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 .
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 –
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sall (US 11117060).
Regarding claim 1, A sled for an amusement slide comprising a substantially horizontally flat sled with a bottom, top, and sides (Sall: figures 2A, 2B, and 2C & “FIG. 2A shows a side view 200 of a ride vehicle 205” Sall: column 8, lines 25)
with a functional contact material on the bottom of the sled comprised of a substantially horizontal plane parallel and attached to the sled bottom, (Sall: figures 2A, 2B, and 2C & “and having a plurality of integrally formed protrusions making up one or more ride vehicle components 208 located on or near the bottom of the ride vehicle 205” Sall: column 8, lines 26-28)
with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane. (Sall: figures 4 and 5 & “FIG. 5 shows a side view of a ride vehicle component 500. The ride vehicle component 500 may include one or more features that are the same as or similar to those previously discussed, for example, the ride vehicle component 400 of FIG. 4. As shown a plurality of protrusions 505 are connected with a base 510. The protrusions 505 are each frustoconical in shape and have a same height” Sall: column 12, lines 21-27)
regarding claim 3, A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane selected from the group consisting of loop protrusions, hooks from hook and loop fasteners, loops from hook and loop fasteners, straight protrusions, straight protrusions with the bulbous ends. (Sall: figure 5 & “In an alternative embodiment, different shapes, heights, placement, and/or other configuration of the protrusions 505 may be used for different ride vehicle components and/or within a same ride vehicle component. In one embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusions 505 may all be substantially the same height and/or shape along the base 510” Sall: column 12, lines 27-33)
Regarding claim 4, A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane selected from the group consisting of a material with low stiffness, high stiffness, low toughness, high toughness, low hardness, or high hardness. (“In one embodiment, the protrusions 405 and the base 410 may be made from a same (or different) material and/or be made of material(s) that is/are both rigid and allows for elastic deformation in the protrusions 405, such as, but not limited to, urethane, neoprene rubber, and/or any combination thereof” Sall: column 12, lines 10-15)
Regarding claim 7, A functional contact material between a rider and a slide in a slid amusement ride selected from the group consisting of loop protrusions, hooks from hook and loop fasteners, loops from hook and loop fasteners, straight protrusions, straight protrusions with the bulbous ends. (Sall: figure 5 & “In an alternative embodiment, different shapes, heights, placement, and/or other configuration of the protrusions 505 may be used for different ride vehicle components and/or within a same ride vehicle component. In one embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusions 505 may all be substantially the same height and/or shape along the base 510” Sall: column 12, lines 27-33)
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bethell (US 2174716).
Regarding claim 6, A slide for an amusement ride comprising a downward sloping plane comprising a functional material with protrusions extending generally perpendicular away from the sloping plane. (Bethell: figures 1, 2, and 3)
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sall in view of Hunter (US 20160136527).
Regarding claim 2, A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material on any of the sides of the sled where the protrusions would be generally perpendicular from the side of the sled is not specifically disclosed by Sall. Hunter teaches a ride vehicle with protrusions on the perimeter of the body of the ride vehicle (Hunter: figures 5A, 5B and 5C & “an amusement ride vehicle comprising: a body and at least one of recesses and protrusions on a perimeter surface of body” Hunter: paragraph 8). Modifying Sall to include protrusions on the side of the ride vehicle would give the vehicle additional means to control the ride experience and make the system more versatile. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Sall according to Hunter.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sall.
Regarding claim 5, A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with the density of protrusions being at least 5 per square inch is not specifically disclosed by Sall. Sall does disclose a tightly packed arrangement of protrusions as seen in figures 4 and 5. However, the specific amount of protrusions per square inch would be a mere design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art and one of ordinary skill taking the disclosure of Sall would have found it obvious to use any desired density of protrusions including one of at least 5 per square inch.
Conclusion
Related Art:
US 11998854 – amusement slide with ride vehicle
US 20230129814 – amusement slide with ride vehicle
US 20200354028 – amusement slide with ride vehicle
US 20140194216 – amusement slide with ride vehicle
US 20030205872 – sled board with tracking bottom
US 5810376 – sled with bottom runners
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRAVIS R HUNNINGS whose telephone number is (571)272-3118. The examiner can normally be reached M, W, H, F: 9:30-4:30; T: 9:30-3:00.
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/TRAVIS R HUNNINGS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689