DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 6 to 8 (parts A and B) of the response to the office action filed 8 May 2026 with respect to independent claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Stroshane (US12128258).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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 1-3 and 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Stroshane (US12128258).
1. An apparatus (10) for ascending and descending a line (200, Fig. 18) with a load, the apparatus comprising: a base plate (30a, Fig. 3) having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end; a cover plate (30b, Fig. 3) connected to the base plate and in parallel alignment with the base plate (Fig. 3); a first guide (32d) connected to the base plate (30a) at the first end and disposed between the base plate and the cover plate; a rocker arm member (14) pivotally connected to the base plate (col. 5, lines 20-22: “The cam 14 is mounted to rotate on one of the housing spacers, the cam axle 32a, between the plates 30 inside the housing perimeter 36.”) between the first end and the second end and disposed between the base plate (30a) and the cover plate (30b); and a release member (20) pivotally connected to the base plate (col. 6, lines 63-65: “The brake 20 is mounted to rotate on one of the housing spacers operating as the brake axle 32c between the plates 30”) between the first end and the second end, the release member (20) being opposite the rocker arm member (Fig. 2) and disposed between the base plate and the cover plate; wherein the line (200, Fig. 18) passes through the apparatus between the base plate and the cover plate (Fig. 18), between the rocker arm member (14) and the first guide (32d) and between the rocker arm member (14) and the release member (20) when the apparatus is in an unloaded configuration and the line is compressed between the rocker arm member (14) and the first guide (32d) when a force is applied by a weight of the load to pivot the rocker arm member (14) towards the first guide and the apparatus is in a loaded configuration (col. 8, lines 35-45: “In the braking position 132 of FIGS. 21 and 22, a person is attached to the device 10 at the eye attachment hole 156, thereby pulling the eye 22 as shown in FIG. 21. Because of the eye stop 150, when the eye 22 pivots to the position shown in FIG. 21, the lever 16 is pivoted out of the housing 12 approximately 39°, causing the linkage 18 to rotate the cam 14 clockwise. This has two effects. First, the hump 124 is aligned with the pinch spacer 32d, causing the pinch point 222 to narrow so that the rope 2 is pinched therebetween. This is the primary braking mechanism of the device 10 and is capable of completely stopping descent”).
Re claim 2, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rocker arm member (14) comprises a load bearing portion (22), the load bearing portion defining a load aperture (158) for attaching the load.
Re claim 3, the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the release member (20) comprises: an abutment member (164, Fig. 18) having a pivoting end (adjacent the lead line from callout 164 in Fig. 18) and a free end (adjacent the lead line from 224 in Fig. 18); and an elongated member (adjacent the lead line arrow head from 20 in Fig. 18) opposite and connected to the abutment member at the free end, the elongated member operable to pivot the abutment member towards the line when a force is applied to the elongated member, causing the line to be released from being compressed between the rocker arm member and the first guide, and shifting the apparatus from the loaded configuration to the unloaded configuration (col. 8, lines 13-23: “In the payout position 130 of FIGS. 19 and 20, the handle 40 is aligned with the housing perimeter 36 and the end 68 of the handle 40 is in contact with the brake finger 184, thereby pivoting the brake cleat 164 away from the cam 14. The cleat gap 220 between the brake cleat 164 and the A side rope track 110a just before the cross over 118 is wide enough to enable the rope 2 slide through without being impeded. Also, the hump 124 is not aligned with the pinch spacer 32d so that the pinch point 222 is wide enough that the rope 2 is not impeded. The device 10 is able to move freely on the rope 2”).
Re claim 7, the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the rocker arm member (14) further comprises a line abutment portion (124, Fig. 22) opposite the load bearing portion (22).
Re claim 8, the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the line abutment portion (124) comprises a tapered portion (see adjacent the end of the lead line from callout 124 in Fig. 5) for providing additional grip on the line (col. 4, lines 56-57: “The A side rope track 110a bumps outwardly to form a hump 124”}.
