections (1, 2)(Fig. 1-2), but does not explicitly teach that the second machine section comprises an energy storage and that the energy storage is chargeable via the supply line.
However, Theurer ‘541 teaches an alternate on-track maintenance machine, wherein (Fig. 3): a machine section (machine 1) comprises an energy storage (hydraulic fluid storage tank 48) and that the energy storage is chargeable via the supply line (Fig. 3; col. 8, lines 6-17).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Theurer to include a hydraulic storage tank with the second machine section, as disclosed by Theurer ‘541, with a reasonable expectation of success because it would ensure that sufficient hydraulic fluid is stored for use in emergency operations in the event that the hydraulic pump or supply line fails.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Theurer (US 5660112 A).
Regarding claim 15, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2 and 4): a machine section with the rail treatment unit (50) for reprofiling the rails (Fig. 4) is uncoupled from another machine section with the lifting and lining unit (24) and the tamping unit (23)(Fig. 2) during a work operation (inherent for connected rail cars to be able to be uncoupled), but does not explicitly teach that the machine section with the rail treatment unit is powered with its own traction drive.
However, Theurer further teaches (Fig. 1-2): a machine traction drive (motor 9 for driving undercarriages 17).
It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Theurer to uncouple one railway carriage holding the rail grinding unit from another railway carriage holding the tamping assembly, and have the carriage be independently powered by its own motor, with a reasonable expectation of success because it would enable the on-track maintenance machine to be separated into two independently operable sections, allowing the tamping or grinding operations to be completed at different locations and points in time.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 7, the prior art fails to teach that the lifting and lining unit and the tamping unit are arranged on a separate machine frame and that in particular, at least one of the machine frames is designed as a satellite frame shiftable in relation to a main frame in the longitudinal direction of the machine by means of a satellite drive. While Theurer further teaches (Fig. 2 and 4): the lifting and lining unit (24) and the tamping unit (23) are arranged on a machine frame (chassis 18; Fig. 1-2), the examiner finds no obvious reason to modify Theurer such that the lifting and lining unit and the tamping units are arranged on a separate machine frame and that in particular, at least one of the machine frames is designed as a satellite frame shiftable in relation to a main frame in the longitudinal direction of the machine by means of a satellite drive. Such a modification would require improper hindsight reasoning.
It is noted that while another reference Theurer et al. (US 8113120 B2, known hereinafter as Theurer ‘120) teaches an alternate on-track maintenance machine, wherein (Fig. 1-2): at least one of the machine frames (machine frame 6) is designed as a satellite frame (satellite frame 13) shiftable in relation to a main frame (6) in the longitudinal direction of the machine by means of a satellite drive (first drive)(Claim 1; Fig. 1-2), Theurer ‘120 also fails to teach that the lifting and lining unit and the tamping unit are arranged on a separate machine frame.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure of an on-track maintenance machine with a lining and a tamping unit and a milling tool for grinding the rail: US-4939998-A, US-8113120-B2, US-20150330034-A1, US-9605387-B2, EP-0223895-A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHENG XI LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6102. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. through Fri. 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
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/CHENG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3615