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 1-26 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In most of the claims, there is intermittent capitalization mid-claim. See, for example, claim 1, in which each new clause of the claim starts with a capitalized “The.”
Claims should be written as a single sentence.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 18, 19, 27, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In Claim 1, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “The clamps are used to clamp the guide rails (2) to the car body.” There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car body.
In Claim 2, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “The clamps are used to clamp the guide rails (2) to the car body, while connecting the guide rails A and B.” There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car body.
In Claim 3, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “the support bar.”
In Claim 5, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “the plate threaded hole”
In Claim 6, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “for clamping the guide rail (2), the guide rail (2) is provided with a fixing hole (23), the fixing hole (23) is used for connecting the car cover.” There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car cover.
In Claim 7, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “The auxiliary member (18) is connected to the left clamp (11) or the right clamp (12), the auxiliary member (18) is provided with an auxiliary fixing hole (181), the auxiliary fixing hole (181) is used to connect the car cover.” There are no previous recitations of auxiliary members or car covers.
In Claim 18, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “wherein, the clamp is used to fix the guide rail (2) to the car body. There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car body.
In Claim 19, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “wherein, the clamp is used to fix both guide rail A and guide rail B to the car body.” There are no previous recitations of auxiliary members or car body.
In Claim 27, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “The clamps are used to clamp the guide rails (2) to the car body.” There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car body.
In Claim 28, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the recitation “The clamps are used to clamp the guide rails (2) to the car body, while connecting the guide rails A and B.” There are no previous recitations of guide rails or a car body.
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) 1-7, 10, 14, 23, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2021/0114743 to Boswell et al. (hereinafter “Boswell”) in view of US 4444370 to Krueger (hereinafter “Krueger”).
-From Claim 1: Boswell discloses a clamp, comprising:
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Reproduced from Boswell (Examiner Annotated)
a left clamp (100),
a right clamp (200),
a screw (300),
a plate (see annotated figure above) and
a tension assembly (400);
the left clamp (100) and the right clamp (200) are provided opposite each other, the left clamp (100) is provided with a waist hole (105) and the right clamp (200) is provided with a connection hole (211);
the screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate;
the tension assembly (400) is provided for connecting the left clamp (100) to the right clamp (200);
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it.
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Reproduced from Boswell (Examiner Annotated)
Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 2: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200), a screw (300), a plate (shown above) and a tension assembly (400);
The left clamp (100) and the right clamp (200) are provided opposite each other, the left clamp (100) is provided with a waist hole (105) and the right clamp (200) is provided with a connection hole (211);
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate;
The tension assembly (400) is provided for connecting the left clamp (100) to the right clamp (200);
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 3: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200), a screw (300), a plate (shown above) and a tension assembly (400);
The left clamp (100) and the right clamp (200) are provided opposite each other, the left clamp (100) is provided with a waist hole (105), the right clamp (200) is provided with a connection hole 211
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate
The tension assembly (400) is provided for connecting the left clamp (100) to the right clamp (200);
The clamps are connected with a support bar fixing block (220)
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 4: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200), a screw (300), a plate (shown above) and a tension assembly (400);
The left clamp (100) includes a left clamping section (106), a mounting section (107) and a left supporting section (107 side), the mounting section (107) is provided with a waist hole (105) through hole;
The right clamp (200) includes a right clamping section (202), an connection section (201) and a right supporting section (220), the connection section (201) is provided with a connection hole (211);
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) through hole and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate;
The tension assembly (400) is provided for connecting the left clamp (100) to the right clamp (200).
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 5: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200), a screw (300) and a tension assembly (400);
The left clamp (100) includes a left clamping section (106), a mounting section (107) and a left supporting section (107 side), the mounting section (107) is provided with a waist hole (105) through hole;
The right clamp (200) includes a right clamping section (202), a connection section (201) and a right supporting section (220), the connection section (201) is provided with a connection hole (211);
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) through hole and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate (shown above)
The tension assembly (400) is provided for connecting the left clamp (100) to the right clamp (200).
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 6: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200) and a screw (300);
The left clamp (100) includes a left clamping section (106), a mounting section (107) and a left supporting section (107 side), the mounting section (107) is provided with a waist hole (105);
The right clamp (200) includes a right clamping section (202), a connection section (201) and a right supporting section (220), the connection section (201) is provided with a connection hole (211);
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate);
The left clamping section (100) and the right clamping section (200) are provided
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 7: Boswell discloses a clamp, wherein, it includes: a left clamp (100), a right clamp (200), a screw (300) and an auxiliary member (50);
The left clamp (100) includes a left clamping section (106), a mounting section (107) and a left supporting section (107 side), the mounting section (107) is provided with a waist hole (105);
The right clamp (200) includes a right clamping section (202), a connection section (201) and a right supporting section (220), the connection section (201) is provided with a connection hole (211);
The screw (300) passes through the waist hole (105) and connection hole (211) and is connected to the plate.
However, Boswell does not disclose: the plate is provided with a plate threaded hole. Rather, in Boswell, the plate is formed adjacent to a threaded nut, which is not part of the plate, but is merely next to it. Krueger teaches the use of a nut welded to a plate, wherein the nut receives a threaded rod, similar to that of Boswell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to connect the nut to the plate (thereby satisfying the requirement of the plate having a threaded hole) as taught by Krueger in order to alleviate the need for separate nut and plate components.
-From Claim 10: Boswell discloses wherein, the left clamp (100) is of a one-piece structure, the mounting section (107) is provided between the left clamping section (106) and the left supporting section (107, side), the left clamping section (106) is provided with a left clamping surface;
The right clamp (200) is of a one-piece structure, a connection section (201) is provided between the right clamping section (202) and the right supporting section (220), the right clamping section (202) is provided with a right clamping surface;
The left clamping surface and the right clamping surface are both provided with an anti-slip structure (500 resists friction, and the engagement of 220 into 105 resists friction).
-From Claim 14: Boswell discloses wherein, the angle between the right supporting section (220) and the connecting section (201) is 85°-95° , the angle between the left supporting section (107, side) and the mounting section (107) is 85°-95°.
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Reproduced from Boswell (Examiner Annotated)
-From Claim 23: Boswell discloses a special car cover clamp according to claim 5, wherein, the left clamp (100) is of a one-piece structure, the mounting section (107) is provided between the left clamping section (106) and the left supporting section (107, side), the left clamping section (106) is provided with a left clamping surface;
the right clamp (200) is of a one-piece structure, a connection section (201) is provided between the right clamping section (202) and the right supporting section (220), the right clamping section (202) is provided with a right clamping surface;
the left clamping surface and the right clamping surface are both provided with an anti-slip structure (500 resists friction, and the engagement of 220 into 105 resists friction).
-From Claim 25: Boswell discloses wherein, the angle between the right supporting section (220) and the connecting section (201) is 85°-95° , the angle between the left supporting section (107, side) and the mounting section (107) is 85°-95°.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 11-13, 15-17, 20-22, 24 and 26 are 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art is lacking a teaching, suggestion, or motivation to modify Boswell or Krueger so as to further include, e.g., a T-screw passing through a mounting hole and a clamping groove structure (claim 8); or wherein both ends of the plate body are provided with groove hooks (claim 12); and so on.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, as the cited references include structure similar to that of the presently claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J WILEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7324. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber Anderson can be reached at 5712705281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL J WILEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678 11/5/2025