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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Para. [0066], last line, “also is larger” should be replaced with “also larger”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 5, “on” should be inserted between “disposed” and “the”.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 1, “portion” should be inserted between “flange” and “is”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Greenman (US3140540).
A ladder (20, see Fig. 1) comprising: a first rail (22) having a first web (26, see Fig. 2); a second rail (see Fig. 1) parallel to and spaced from the first rail, the second rail having a second web (Fig. 1); and at least one rung (24) having a first end and a second end, the first end coupled to the first web via a first beaded joint (32) and the second end coupled to the second web via a second beaded joint (Fig. 1), the first beaded joint having a first outer flange portion disposed at an angle relative to the first web (see below annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman, note that the angle between the first outer flange portion and the web is zero degrees, further note that a non-zero angle would bring the first outer flange portion out of parallel with the web), and the second beaded joint having a second outer flange portion disposed at an angle relative to the second web (note that each end of the rung is identically arranged).
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Re claim 19, the ladder of claim 18, wherein the first beaded joint further includes a first inner flange portion that directly abuts the first web (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman), and wherein the second beaded joint further includes a second inner flange portion that directly abuts the second web (note that each end of the rung is identically arranged).
Re claim 20, the ladder of claim 19, wherein the first beaded joint further includes a first U- shaped bend (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman), that couples the first inner flange portion to the first outer flange portion, and wherein the second beaded joint further includes a second U-shaped bend that couples the second inner flange portion to the second outer flange portion (note that each end of the rung is identically arranged).
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 1-5, 7-11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenman (US3140540) in view of Matthews (GB816468).
Re claim 1, Greenman discloses a ladder (20, see Fig. 1 and below annotated Fig. 2) comprising: a rail (22) including a first flange (30) spaced from a second flange (30) by a web (26), the web having a first side and a second side; and at least one rung coupled to the web of the rail via a beaded joint, the beaded joint includes a first bead and a second bead, the first bead is disposed the first side of the web and the second bead is disposed on the second side of the web, the first bead including a first flange portion and a second flange portion, the first flange portion directly abutting the first side of the web.
Greenman fails to disclose the beaded joint being flared wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung. Matthews teaches, in the context of beaded joint ladder rungs, a flared beaded joint (5) wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion (see below annotated Fig. 2) is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung. 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 flared beaded joint wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung in the ladder disclosed by Greenman according to the teachings of Matthew in order to secure the rung to the web by swaging.
Fig. 2 of Greenman: Fig. 2 of Matthews:
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Re claim 2, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the flared beaded joint has a flare that extends 360 degrees around a perimeter of the at least one rung (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews).
Re claim 3, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the first flange portion is disposed approximately parallel to the web (see Fig. 2 and lines 30-31: “swagings 5 which are adapted to abut against the inner faces 6 of the stiles 3”).
Re claim 4, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the second flange is disposed at an angle of between about 15 degrees and about 75 degrees relative to the web (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews, the angle appears to be approximately 45 degrees).
Re claim 5, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the first flange portion is an annular ring having an inner diameter that is approximately the same as an inner diameter of the at least one rung (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews, note that the ring and rung intersect and thus have the same inner diameter).
Re claim 7, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the second flange is an annular ring (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews).
Re claim 8, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the first side of the web is on an inner side of the rail, and wherein the second side of the web is on an outer side of the rail (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews).
Re claim 9, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the at least one rung has a cross-sectional shape that is circular, oval, D-shaped, or triangular (note the circular cross-sectional shape of the rung shown in the above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews).
Re claim 10, Greenman in view of Matthews disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the second bead includes a first flange portion and a second flange portion, the first flange portion directly abutting the second side of the web and the second flange portion directly abutting the first flange portion (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman).
Re claim 11, Greenman discloses a ladder (20, see Fig. 1 and above annotated Fig. 2) comprising: a rail (22) including a web (26), the web having a first side and a second side; and at least one rung coupled to the web of the rail via a beaded joint including a first bead on the first side of the web and a second bead on the second side of the web, the first bead including a first annular flange portion that directly abuts the first side of the web and a second annular flange portion.
Greenman fails to disclose the second annular flange portion including a first section that is disposed at a first angle relative to the first annular flange portion. Matthews teaches, in the context of beaded joint ladder rungs, the second annular flange portion including a first section that is disposed at a first angle relative to the first annular flange portion (see above annotated Fig. 2). 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 flared beaded joint wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung in the ladder disclosed by Greenman according to the teachings of Matthew in order to secure the rung to the web by swaging.
Re claim 17, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 11, wherein the first annular flange portion has an inner diameter that is approximately the same as the inner diameter of the at least one rung (see above annotated Fig. 2 of Matthews, note that the ring and rung intersect and thus have the same inner diameter).
Claims 1, 6, and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenman (US3140540) in view of Dieterle (DE3602331).
