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 .
Claim Objections
Claims objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 28 recites “the base body” in line 6, it should be “the base module body”.
Claim 41 recites “A modular belt” in line 1, it should be “the modular body”.
Claim 43 recites “the sider belt module” in line 8, it should be “the slider belt module”.
Claim 46 recites “that that” in line 12, it should be “that”.
Claim 51 recites “the clamps”, it should be “the clamp jaws”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 28-30, and 40-41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerald (US 6318544) in view of Goran (US 5247789).
Regarding claim-28, Gerald discloses a belt module (102, Fig.5) comprising:
a base module body that extends in length from a first end to a second end, laterally in width from a first side to a second side, and in thickness from a top to a bottom (Fig.5) and including:
first hinge elements along the first end and second hinge elements along the second end (apertures 22 for hinge pins 16, Fig.5);
a recess (112, Fig.5) recessed into the base body from the second end to a back wall and having a first width;
a slide body (110, Fig.5) having a second width less than the first width and received in the recess (112).
Gerald lacks to that the slide body slide laterally along the recess.
Goran discloses a belt/chain module (Fig.1) and also, teaches the slide body (connecting element 3) slide laterally along the recess (10) (Fig.6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to alternatively/modify Gerald belt module in which the slide body slide laterally along the recess as taught by Goran for purpose of efficiently and quickly connecting and disconnecting the components.
Regarding claim-29, Gerald as modified discloses wherein the slide body (110) has an inner end that slides along the back wall of the recess and an opposite outer end and slide hinge elements (114) along the outer end that are aligned with the second hinge elements (22) of the base module body when the slide body (110) is received in the recess (112) (Also as taught by Goran the sliding element 3 having inwardly directed recess 24 sliding along the shoulders 22 of recess 10 See Fig.1, 5c).
Regarding claim-30, Gerald as modified discloses wherein the back wall has a laterally extending rib and the inner end of the slide body (110) has a mating lateral groove receiving the laterally extending rib to slidingly support the inner end of the slide body in the recess (112) or the back wall has a laterally extending groove and the inner end of the slide body (110) has a mating lateral rib received in the laterally extending groove to slidingly support the inner end of the slide body in the recess (as taught by Goran the sliding element 3 having inwardly directed recess 24 sliding along the shoulders 22 of recess 10 See Fig.1, 5c).
Regarding claim-40, Gerald as modified discloses a modular belt (12, Fig.1) comprising:
a series of belt rows of one or more belt modules (102, Fig.5) each extending in length from a first end to a second end, wherein the first end of a belt row is hingedly linked (via 16) to the second end of an adjacent belt row at a hinge joint (Fig.5);
wherein at least some of the belt rows of the one or more belt modules include at least one slider belt module that includes: a recess (112) recessed into the slider belt module from the second end to a back wall and having a first width;
a slide body (110) having a second width less than the first width and received in the recess to slide laterally along the recess and the hinge joint (as taught by Goran Fig.6).
Regarding claim-41, Gerald as modified discloses wherein: each belt row extends laterally in width from a first side to a second side (Fig.5), and in thickness from a top to a bottom and has first hinge elements laterally spaced along the first end and second hinge elements laterally spaced along the second end (apertures 22 for hinge pins 16, Fig.5);
the first and second hinge elements have bores and the first hinge elements of a belt row are interleaved with the second hinge elements of an adjacent belt row so that the bores through the interleaved first and second hinge elements are aligned to form a lateral passageway; the modular belt includes hinge rods received in the aligned passageways to join adjacent belt rows together at the hinge joints; the slider belt module includes one or more of the first hinge elements and one or more of the second hinge elements; the slide body has one or more of the second hinge elements and slides laterally along the recess and the hinge rod (as taught by Goran the sliding element 3 having inwardly directed recess 24 sliding along the shoulders 22 of recess 10 See Fig.1, 5c).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 31-39, and 42-45 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 claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim-46: “wherein the one or more second hinge elements of the slide body have slide cam surfaces; wherein one or more of the first hinge elements interleaved with the one or more second hinge elements of the slide body have corresponding cam surfaces that push against the corresponding slide cam surfaces on the one or more second hinge elements of the slide body as the modular belt articulates at the hinge joint to slide the slide body laterally” in combination with the rest of the claim language is not taught or suggested by the prior art.
Claim-50: “wherein a laterally outermost first hinge element in each belt row has a first protrusion extending laterally inward toward the other first hinge elements; a hinge-rod retainer in each row including: a hinge eye at one end disposed in a gap inward of the laterally outermost first hinge element and receiving the hinge rod at the first end of the belt row and having a second protrusion extending laterally outward toward the laterally outermost first hinge element; a stop at an opposite second end of the hinge-rod retainer; wherein the first and second lateral protrusions extend circumferentially part of the way around the hinge rod; wherein the first and second lateral protrusions overlap and contact each other when the hinge joint at the first end of the row is articulated by an angle that is less than a maximum angle the modular belt can articulate forward in standard running operation to position the stop in a blocking position aligned with the hinge elements at the second end of the belt row to prevent the hinge rod from exiting; and wherein the first and second lateral protrusions do not overlap and contact each other to allow the hinge-rod retainer to be moved laterally and rotated about the hinge rod at the first end of the belt row to move the stop from the blocking position when the first hinge joint is articulated by an angle that is greater than the maximum angle the modular belt can articulate in standard running operation.” in combination with the rest of the claim language is not taught or suggested by the prior art.
Claim-51: “first cam surfaces along the first ends and second cam surfaces along the second ends; an outer surface on each slider belt module; a recess opening onto the second end of each slider belt module; a slide body in each recess along the first or second side and having a clamp jaw and second slide cam surfaces along the second end; a stationary clamp jaw in each module body along the first or second side to form clamps along the first and second sides with the clamp jaws on adjacent belt rows of the slide body; wherein the clamps clamp the sideguards of the conveyor belt when some of the first cam surfaces of a slider belt module push against corresponding second slide cam surfaces in an adjacent belt row to slide the slide body laterally in a first direction to close the clamp as the adjacent belt rows articulate into a belt path segment parallel to one of the conveying path segments and to unclamp the sideguards of the conveyor belt when other of the first cam surfaces of the slider belt module push against corresponding second slide cam surfaces in an adjacent belt row to slide the slide body laterally in an opposite second direction to open the clamp as the adjacent belt rows articulate out of the belt path segment parallel to the conveying path segment” in combination with the rest of the claim language is not taught or suggested by the prior art.
Conclusion
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/MA/Examiner, Art Unit 3651
/GENE O CRAWFORD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651