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 statements (IDS) submitted on 10/20/2025 and 9/11/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 18 line 1 recites “The pole manufacturing line of claim 18” should read “The pole manufacturing line of claim 17”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that use the word “means” or “step” but are nonetheless not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph because the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure, materials, or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“Shell forming apparatus” in claims 1, 4, 6, 18
“Blank cutting apparatus” in claims 1, 3, 17, 19
“Blank handling apparatus” in claims 4, 5, 9
“Shaping apparatus” in claims, 1, 4, 8, 9, 17, 19
“Assembly apparatus” in claims, 1, 10, 18
“Holding apparatus” in claims 17,
“Clamp drive apparatus” in claim 16
“Shell mating apparatus” in claim 12
“Mating drive apparatus” in claim 12
“Seam welding apparatus” in claims, 1, 11, 12, 17, 19
“Seamed shell cutting apparatus” in claims 1, 13
“Component welding apparatus” in claims, 1, 14, 15, 17, 19
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are not being interpreted to cover only the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
The specification defines the use of “Shell forming apparatus” in [0050] as “material blanks 2020 (e.g., steel plates, sheets, or the like, other metals, composites, or other material) are cut into one or more shell blanks 2050 (e.g., different sizes for different types of poles), and the shell blanks 2050 are shaped into shells 2100 (e.g., a single shell, half shells, tri-shells, quad shells, or the like)”
The specification defines the use of “Blank cutting apparatus” in [0054] as “blank cutting apparatus 200 (e.g., to a support thereof, such as a table, or the like thereof) wherein the material blanks 2020 will be cut into shell blanks 2050”
The specification defines the use of “Blank handling apparatus” in [0009] as “blank handling apparatus comprises a rotation apparatus. The rotation apparatus comprises a rotator table, a rotator carriage operatively coupled to the rotator table, and one or more rotator drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the rotator carriage.” Further instruction is in [0054] “may comprise a crane that lifts the material blank 2020 and places it on a material blank support (e.g., horizontal table, jig in different orientations, or the like). The crane may comprise of a gantry crane and vacuum lift that is able to pick and move the material blanks (e.g., through suction member, moveable arms, clamps, chains, cables, gears, motors, or the like). While the material blank handling apparatus 100 is described as being a crane, alternatively or additionally, it may include conveyors, rollers, actuators (e.g., motors - electric or the like, hydraulic, pneumatic, or the like) that push, pull, or move the material blanks 2020 to the blank cutting apparatus 200.”
The specification defines the use of “Shaping apparatus” in [0057] as “one or more shapers (e.g., a presses, benders, stampers, or the like)”
The specification defines the use of “Assembly apparatus” in [0070] as “generally described
herein as having one or more seam welding apparatuses 702, in which the seam of one or more shape shells 2100 is formed by welding the seam of a single shaped shell 2110, or two or more seams of two or more mating shaped shells 2120.” This is further illustrated in figure 9B.
The specification defines the use of “Holding apparatus” or “shaped shell holding apparatus” in [0012] as “comprises a plurality of racks having two or more laterally spaced racks and two or more vertically spaced racks. The plurality of shaped shells having different attributes are stored in the plurality of racks.” With racks being comprised of [0088] “automated robots, carriages, and/or tracks to hold the pole components 2160 in place while the automated welding apparatus 1170 welds the components 2160 to the seamed shell 2150.”
The specification defines the use of “Clamp drive apparatus” as [0020] “a plurality of clamps operatively coupled to the one or more flange members, and one or more clamp drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the one or more flange members and”
The specification defines the use of “Shell mating apparatus” in [0077] as “The shell mating apparatus 790 may have one or more mating drive apparatuses 792 having one or more mating drives (e.g., motors, pneumatic, hydraulic, or the like), mating support members 794 (e.g., arms, or the like), gears, chains, belts, cables, rods, or the like. As such, the one or more mating support members 794 are able to transport (e.g., lift, rotate, and drop, or the like) one partial shell 2120 onto another partial shell 2120 (e.g., position one shell on top of another, or the like) to create an unseamed assembled shell. The shell mating apparatus 790 may hold the shell in place until the seam(s) are welded.”
