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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/31/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
REJECTION BASED ON SALTER
Claim(s) 1-2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Published Application 2022/0289313 to Salter in view of US Patent 5,799,849 to Beer.
Regarding claim 1, Salter discloses a storage assembly for a vehicle, the storage assembly comprising: a locking member (38 – Fig. 4; the hinge locks the assembly to the truck bed) supported by the vehicle; a rod (60, inserted through 38 – Fig. 4) configured for engagement with the locking member; and at least one retainer (corner pieces 64 and straight pieces 60 connected to the locking member) supported by the rod and configured to receive at least one article (the retainer is capable of receiving an article), wherein the rod is rotatable in relation to the locking member such that the storage assembly is repositionable between a stowed position (Fig. 2), and a loading position (Fig. 3), in which the at least one retainer is exposed from the sidewall of the vehicle to facilitate insertion of the at least one article into the at least one retainer. Salter fails to disclose the retainer concealed within a sidewall in the stowed position. However, Beer discloses a truck bed that includes an overhanging lip (Fig. 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to have used Salter’s storage assembly in Beer’s truck bed because it would allow for holding items in the truck bed. In the combination, the retainer is generally concealed within a sidewall of the vehicle (the retainer would be positioned below the lip – Beer Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 2, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod is axially repositionable in relation to the locking member along a length of the vehicle (Salter Figs. 4-6 – when 60 is expanded it slides through the hinge 38; alternatively, the pivoting of 60 in 38 would indicate that 60 is also capable of axial sliding.
Regarding claim 10, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the at least one retainer is movable in relation to the rod (Salter Figs. 4-6).
REJECTION BASED ON GRUICH
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-14 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,464,276 to Gruich in view of US Patent 7,878,477 to Courbon.
Regarding claim 1, Gruich discloses a storage assembly for a vehicle, the storage assembly comprising: at least one retainer (storage bin 50) repositonable between a stowed position (closed – Fig. 1 (three bins)) in which the at least one retainer is generally concealed within a sidewall of the vehicle (Fig. 1), and a loading position (open – Fig. 1 (one bin)), in which the at least one retainer is exposed from the sidewall of the vehicle to facilitate insertion of the at least one article into the at least one retainer. Gruich fails to disclose how the bins are pivotally connected to the truck bed. However, Courbon discloses a pivotal connection including a locking member (24); a rod (46, 30, 36) configured for engagement with the locking member; wherein the rod is rotatable in relation to the locking member. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to have used a detent hinge for the bins because they would more securely remain in the open and closed positions until moved by the user. Further, using a hinge with multiple detent positions would allow for securely holding the bin in multiple open positions. In the combination, the locking member is supported by the vehicle, the at least one retainer is supported by the rod, the rod is rotatable in relation to the locking member such that the storage assembly is repositionable between the stowed position and the loading position.
Regarding claim 2, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod is axially repositionable in relation to the locking member along a length of the vehicle (Courbon Figs. 5, 7A – 46/36 moves upward when engaging the ramped portions of 24, which would be along the length of the vehicle in the combination).
Regarding claim 3, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod is repositionable between an advanced position, in which the rod is engaged with the locking member (Courbon – when 36 is engaged with the recesses of 24) to thereby secure the storage assembly in either the stowed position or the loading position, and a retracted position (Courbon – when 36 is on the upper flat portions of 24), in which the rod is disengaged from the locking member to thereby permit repositioning of the storage assembly between the stowed position and the loading position.
Regarding claim 4, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod includes a tactile member extending outwardly therefrom and configured for manual engagement by a user to facilitate repositioning of the rod (20 (Courbon) would extend from the rod and connect to the storage bin (similar to the connection between the lower end of 35 and 50 in Gruich Fig. 3) and would be capable of manual engagement once the bin is at least partially open).
Regarding claim 5, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the storage assembly further comprises: a biasing member (55 – Courbon) acting upon the rod so as to bias the rod towards the advanced position.
Regarding claim 6, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the biasing member (55 – Courbon) is configured as a spring.
