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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Within the applicant’s REMARKS, dated 3/26/2026, the applicant argues that MEIER (US 4,691,654) fails to disclose “a second arm through which the second shaft is inserted, the second arm being supported to be movable along the shaft direction” because the feed bracket and second arm of MEIER, as applied by the examiner, are part of the same overall support structure (related to 8) and therefore, not distinct (Section “A” on pages 2-3). The examiner respectively disagrees and notes that the current claim language does not prevent the second arm from being integrally attached to the feed bracket. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). As shown in the annotated figure of the previous Office Action and below, the second arm (SA1, SA2 and 47) is distinct from the feed bracket (FB1 and FB2) because element SA2 extends in a lateral direction outward from FB1, which extends in a feed direction. The fact that SA2 and FB1 are integrally attached is irrelevant as noted previously. Additionally, note that the second shaft (10) is inserted in the second arm (SA1 thereof) wherein the entire arm 8 (including the second arm SA1, SA2 and 47) is supported and slidable along the second shaft (10).
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Applicant’s arguments under section “B” of the REMARKS (Pages 3-5), dated 3/26/2026, are also not persuasive in overcoming the prior art rejection(s) of the previous Office Action because the argued interpretation of MEIER was not applied by the examiner. Therefore, these arguments are irrelevant. Accordingly, the prior art rejection(s) of the previous Office Action is deemed proper and still stands. This Office Action is a Final Rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MEIER (US 4,691,654).
Regarding claim 1, MEIER discloses a sewing machine comprising: a lower shaft (15); a feed dog (5) configured to transport a sewing object in a transport direction; a feed bracket (portion of 8 wherein feed dog 5 is attached) (can include both FB1 and FB2 as shown in the representation below) configured to support the feed dog (5); a first shaft (13) extending in a shaft direction, the shaft direction being orthogonal to both an up-down direction and the transport direction; a first arm (12) through which the first shaft (13) is inserted, the first arm (12) being configured to support the feed bracket (portion of 8 wherein feed dog 5 is attached) (can include both FB1 and FB2 as shown in the representation below) to be swingable around the first shaft (13); a second shaft (10) fixed to the first arm (12) and extending in the shaft direction; a second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure below) through which the second shaft (10) is inserted, the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure below) being supported to be movable along the shaft direction; an engagement receiving portion (45) configured to engage with the second arm (47 thereof) to be movable with respect to the second arm; an adjustment member (14) configured to swing the first arm (12) around the first shaft (13) and to swing the feed dog (5) supported by the feed bracket (portion of 8 wherein feed dog 5 is attached) (can include both FB1 and FB2 as shown in the representation below) in both directions along the transport direction, by displacing the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure below) in accordance with rotation of the lower shaft (“shift occurs in time relationship with the feed movement of the feed dog 4”; col. 3, lines 31-35), in a state of the engagement receiving portion (45) and the second arm (47 thereof) being engaged with each other; and an urging member (48) configured to cause an urging force in an action direction along the shaft direction to act on the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure below) (Figures 1-2).
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Regarding claim 4, MEIER discloses the adjustment member including a feeding cam (14) fixed to the lower shaft (15) below (vertically below) the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure above), and the adjustment member displaces the second arm (displaces all of 8, 9) in accordance with rotation of the feeding cam (14) in a state of the engagement receiving portion (45) and the second arm being engaged with each other (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, since the urging member (48) of MEIER is coupled (at 49) to the feed bracket (portion of 8 wherein feed dog 5 is attached) (can include both FB1 and FB2 as shown in the representation above) and the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure above) of MEIER is integral with the feed bracket, the urging member is also considered coupled to the second arm as claimed (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, MEIER discloses a regulating portion (11) fixed to the second shaft (10), the regulating portion (11) is functionally capable of regulating a movement range, in the shaft direction, of the second arm (includes SA1, SA2 and 47 as shown in the figure above) to be in a range at which the second arm does not come into contact with a leading end of the second shaft (10) (note that since the screws 11 hold the second shaft 10 in a particular place with respect to the first arm 12, the second arm can be prevented from contacting a leading end of the second shaft based on one of the lugs contacting the first arm 12) (Fig. 1). For future reference, note that the use of an end cap or abutment at an end of a shaft is considered old and known in the art in order to prevent an element from sliding off the shaft.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17 is allowed. Note that the prior art, including MEIER (as used in the prior art rejection above), fails to disclose, “a support member including a first wall and a second wall facing each other in the shaft direction, a first pin insertion portion through which the engagement pin is inserted and a first shaft insertion portion through which the second shaft is inserted being formed in the first wall, a second pin insertion portion through which the engagement pin is inserted and a second shaft insertion portion through which the second shaft is inserted being formed in the second wall, the support member having a U shape with the first wall and the second wall, the first wall and the second wall forming side surfaces of the support member, and the support member being configured to support the engagement pin inserted through the first pin insertion portion and the second pin insertion portion, with respect to the first arm, via the second shaft inserted through the first shaft insertion portion and the second shaft insertion portion”.
Claims 2-3, 5, 7-10 and 12-16 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. Regarding claim 2, note that the prior art, including MEIER (as used in the prior art rejection above), fails to disclose “an engagement pin inserted through the plate, and an action portion fixed to the engagement pin and configured to cause the urging force of the urging member applied to the second arm to act on the engagement pin, and the engagement receiving portion engages with the engagement pin of the second arm”.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN E DURHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8642. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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, Alissa J Tompkins can be reached at 571-272-3425. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NED
/NATHAN E DURHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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