The specification defines the use of “Mating drive apparatus” in [0075] as “e.g., motors, pneumatic, hydraulic, or the like”
The specification defines the use of “shell blank handling apparatus” in [0057] as “may be a crane, alternatively or additionally, it may include conveyors, rollers, drives (e.g., motors, hydraulic, pneumatic, or the like), robots (e.g., robotic arms, moveable robots, or the like) that push, pull, or move the shell blanks 2050.
The specification defines the use of “Seam welding apparatus” in [0073] as “may have movable welding robots that move along the length of one or more shaped shells 2100 in order to form the seam welds”
The specification defines the use of “Seamed shell cutting apparatus” in [0016] as “comprises one or more shell cutting supports configured to support the seamed shell, one or more shell cutting tracks, one or more shell cutting carriages operatively coupled to the one or more shell cutting tracks, and one or more shell cutting robots operatively coupled to the one or more shell cutting carriages”
The specification defines the use of “Component welding apparatus” in [0018] as “comprises one or more flange supports configured to support one or more flanges, one or more component welding tracks, one or more component welding carriages operatively coupled to the one or more component welding tracks, and one or more component welding robots operatively coupled to the one or more component welding carriages. The one or more component welding robots are moveable to weld the one or more flanges to the one or more ends of the seamed shell.”
If applicant intends to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to remove the structure, materials, or acts that performs the claimed function; or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) does/do not recite sufficient structure, materials, or acts to perform the claimed function.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, 11-16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsen US 4497995 A in view of Rudd US 4508949 A in further view of Lin, CN 104476038 A.
Regarding claim 1 Nilsen teaches,
A pole manufacturing line for forming poles (abstract), the pole manufacturing line comprising:
a shell forming apparatus comprising: (Nilsen Figure 1)
a shaping apparatus, (Roll former 3 Fig. 18) wherein the shaping apparatus forms a shaped shell from a shell blank; (Col. 5 L67 – Col. 6 L3 apparatus forms flat sheets into tubular shaped sheets)
and a shell assembly apparatus comprising: (Laser welding apparatus 6 Fig. 1)
a seam welding apparatus, (Laser welding apparatus 6 Fig. 1)
wherein the seam welding apparatus welds one or more seams of one or more shaped shells to form a seamed shell; (Laser welding apparatus 6 Fig. 1)
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Nilsen Fig. 1
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Nilsen Fig. 18
Nilsen doesn’t teach; however, Rudd teaches,
a blank cutting apparatus, (Col. 1 L61-65 “FIG. 1 is a plan view of a plate or sheet illustrating the cutting thereof to form two blanks of tapered width for making two poles or posts”)
wherein the blank cutting apparatus forms a plurality of shell blanks from a material blank; (Col 2 L23-25 "a rectangular metal sheet 1, illustrated in FIG. 1, is cut along a line 2 to provide two blanks 3 and 4 for making two tapered poles.")
Nilsen and Rudd are analogous because they are related to manufacturing of metal poles.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the continuous metal can body apparatus as described by Nilsen with the method of making tapered poles from a metal sheet as described by Rudd in order to produce a plurality of shell blanks from the flat material blank in order to be welded and processed.