Regarding claim 7, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the locking member defines a first receptacle (one of the trough portions of 24 – Courbon) and a second receptacle (another of the trough portions of 24 – Courbon) rotationally offset from the first receptacle.
Regarding claim 8, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the first receptacle and the second receptacle are rotationally offset by an angle that lies substantially within a range of approximately 30 degrees to approximately 60 degrees (Courbon Fig. 5 – 24 has troughs within this range; see also Gruich Fig. 4, which indicates an angle of approximately 50 degrees from loading to stowed position).
Regarding claim 9, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod includes a key member (36 – Courbon) configured for insertion into the first receptacle to thereby secure the storage assembly in the stowed position and into the second receptacle to thereby secure the storage assembly in the loading position (two of the detent positions would be full open and closed).
Regarding claim 11, the combination from claim 1 discloses a storage assembly for a vehicle, the storage assembly comprising: a locking member (24 – Courbon) supported by the vehicle; a rod (46, 30, 36 – Courbon) axially and rotatably movable in relation to the locking member; at least one retainer (50 – Gruich) supported by the rod and configured to receive at least one article, wherein the rod is repositionable between: a first axial position (with 36 in a trough of 24 – Courbon), in which the rod engages the locking member; a second axial position (with 36 on a flat of 24 – Courbon), in which the rod is disengaged from the locking member (36 is not locked in position on 24 - Courbon); a first rotational position (with bin closed – see Gruich Fig. 1), in which the at least one retainer extends in a generally vertical orientation; and a second rotational position (with bin open – see Gruich Fig. 1), in which the at least one retainer extends in a non-vertical orientation to facilitate insertion of the at least one article into the at least one retainer; and a biasing member (55 – Courbon) acting upon the rod so as to bias the rod toward the first axial position.
Regarding claim 12, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the rod includes a key member (36 – Courbon) extending outwardly therefrom and configured for insertion into the locking member.
Regarding claim 13, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the locking member defines a first receptacle (one of troughs in 24 – Courbon) configured to receive the key member and thereby secure the rod in the first rotational position and a second receptacle (another of troughs in 24 – Courbon) configured to receive the key member and thereby secure the rod in the second rotational position.
Regarding claim 14, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein the first receptacle and the second receptacle are offset by an angle that lies substantially within a range of approximately 30 degrees to approximately 60 degrees (Courbon Fig. 5 – 24 has troughs within this range; see also Gruich Fig. 4, which indicates an angle of approximately 50 degrees from loading to stowed position).
Regarding claim 16, the combination from claim 1 discloses a method of storing at least one article in a vehicle, the method comprising: repositioning a rod (46, 30, 36 – Courbon) from a first axial position (with 36 in a trough of 24 – Courbon) into a second axial position (with 36 on a flat of 24 – Courbon) to thereby remove a key member (36) on the rod from a locking member (24 – Courbon) supported by the vehicle; rotating the rod from a first rotational position (with bin 50 open – Gruich Fig. 1) into a second rotational position (with bin 50 closed – Gruich Fig. 1); repositioning the rod from the second axial position (with 36 on a flat of 24 – Courbon) into the first axial position (with 36 in a trough of 24 – Courbon) so as to insert the key member into the locking member and thereby secure the rod in the second rotational position; and inserting the at least one article into at least one retainer supported by the rod (placing an article in bin 50 – Gruich).
Regarding claim 17, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein repositioning the rod from the first axial position into the second axial position includes overcoming a biasing force applied to the rod (overcoming the force of spring 55 – Courbon).
Regarding claim 18, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein repositioning the rod from the first axial position into the second axial position includes removing the key member from a first receptacle defined by the locking member (removing 36 from a trough of 24 – Courbon).
Regarding claim 19, the combination from claim 1 discloses wherein rotating the rod from the first rotational position into the second rotational position includes aligning the key member with a second receptacle defined by the locking member (aligning 36 with a trough of 24 – Courbon).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15 and 20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references disclose configurations similar to that disclosed by applicant.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT T MCNURLEN whose telephone number is (313)446-4898. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/SCOTT T MCNURLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734