DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/25/2025 has been entered.
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 limitations “low friction surface region” as recited in claim 1 line 16 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 § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Giese (US 2007/0029718 A1) in view of Eastman (US 7,870,997).
Referring to claims 1 and 12-16. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
a carrier (54; Figure 6) adapted to perform rotational motion about an axis of rotation (74);
a pick arm lever (86);
an abutment surface (contact surface of 66) affixed to the carrier (54), wherein rotation of the carrier (54) in a first rotational direction (counterclockwise) about the axis of rotation (74) places the pick arm lever (86) in an abutting relationship with an elected item of media (configuration as shown in Figure 6 wherein member 66 is in abutting relationship with sheet media in container 42), wherein rotation of the carrier (54) in a second rotational direction (clockwise) about the axis of rotation places the pick arm lever (86) in a non-abutting relationship with the elected item of media (configuration as shown in Figure 8 wherein member 66 is not in abutting relationship with sheet media in container 42) allowing the elected item of media to be picked and transported by rollers (rollers 144 and 124; Figure 11);
the rollers (rollers 126 and 124; Figure 11) comprise an upper nip roller (126) and a lower nip roller (124),
wherein the upper nip roller (126) is driven in an opposite direction of the lower nip roller (124; idler roller 126 pivots onto drive roller 124, in Figure 11, as the drive roller 124 rotates in a counterclockwise direction to advance the sheet media forward to member 132 the idler roller rotates in the clockwise direction opposite of the direction of rotation of drive roller 124 to advance the sheet media forward thus, the upper nip roller and lower nip rollers rotate in opposite directions) and driven at a different speed from the lower nip roller (the diameter of the upper nip roller 126 is larger than the diameter of the lower nip roller 124 thus, when roller 124 rotates at a specific driving speed the upper nip roller which is in contact with the lower nip roller, rotate at a different lower speed due to the larger diameter of the roller);
wherein the abutment surface (including member 66 and 56) is repeatedly driven forward and backward against the elected item of media at a frequency of about around 50 to 150 Hz responsive to repeated counter rotationary motion of the carrier (actuator system is configured to vibrate; Col. 4 line 13-19) against an outer surface of the elected item of media (topmost sheet) at a frequency of about around 13.3 Hertz. Giese further disclose a desired frequency is based on a characteristic of the sheets of imaging media (Col. 4 line 22; Giese further teaches modifying the required natural frequency of the sheet to be removed pending the characteristic of the sheets such as thickness, the width and the length all account for requiring a specific natural frequency of the sheet; Col. Lines 41-62),
wherein the pick arm lever (86) comprises a region of a pick up lever, wherein the region of the pick up lever (86) comprises a low friction surface region (heel pads 56);
Giese does not disclose the movable element vibrates (driven forward and backward) at a frequency of 50 to 150Hz against the outer surface of the sheet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Giese to have included the vibration frequency range of about 50 to 150Hz, since it has been held that where the general condition of a claim is disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Giese does not disclose wherein the apparatus comprises an automated teller machine (ATM) and wherein the elected item of media comprises a currency note and a container comprises a currency cassette.
Eastman discloses an apparatus for dispensing sheets comprises an automated
teller machine (ATM) (Figure 2), said item of media comprises a currency note and a
container (146) comprises a currency cassette (see Figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the
invention was made to have modified the teachings of Giese to have included an apparatus for dispensing sheets comprises an automated teller machine (ATM), and wherein the elected item of media comprises a currency note and a
container comprises a currency cassette as taught by Eastman because the
utility use of the Giese feeding mechanism would be increased thus expanding potential
sales.
Referring to claims 2 and 17. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the pick arm lever (86) further comprises a vacuum source (vacuum pump; Para. [0032]) that is activated to hold the elected item of media (film sheet) when placed in the abutting relationship with the elected item of media (as shown in Figure 6).
Referring to claims 3, 11,18 and 19. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the pick arm lever (86) is further adapted to terminate the vacuum source when placed in the non-abutting relationship (vacuum is released when feeder assembly drives rollers 124; Para. [0059]).
Regarding claims 11 and 19, see rejections of claims 1-3, cited above for claimed structure.
Referring to claim 4. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the pick arm lever (86) includes an elongated arm (pick arm lever extends lengthwise) connected on a first end to a vacuum source and connected on a second end to the carrier (54).
Referring to claim 5. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the second end (end of pick arm lever 86 adjacent carrier 54) is fixedly connected off center on the carrier (connected at an end of the carrier; Figure 4).
Referring to claim 6. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
a gear (106) that is adapted to rotate the carrier (54) in the first rotational direction (counterclockwise direction as shown from Figure 4 to Figure 5) and the second rotational direction (clockwise direction as shown from Figure 5 to Figure 4).
Referring to claim 7. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the abutment surface (contact surface of 66) is repeatedly driven forward and backward (utilizing vibrations; Para. [0020]) against an outer surface of the elected item of media (sheet media retained in container 42) at a predefined frequency to separate (resonance frequency) and grab the elected item of media based on the first rotational direction and the second rotation direction of the carrier (54).
Referring to claim 8. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the apparatus (40) is configured to operate in a pock mode (grabbing mode, when vacuum is active) of operation and a release mode of operation (release mode, when vacuum is deactivated).
Referring to claims 9 and 10. Giese discloses an apparatus (40), comprising:
wherein the apparatus is a depository, and the elected item of media is currency notes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Giese in view of Mitsuhashi to have comprised the sheet media as being currency notes configured in a ATM machine because such a modification is well within the skill of an artisan.
Claim 20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Giese (US 2007/0029718 A1) in view of Eastman (US 7,870,997) and further in view of Saeki (US 4,921,236).
Referring to claim 20. See rejection in claim 1 above. Giese in view of Eastman do not disclose wherein the lower nip roller is a partial truncated roller that is not a whole roller.
Saeki discloses an sheet ejecting apparatus (10; Figure 1) wherein a feed mechanism (as shown in Figure 5) comprises the lower nip roller (32) is a partial truncated roller (see configuration of roller 32; Figure 5) that is not a whole roller.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Giese in view of Eastman to have included a lower nip roller as being partially truncated roller that is not a whole roller as taught by Saeki because the truncated roller would assure the media sheet are easily driven fully within the roller nip before being pulled thus reducing the potential for smudges on the drawn media sheet.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/25/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s amendment overcome the previous cite rejections however modified rejections in view of Giese teaching elements of the abutment surface repeatedly driven forward and backward against the elected item of media at a frequency of about 13.3 Hertz and not around 50 to 150 Hz responsive to repeated counter rotationary motion of the carrier are now cited.
Regarding applicant’s arguments that none of the reference show a pick arm lever that is moved in clockwise and anticlockwise direction, the gear (link 111; Figure 5), the carrier (54) and the pick arm lever (86; all components as recited are connected together) all rotate together in the clockwise direction or the anticlockwise direction about the axis of rotation (the gear (link 111), the carrier (54) and the pick arm lever (86) all rotate in the same direction when link 111 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise; see Figures 4-8) by a motor (68) are disclosed in the Giese reference when considering the movement of the pick unit in Figures 4-8.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, a sheet dispensing apparatus discloses a feed mechanism comprising the lower nip roller that is a partial truncated roller that is not a whole roller.
In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH KUMAR whose telephone number is (571)272-8314. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH from 8AM-6:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached at (571) 272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAKESH KUMAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651