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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 3/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the inductive charging coils must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-9 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.
Claim 1 recites “a sled” in line 8. It is not clear whether this is the same limitation as “a sled” from line 3 or is a new limitation. Claims 2-9 are dependent on indefinite claim 1.
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)(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 1 and 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Adams (US 4,027,771).
Consider claim 1. Adams teaches a pallet truck and sled combination for delivering goods from a truck into a building, the combination comprising: a pallet truck (fork truck), wherein the pallet truck is shaped and sized to nest with a sled by comprising an alignment feature (fork tine of fork truck) configured to mate the sled with the pallet truck (see column 6, lines 8-11), wherein the pallet truck is shaped, sized, and constructed to lift the sled along with at least two palletized loads of goods (loads on forks 10 and 11), and wherein the pallet truck is shaped and sized to fit within a bed of the truck (bed of required size); and a sled, wherein the sled comprises an alignment feature (54) compatible with the alignment feature of the pallet truck, and a lifting mechanism (43) shaped, sized, and constructed to lift at least one of the palletized loads of goods.
Consider claim 5. Adams teaches that the sled comprises two forks (10 and 11).
Consider claim 6. Adams teaches that the forks of the sled are configured to raise and to lower vertically (via 43 and 23).
Consider claim 7. Adams teaches that the sled comprises two powered hub wheels (23, powered by 43).
Consider claim 8. Adams teaches that the sled comprises a vertical back frame (13).
Consider claim 9. Adams teaches that the sled comprises a caster wheel (45) whose heading can rotate.
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 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adams (US 4,027,771) in view of Knapik (US 2023/0034152 A1).
Consider claims 2 and 3. Adams does not explicitly teach a lock mechanism as specifically claimed. Knapik teaches a pallet truck (400) comprising a first portion (402) of a lock mechanism and a sled (100) comprising a second portion (330) of the lock mechanism; wherein the lock mechanism is shaped and sized to automatically lock the sled to the pallet truck in a nested position when the pallet truck lifts the sled (see figs. 13a-13c); wherein the lock mechanism is shaped and sized to automatically unlock the sled from the pallet truck when the pallet truck sets the sled down enabling the pallet truck to be moved to un-nest the sled from pallet truck (see figs. 13a-13c); the lock mechanism comprises a pivoting arm (303) on the sled and a hole (hole left of 402 in fig. 13a) on the pallet truck, wherein the pivoting arm comprises, on one end, a finger (finger left of 330 in fig. 13a) configured to enter the hole when the pallet truck and the sled enter the nested position. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Adams’s combination with a lock mechanism as taught by Knapik in order to securely attach the sled to the pallet truck in order to improve safety.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 would be allowable if the drawing objection is overcome, if the claim is rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action, and if the claim is rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
There are currently no prior art rejections for claim 4.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The attached PTO-892 lists references which teach various pallet truck and sled combinations or joining means therefor.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN D SNELTING whose telephone number is (571)270-7015. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:30 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at (571)272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN SNELTING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3652
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