Re claim 1, Greenman discloses a ladder (20, see Fig. 1 and below annotated Fig. 2) comprising: a rail (22) including a first flange (30) spaced from a second flange (30) by a web (26), the web having a first side and a second side; and at least one rung coupled to the web of the rail via a beaded joint, the beaded joint includes a first bead and a second bead, the first bead is disposed the first side of the web and the second bead is disposed on the second side of the web, the first bead including a first flange portion and a second flange portion, the first flange portion directly abutting the first side of the web.
Greenman fails to disclose the beaded joint being flared wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung. Dieterle teaches, in the context of beaded joint ladder rungs, a flared beaded joint (see below annotated Fig. 4 of Dieterle) wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion (20’) is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion to flare an end of the at least one rung (20, see below annotated Fig. 4 of Dieterle, also see the transition in cross section from the rung 20 to the second flange portion 20’ in Figs. 2-3 of Dieterle). 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 flared beaded joint wherein at least a portion of the second flange portion is disposed at an angle relative to the first flange portion of the at least one rung in the ladder disclosed by Greenman according to the teachings of Dieterle in order to “combine a wide or relatively wide central section of the rung, and thus a wide or relatively wide tread surface on the rung for the feet of persons to be placed on it, with an absolutely secure, cost-effective mounting of the rungs in the holes of the stiles and with high bending stiffness of the ladder part in question, with relatively small cross-sectional dimensions of the stiles, in a structurally simple, cost-effective manner”, see para. [0023] of the MT of Dieterle.
Fig. 2 of Greenman: Fig, 4 of Dieterle:
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Re claim 6, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 1, wherein the first flange portion is an annular ring having an inner diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the at least one rung (see “h” dimension in Fig. 3 of Dieterle and note that “instead of elongated holes, other holes can be provided for the retaining pins in the stiles, preferably circular or square or other suitable shaped holes”, para. [0028] of the MT of Dieterle. Thus, the annular ring of the first flange portion may be provided with a circular first flange portion having a diameter h in order to provide the rung with high bending stiffness).
Re claim 11, Greenman discloses a ladder (20, see Fig. 1 and above annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman) comprising: a rail (22) including a web (26), the web having a first side and a second side; and at least one rung coupled to the web of the rail via a beaded joint including a first bead on the first side of the web and a second bead on the second side of the web, the first bead including a first annular flange portion (see first annular flange portion in above annotated Fig. 2 of Greenman) that directly abuts the first side of the web and a second annular flange portion.
Greenman fails to disclose the second annular flange portion including a first section that is disposed at a first angle relative to the first annular flange portion. Dieterle teaches, in the context of beaded joint ladder rungs, the second annular flange portion including a first section that is disposed at a first angle (see above annotated Fig. 4 of Dieterle) relative to the first annular flange portion. 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 the second annular flange portion including a first section that is disposed at a first angle in the ladder disclosed by Greenman according to the teachings of Dieterle in order to “achieve high bending stiffness of the ladder section with relatively wide central sections of the rung”, see para. [0013] of the MT of Dieterle.
Re claim 12, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 11, wherein the second annular flange portion further includes a second section that is disposed at a second angle relative to the first annular flange portion, and wherein the second section is disposed opposite the first section (note in the cross sectional view of the above annotated Fig. 4 of Dieterle that the second angle is located at a second section of the second flange section opposite the first section, i.e. top and bottom of the rung).
Re claim 13, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 12, wherein the first angle is different than the second angle and the at least one rung has a first cross section disposed adjacent the web of the rail and a second cross section disposed a distance from the web, wherein the first and second cross sections are different from one another (see above annotated Figure 4 of Dieterle, also see Fig. 2, flared section 20’ versus rung section 20).
Re claim 14, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 12, wherein the first angle is between about 30 degrees and about 60 degrees, and wherein the second angle is between about 5 degrees and about 35 degrees (see above annotated Figure 4 of Dieterle, the first angle appears to be about 45 degrees and second angle appears to be about 25 degrees).
Re claim 15, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 12, wherein the first section is disposed on a top side of the at least one rung, and wherein the second section is disposed on a bottom side of the at least one rung (see above annotated Figure 4 of Dieterle, also see Fig. 3 of Dieterle, see also para. [0038] of the MT of Dieterle: “central section 23, which extends almost over the clear distance between the two stiles from position 20' to position 2 and forms the tread surface 20 of this rung 12 on its upper side, which is to be entered by the feet of persons, has a constant, approximately triangular profile over its length, wherein the sides of the triangle are slightly convex according to Fig. 3 and are of equal width and merge into each other via rounded corners”.).
Re claim 16, Greenman in view of Dieterle disclose the ladder of claim 11, wherein the first annular flange portion has an inner diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the at least one rung (see “h” dimension in Fig. 3 of Dieterle and note that “instead of elongated holes, other holes can be provided for the retaining pins in the stiles, preferably circular or square or other suitable shaped holes”, para. [0028] of the MT of Dieterle. Thus, the annular ring of the first flange portion may be provided with a circular first flange portion having a diameter h in order to provide the rung with high bending stiffness).
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