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 .
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 preformed, flexible plugs in the joints formed where the horizontal seams and the vertical seams meet of the adjacent wall units meet must be shown or the feature canceled from claims 1, 10, and 19. Fig. 6D shows horizontal and vertical seams (and air seal gasket 508) but does not show a plug. 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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-2, 10-12, and 18-19 - are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Crandell (4,633,631).
1. Crandell teaches a method for installing a wall 20, comprising:
installing an arrangement of wall units 22 and 24, wherein the arrangement of wall units includes rows, each of the rows includes horizontally-adjacent wall units, adjacent rows form horizontal seams between the rows, pairs of the horizontally- adjacent wall units form vertical seams between the horizontally-adjacent wall units, fig. 1, and
joints are formed where the horizontal seams and the vertical seams meet; and inserting preformed, flexible plugs 150 into the joints (polyurethane breakers 150 are plugs as broadly recited, as they are an object used to fill a hole or opening (the seam) tightly, col. 6, lines 4-7).
2. Crandell teaches the method of claim 1, Crandell further teaching the flexible plugs include an elastomer (polyurethane).
10. Crandell, fig. 1, teaches a method for installing a wall 200 that includes a lower row of wall units 24 and an upper row of wall units 22 above the lower row, fig. 1, the method comprising:
installing horizontally-adjacent wall units in the lower row including installing a first lower row unit and installing a second lower row unit horizontally adjacent to the first lower row unit, fig. 1;
installing horizontally-adjacent wall units in the upper row over the lower row, including installing a first upper row unit and installing a second upper row unit horizontally adjacent to the first upper row unit, fig. 1, wherein:
the wall includes vertical seams between the horizontally adjacent wall units and a horizontal seam between the first row and the second row, joints are formed where the horizontal seam meets the vertical seams; and plugging the joints with preformed, flexible plugs with a shape memory (polyurethane breakers 150 are plugs as broadly recited, as they are an object used to fill a hole or opening (the seam) tightly and they have a shape memory at least because they are shown deformed from their original round diameter shape. Further, since they are a flexible polyurethane material, they would return to their original shape if they were removed).
11. Crandell teaches the method of claim 10, Crandell further teaching the first upper row unit is over and aligned with the first lower row unit to form a first column of the wall units and the second upper row unit is over and aligned with the second lower row unit to form a second column of the wall units, fig. 1.
12. Crandell teaches the method of claim 10, Crandell further teaching the plug includes an elastomer (polyurethane).
18. Crandell teaches the method of claim 10, Crandell further teaching each of the lower row of wall units and the upper row of wall units have rectilinear shapes, fig. 1.
19. Crandell teaches a curtainwall system 20, comprising:
an arrangement of wall units 22 and 24 having an exterior side and an interior side and including rows of wall units, wherein each of the rows include horizontally-adjacent wall units, and pairs of the horizontally-adjacent wall units form vertical seams, adjacent rows form horizontal seams between rows, and joints are formed where the horizontal seams and the vertical seams meet, fig. 1; and
preformed, flexible plugs inserted into the joints (polyurethane breakers 150 are plugs as broadly recited, as they are an object used to fill a hole or opening (the seam) tightly), wherein the plugs are capable of being compressed by rolling the plugs into a reduced diameter and configured to expand and fill the joints when inserted into the joints because the plugs are generally round and sized to generally fit between fingers.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crandell in view of Hensley (2016/0076240).
3. The Crandell flexible plugs do not include silicone. Hensley teaches flexible plugs that include silicone, claim 5. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the Crandell flexible plugs to include silicone for strength.
13. The Crandell flexible plugs do not include silicone. Hensley teaches flexible plugs that include silicone, claim 5. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the Crandell flexible plugs to include silicone for strength.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 14-17 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.
Claim 4 is allowed because the art of record does not teach flexible plugs located where vertical and horizontal joints meet inserted by compressing the flexible plug between fingers to provide a compressed plug, inserting the compressed plug into a corresponding one of the joints, and allowing the inserted compressed plug to expand and form a seal separating an exterior side and an interior side of the wall at the corresponding one of the joints.
Claim 6 is allowed because the joints are plugged by inserting the plugs into the joints from an exterior side of the arrangement of wall units, col. 6, lines 1-4 and col. 4, lines 41-42.
Claim 9 is allowed because Crandell does not teach a top of each wall unit forms a gutter that includes opposing sides and a concave-upward opening to receive a sill of an above- positioned wall unit in the arrangement of wall units, and after two horizontally adjacent wall units in a lower row are installed, the method includes installing a preformed, flexible gasket into the gutter of each of the pairs of horizontally- adjacent wall units to provide a waterproof seal across the gutters of the pair of horizontally-adjacent wall units, and pressing the preformed, flexible gasket within the gutter using a spring compression clip.
Claim 14 is allowed because while Crandell teaches the vertical seams, the horizontal seam and the plugs are configured for use in forming a seal between an exterior side and an interior side of the wall and the compressed plug is inserted and configured to expand within the joint, each of the joints are not plugged by compressing a corresponding one of the preformed flexible plugs between fingers to provide a compressed plug and inserting the compressed plug into the joint. The prior art of record does not teach joints plugged by compressing a corresponding one of a preformed flexible plug between fingers to provide a compressed plug and inserting the compressed plug into the joint.
Claim 20 is allowed because while Crandell teaches each wall unit in the arrangement of wall units has an air seal gasket 152 configured for use in providing an air seal between wall units where the air seal separates an exterior side and an interior side of the arrangement of wall units, and the expanded plugs that fill the joints are also used to provide the air seal that separates the exterior side and the interior side of the arrangement of wall units, and wherein the expanded plugs are pliable to maintain the air seal while accommodating movement including movement caused by live load slab deflection, movement caused by thermal changes, and movement caused by seismic activity, each wall unit in the arrangement of wall units does not further have a water barrier gasket to put a water seal between wall units and a rain screen gasket, and the prior art of record does not teach wall units having a water barrier gasket to put a water seal between wall units and a rain screen gasket.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J KENNY whose telephone number is (571)272-9951. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at (571)272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL J KENNY/ Examiner, Art Unit 3633