Nilsen doesn’t teach; however, Lin teaches,
a seamed shell cutting apparatus, (robot cutting welding mechanism 6 Fig. 5 and 7)
wherein the seamed shell cutting apparatus forms one or more apertures in the seamed shell or forms one or more ends of the seamed shell; ([0021] “the robot cutting welding mechanism 6 to weld the workpiece 8 the cylinder tube base”)
and a component welding apparatus, (feeding spot welding mechanism 3)
wherein the component welding apparatus welds one or more components to the seamed shell to form a pole. (Workpiece welding [0021])
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Lin Fig. 1
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Lin Fig. 2
Nilsen, Rudd and Lin are all analogous as they are all related to the field of manufacturing metal poles with means of welding and cutting. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the continuous metal can welding apparatus as described by Nilsen with the cylindrical tube cutting and assembly welding device and support frame as described by Lin, along with the tapered pole manufacturing apparatus as described by Rudd to create an automated system that is capable of efficiently producing metal tubes of various lengths and tapers before welding and cutting them as necessary to produce any plurality of arrangements of metal pipe structures.
Regarding claim 2 Nilsen, Rudd and Lin teach,
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1, wherein the pole tapers from a wide end to a narrow end, wherein the pole is at least a portion of a transmission pole, and wherein one or more poles are used to form the transmission pole.
claim 2 is directed to a material or article worked upon by an apparatus. The material or article work on is “the pole” or “transmission pole.” The courts have held that "Inclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims." In re Otto, 312 F.2d 937, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963); see also in re Young, 75 F.2d 996, 25 USPQ 69 (CCPA 1935), In re Casey, 370 F.2d 576, 152 USPQ 235
(CCPA 1967). MPEP § 2115.
Accordingly, the limitation of the pole being "at least a portion of a transmission pole" is afforded no patentable weight.
Regarding claim 3 Nilsen, Rudd and Lin teach,
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Nilsen does not teach, but Rudd teaches,
wherein the blank cutting apparatus forms two or more shell blanks from the material blank, (Col. 1 L61-65 “FIG. 1 is a plan view of a plate or sheet illustrating the cutting thereof to form two blanks of tapered width for making two poles or posts”)
and wherein at least a first shell blank is in a first orientation that is in an opposite orientation from at least a second shell blank in a second orientation.
Rudd Fig 1. Shows the material blank being cut along line 2 into two oppositely oriented shell blanks to be used in making two tapered poles.
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Rudd Fig. 1
Regarding Claim 4, Nilsen, Rudd and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 3,
Nilsen does not teach but Rudd teaches,
wherein the shell forming apparatus further comprises:
a blank handling apparatus, (roller 12, roller 15, piston rod 16, cylinder assembly 17 Fig 4)
wherein the second orientation locates a wide end and a narrow end of the shell blank for shaping by the shaping apparatus. (Col. 1 L61-65 “FIG. 1 is a plan view of a plate or sheet illustrating the cutting thereof to form two blanks of tapered width for making two poles or posts”)
While Rudd does not explicitly state wherein the blank handling apparatus is configured to rotate the first shell blank from the first orientation to the second orientation. Rudd discusses the use of a piston rod and cylinder assembly that would be capable of making modifications to provide the sufficient movement necessary to rotate the first shell blank from the first orientation to the second orientation. (Col 3 L4-13 “if the difference between the smallest and largest diameters of the tube 7 is sufficiently great, and bearing in mind that the piston and cylinder assembly 12 must fit inside the smallest diameter end of the tube 7, it may be necessary to provide known mechanical devices, such as lever amplification of the piston rod movement or multiple sleeve pistons, to provide sufficient movement of the roller 12 in relation to the mandrel 8 to keep the roller on the inner surface of the tube 7.”)
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Rudd Fig. 4
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 6 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach,
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the shell forming apparatus further comprises: a shell blank holding apparatus (Metal belt 8 FIGS. 4, 5 and 7) comprising:
a plurality of racks having two or more laterally spaced racks and two or more vertically spaced racks; (Col. 6 L29-33 “The metal belts 8 and 9 are arranged in spaced relationship on opposite sides of the longitudinally extending edges to be welded by means of a plurality of guide rolls 12-17 and a drive sprocket 95 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, 6 and 8.”) and wherein the shell blanks having different attributes are stored in the plurality of racks. (Col. 6 L37-40 “The teeth 20 are formed by the upper portions of pins which are inserted into the respective sprockets in predetermined spaced relationship.”)
