DETAILED ACTION
Notice of AIA Status
The present application, filed on 7/17/2023, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 11-14 are rejected.
Claims 1-10 are withdrawn.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group II (claims 11-14) in the reply filed on 4/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Objections
Claims 11-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 11 recites “closing an open end of a sample vessel with a closure cap,”. For the sake of clarity consider rephrasing to ‘closing, with a closure cap, an open end of a sample vessel,’ or to ‘closing an open end of a sample vessel using a closure cap’.
Claim 11 recites “the cap gripper …”. For the sake of consistency terminology, consider rephrasing to ‘the movable cap gripper’.
Claim 14 recites “at its distal end”. For the sake of clarity, consider rephrasing to ‘at the distal end’.
Claims dependent on an objected base claim are objected because a claim in dependent form is construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brunner (US20070098597 cited in the information disclosure statement filed 7/17/23).
With respect to claim 11, Brunner teaches a movable cap gripper (gripper 11 in [0037]) for automatically closing an open end (see Fig. 6a- 6b) of a sample vessel (reaction vessels 13 in [0037]) with a closure cap (lids 12 in [0037], which recites “device …. for the automatic opening and closing of reaction vessels … a gripper 11 for gripping lids 12 for reaction vessels 13”) (see Fig. 2b), wherein
the cap gripper (gripper 11) comprises at least two gripper fingers (gripping jaws 20 in [0040]) movable towards each other (see [0041] which recites “each of the gripping jaws 20 contains a tapped hole, into which is screwed an adjusting screw 23, by means of which the distance between the bottom end of the respective gripping jaw 20 and a vertical axis of symmetry 24 may be adjusted”) ,
each gripper finger (gripping jaws 20) comprises a distal end (see Fig. 2b) with a recessed lateral gripping face (gripping surface 25 in [0042]) for engagement (frictional contact in [0046]) with an outer circumference (see Fig. 2a) of an upper part (see Fig. 2a) of a closure cap (lid 12), and
the distal end of at least one gripper finger (gripping jaws 20) comprises a top thrust ledge (horizontal stop web 26 in [0042]) extending at least in part over a recess (see Fig. 2b) provided by the lateral gripping face (gripping surface 25) (see Fig. 2b).
With respect to claim 12, Brunner teaches the movable cap gripper of claim 11, wherein
the lateral gripping face (gripping surface 25) of at least one gripper finger (gripping jaws 20) comprises a surface structure (see Fig. 2a) adapted to match a surface structure (see Fig. 2a) of an outer circumference (see Fig. 2a) of the closure cap (lid 12), for enabling a tight grasp (frictional contact in [0046], which recites “through the frictional contact between the gripping surfaces 25 and the lid outer wall, the lid is held by the gripper 11”) between the cap gripper (gripper 11) and the closure cap (lid 12).
With respect to claim 13, Brunner teaches the moveable cap gripper of claim 11, wherein the gripper fingers (gripping jaws 20) are connected (via shafts 21) with each other about a mutually common fulcrum (framework 18 in [0040], which recites “shaft 21 passes through each of the gripping jaws 20 and is fastened to the framework 18”), for pivoting movement (see Fig. 2b) of the gripper fingers (gripping jaws 20) towards and away from each other (see Fig. 2b), for centering the closure cap (lid 12) on a longitudinal central axis (axis of symmetry 24) of the cap gripper (gripper 11).
With respect to claim 14, Brunner teaches the moveable cap gripper of claim 11, wherein
each gripper finger is substantially L-shaped (see Fig. 2b).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BORTOLI whose telephone number is (571)270-3179. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM till 6 PM EST Monday through Thursday.
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/JONATHAN BORTOLI/Examiner, Art Unit 1797
/JENNIFER WECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1797
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