Re claim 9, the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the line abutment portion (124) and the load bearing portion (22) defines a rocker shape (note per BRI that Stroshane discloses a rocker shape in the sense that the assembly rocks between locked and unlocked positions – to the extent that the rocker shape includes a linkage 14 - note that some rockers are often constructed with a linkage, see for example, mechanical definition of rocker below, and also see, e.g., linkage 14 in US5839781 and/or linkage 43 in US4079991 – see also MPEP 2111.01.III, third paragraph)
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Re claim 10, the apparatus of claim 9, wherein in the loaded configuration, the load is attached to the load bearing portion (22) and the load exerts a force on the rocker arm member (14) to cause the rocker arm member to pivot and the line abutment portion (124) to compress the line against the first guide (32d – see col. 8, lines 35-45: “In the braking position 132 of FIGS. 21 and 22, a person is attached to the device 10 at the eye attachment hole 156, thereby pulling the eye 22 as shown in FIG. 21. Because of the eye stop 150, when the eye 22 pivots to the position shown in FIG. 21, the lever 16 is pivoted out of the housing 12 approximately 39°, causing the linkage 18 to rotate the cam 14 clockwise. This has two effects. First, the hump 124 is aligned with the pinch spacer 32d, causing the pinch point 222 to narrow so that the rope 2 is pinched therebetween. This is the primary braking mechanism of the device 10 and is capable of completely stopping descent”).
Re claim 11, the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the pivoting end (224, Fig. 24) defines a cam heel (164) adjacent a pivot axis (32c, Fig. 2), and the free end defines a cam lobe (adjacent the lead line from 164) remote from the pivot axis, the cam lobe having an abutment surface (164, see col. 9, lines 4-7: “If the handle 40 is pulled all the way down, as at 134 in FIGS. 23 and 24, the cam 14 is rotated to narrow the brake cleat gap 220, and the rope 2 is pinched between the cam 14 and the brake cleat 164, thereby slowing descent”).
Re claim 12, the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the abutment surface (164) is curved.
Re claim 13, the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the abutment member is ovular in shape (note the ovular shape defined by the surfaces at 170 and 164 of the abutment member).
Re claim 14, the apparatus of claim 13, wherein the elongated member is an elongated handle (184, Fig. 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.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Stroshane (US12128258).
Re claim 4, Stroshane fails to disclose the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the load aperture has an elongated shape. However, per MPEP 2144.IV.04.IV.B, changes in shape are considered routine expedients absent a demonstrated criticality of the claimed shape. Accordingly, it 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 to have included wherein the load aperture (156) has an elongated shape in the apparatus of Truesdell et al. as a routine expedient.
Re claim 5, Stroshane discloses the apparatus of claim 4, wherein the load bearing portion has a lower edge at a periphery of the load bearing portion, the load aperture (156) has a resting edge (158) on which the load weighs down on, and the resting edge is inclined at an angle relative to the lower edge (col. 7, lines 53-55: “The inside wall 158 of the attachment hole 156 is curved toward the center of the hole 156 to eliminate sharp edges”).
Re claim 6, Stroshane discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the load aperture (156) has a curved resting edge (158, col. 7, lines 53-55: “The inside wall 158 of the attachment hole 156 is curved toward the center of the hole 156 to eliminate sharp edges”).
Claims 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stroshane (US12128258) in view of Brice (US213165).
Re claim 15, Stroshane fails to disclose the apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a second guide connected to the base plate at the second end and disposed between the base plate and the cover plate. Brice teaches, in the context of automatic brakes for tackle, a second guide (e) connected to the base plate at the second end and disposed between the base plate (c) and the cover plate (d). It 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 to have included a second guide connected to the base plate at the second end and disposed between the base plate and the cover plate in the apparatus disclosed by Stroshane according to the teachings of Brice in order to control the passage of a rope or ropes (see Brice, pg. 2, first column, second paragraph).
Re claim 16, Stroshane in view of Brice disclose the apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of the first guide (32d) and the second guide (e) comprise of a rounded channel for accommodating a shape of the line (see Brice, pg. 2, second column, third to last paragraph: “I would observe that although e f g are described as sheaves, they might be simply fixed cross-pins, or their equivalent; but sheaves are preferable to avoid chafing the ropes”).
Re claim 17, Stroshane in view of Brice disclose the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the cover plate is removably connected to the base plate (see col. 4, lines 28-33 of Stroshane: “The spacers 32 are secured to the plates 30 in any number of ways known in the art, including swaging, C-clips, welding, adhesives, press fit, screws, etc. For some of the securing methods, the spacers 32 extend through and are retained in through holes 34 in the plates 30”).
Re claim 18, Stroshane in view of Brice disclose the apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a chest tether connector at the first end (Stroshane, col. 7, lines 31-33: “The eye 22, shown in FIG. 17, provides a hook up point for a carabiner or the like”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ben Pezzlo whose telephone number is (571)272-9656. The examiner can normally be reached M to Th 7 to 5.
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/BAP/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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