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Nilsen Fig. 4 and 5
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Nilsen Fig. 6 and 7
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Nilsen Fig. 3 and 8
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 6.
Further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the shell blank holding apparatus further comprises:
A feeder apparatus (drive sprocket 95 Figs. 1-3, 8)
a feeder table; (additional advancing means 7, endless metal belts 8 and 9, Fig. 4, 5 and 7)
a feeder carriage; (plurality of guide rolls 12-17 figs. 1-3, 6 and 8)
and one or more feeder drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the feeder carriage; (plurality of guide rolls 12-17 figs. 1-3, 6 and 8)
wherein the one or more feeder drive apparatuses allow the feeder table to move laterally to receive or deliver the plurality of shell blanks in different lateral positions; (tubular shaped sheets of metal 2 Fig. 1)
and wherein the one or more feeder drive apparatuses allow the feeder table to move vertically to receive or deliver the plurality of shell blanks in different vertical positions. (driving sprocket 95 Fig. 1)
Regarding claim 8, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Further Nilsen teaches
wherein the shaping apparatus comprises:
a plurality of shapers; (roll former 3 Fig. 1)
Nilsen explicitly states a single shaper but not a plurality of shapers. It would be prima facia obvious to duplicate the shapers in order to improve efficiency and quantity in the production of shells within the assembly line. See MPEP section 2144.VI.B for more information.
Wherein the plurality of shapers operates independently or jointly to shape the plurality of shell blanks of different sizes into shaped shells of different sizes. (Col. 5 L67 – Col. 6 L6 “The apparatus comprises forming means, in this case a conventional roll former 3, for successively forming flat sheets of metal into generally cylindrical tubular shaped sheets of metal 2 having longitudinally extending edges to be welded. A forming means could also be used which provides generally tubular shaped sheets of metal with cross sections other than round, such as square, for example.”)
Regarding claim 9, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 8,
Further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the shaping apparatus further comprises:
one or more sensors; (sensor 92 Fig 20)
and one or more shell blank handling apparatuses operatively coupled to the sensors; (Sensor 92 Fig 20)
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Nilsen Fig. 20
While Nilsen and Rudd do not teach, Lin teaches
wherein the one or more shell blank handling apparatuses position the shell blank with respect to the plurality of shapers based on the information from the one or more sensors captured from a shape of the shell blank or markings on the shell blank. (PLC control system 2 [0021], [0027] “Meanwhile, mechanism main body 61 is equipped with laser positioning mechanism, the laser positioning mechanism and a PLC control system 2 connection to form a welding track.”)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the seam welding apparatus comprises:
an end support configured to be operatively coupled with the one or more shaped shells; (Col. 5 L15-18 “FIG. 5 is an end view of the Z-bar support assembly illustrated in FIG. 4 and further showing the pair of metal belts with fingers, the laser welding apparatus and a plurality of support rolls for a metal can body”)
an automated welder apparatus configured to weld the one or more seams of the one or more shaped shells; (welding apparatus 6)
wherein the end support pulls or pushes the one or more shaped shells past the automated welder. (Chains 54, support rollers 94)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the seam welding apparatus comprises:
and one or more mating drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the one or more actuating mating members; (Col. 5 L15-18 “FIG. 5 is an end view of the Z-bar support assembly illustrated in FIG. 4 and further showing the pair of metal belts with fingers, the laser welding apparatus and a plurality of support rolls for a metal can body”)
wherein the one or more actuating mating members are configured to move at least a first shaped shell to mate with at least a second shaped shell before seam welding; (Roll former apparatus Fig. 18, roll former 3 figure 1)
one or more automated welders configured to weld the one or more seams of the two or more shaped shells. (Laser welding apparatus 6, Figure 5)
While Nilsen does not teach, Lin teaches
