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 . 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on 6/22/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Examiner is improperly restricting by using the limitations of depending claims 5-8, relating to the chutes and router, to distinguish Group I claims 1-8 from Group II claims 9-12. This traversal is found persuasive and the restriction between Group I and Group II is withdrawn. All claims, including Group III claims, have been amended to depend from independent claims 1 and 9, and thus, no claims are withdrawn from consideration.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Coots (US 2022/0010499 A1).
Referring to Claim 1: Coots discloses a rail tie plate distribution system (10) mounted on a vehicle (12) configured for traveling on a railroad track (Fig. 1) for distributing rail tie plates (16) each having a pair of shoulders extending upward from and across a shoulder side of the rail tie plate transverse to a longitudinal axis of the rail tie plate (Fig. 8), comprising:
a quarter turn conveyor (60), the quarter turn conveyor having an inlet end across which the rail tie plates are conveyed successively in a longitudinally extending and shoulder side up orientation and a discharge end across which the rail tie plates are conveyed successively in a laterally extending and shoulder side up orientation (Fig. 7) (Para. [0049]); and
a diverter (66) extending above the quarter turn conveyor between the inlet end and the discharge end and in a path of conveyance of a rail tie plate advancing along the quarter turn conveyor from the inlet end (Figs. 4-7), the diverter having a diverter face sloping toward a first abutment (76) on a first side of the quarter turn conveyor relative to a direction of conveyance (Para. [0048]) (Fig. 6), wherein conveyance of a leading end of one of the rail tie plates into the first abutment causes a trailing end of the rail tie plate to pivot relative to the leading end and about the first abutment until the rail tie plate extends in a lateral alignment relative to the direction of conveyance on the quarter turn conveyor (Para. [0048]) (Fig. 6).
Examiner notes that the guide wall 66 of Coots may be reasonably interpreted as a “diverter” because the sloped guide wall serves to divert the path of the plate (Fig. 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-20 are allowed.
Claims 2-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art, including Coots, fails to reasonably teach or suggest “a first inlet guide wall having an inwardly angled surface sloping inward from a first side of the quarter turn conveyor toward the diverter and forming a first narrowing channel for rail tie plates conveyed between the inwardly angled surface of the first inlet guide wall and the diverter and an outwardly angled surface downstream of the first inwardly angled surface cooperating with the diverter to direct the rail tie plates passing thereby toward the first abutment.”
Regarding claim 3, the prior art, including Coots, fails to reasonably teach or suggest “a first hinged shoulder surface on the first abutment and facing toward the diverter and having a first dampener connected thereto.”
Regarding claim 4, the prior art, including Coots, fails to reasonably teach or suggest “a pair of guide walls extending in parallel spaced relation in the direction of conveyance and at a spacing slightly greater than the width of a rail tie plate and spaced above the quarter turn conveyor at a spacing less than the height of a single rail tie plate supported on the quarter turn conveyor, the guide walls positioned to directed direct each rail tie plate passing therethrough in a longitudinal orientation into the diverter.”
Regarding claim 5 and depending claims 6-8, the prior art, including Coots, fails to reasonably teach or suggest “a first guide chute discharging into a first accumulator configured to hold a plurality of rail tie plates; a second guide chute discharging into a second accumulator configured to hold a plurality of rail tie plates; and a router selectively operable to direct rail tie plates discharged from the quarter turn conveyor into the first guide chute or the second guide chute,” as recited in claim 5. Examiner finds that it would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning to modify Coots to meet claim 5.
Regarding claim 9 and depending claims 10-20, the prior art, including Coots, fails to reasonably teach or suggest the combination of limitations recited within claim 9, including the sensor and selectively positionable diverter. While it is known in the art to use a sensor to assist in controlling the proper orientation and routing of tie plates (e.g., Buzdum (US 9,156,623) (Col. 4, lines 27-33) (Fig. 6) and Harman (US 11,674,269) (Col. 8, lines 39-46) (Figs. 3-4)), Examiner finds that it would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning to modify Coots to meet the combination of limitations of claim 9.
Conclusion
The references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because the references variously relate to tie plate conveyors and diverting mechanisms: US-11136726-B1, US-10487458-B2, US-4280613-A, US-20210269986-A1, and US-20200141065-A1.
Further, the following references relate to the instant application and have a common assignee or inventor: US-20240150974-A1, US-20240150969-A1, US-20240084518-A1, US-12209366-B2, US-12286759-B2, US-12286758-B2, and US-11668054-B2.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY L KUHFUSS whose telephone number is (571)270-7858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00am to 6:00 pm CDT.
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, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached on (571)272-6682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY L KUHFUSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615A
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