one or more shell supports configured to support two or more shaped shells; (saddle automatic assembly tool 5, clamping mechanism 54, fig 6)
one or more shell mating apparatuses, the one or more shell mating apparatuses comprising: one or more actuating mating members; (clamping mechanism 54, fig 6)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
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Lin Fig 6
Regards to claim 13 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Further Nilsen teaches,
wherein the seamed shell cutting apparatus comprises:
one or more shell cutting supports configured to support the seamed shell; (Z-bar 32, support rollers 94, fig 18) one or more shell cutting tracks; (support rollers 94, Welding track 11, Fig 18)
While Nilsen and Rudd do not teach, Lin teaches
one or more shell cutting carriages operatively coupled to the one or more shell cutting tracks; (base 51, a hydraulic mechanism 52 Fig 6, transport vehicle 7 Fig 1 and 2)
and one or more shell cutting robots operatively coupled to the one or more shell cutting carriages; (robot cutting welding mechanism 6 and transport vehicle 7, Fig 7)
wherein the one or more cutting robots are moveable to form the one or more apertures in the seamed shell or form the one or more ends of the seamed shell. ([0022] “conveying vehicle 7 walking on the track 2, to convey the cutting 8 cylinder tube base product of the work piece after welding is finished.”)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
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Lin Fig. 7
Regarding Claim 14 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line claim 1,
Furthermore, Nilsen teaches
wherein the component welding apparatus comprises:
one or more component welding tracks; (support rollers 94, Welding track 11, Fig 18)
one or more component welding carriages operatively coupled to the one or more component welding tracks; (Z-bar 32, support rollers 94, Welding track 11, Fig 18)
While Nilsen and Rudd do not teach, Lin teaches,
one or more flange supports configured to support one or more flanges; ([0029] "cylinder tube base top fittings (such as flange and arc) by manual welding")
and one or more component welding robots operatively coupled to the one or more component welding carriages; (robot cutting welding mechanism 6 and transport vehicle 7, Fig 7)
wherein the one or more component welding robots are moveable to weld the one or more flanges to the one or more ends of the seamed shell. ([0022] “conveying vehicle 7 walking on the track 2, to convey the cutting 8 cylinder tube base product of the work piece after welding is finished.”)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 15 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 14,
Nilsen does not teach but Lin teaches,
wherein the component welding apparatus further comprises: one or more holding robots operatively coupled to the one or more shell welding carriages: (saddle automatic assembly tool 5, clamping mechanism 54 Fig 6, [0019] “roller frame positioner 4, 3 feeding point welding lifting saddle automatic assembly tool 5 and robot cutting and welding mechanism 6 are running on different track I and track I is set on the ground.”)
wherein the one or more holding robots hold pole components to the seamed shell while the one or more shell welding robots weld the components to the seamed shell. (robot cutting welding mechanism 6 Fig. 7 and saddle automatic assembly tool 5 Fig 6)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 16 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 14,
Nilsen does not teach but Lin teaches,
wherein the flange supports comprise:
one or more flange members; ([0029] "cylinder tube base top fittings (such as flange and arc) by manual")
a plurality of clamps operatively coupled to the one or more flange members; ([0029], [0022] “cutting 8-cylinder tube base product of the work piece after welding is finished.”)
one or more clamp drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the one or more flange members and the plurality of clamps; (roller bracket positioner 4, Fig 1 and 2)
wherein the plurality of clamps extend and retract to hold a plurality of flanges having different sizes. (saddle automatic assembly tool 5, clamping mechanism 54 Fig 6, roller bracket positioner 4, Fig 1)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 19 Nilsen teaches
A method of forming poles using a pole manufacturing line
forming a plurality of shaped shells from the plurality of shell blanks using a shaping apparatus; (Roll former apparatus Fig. 18)
welding seams of a plurality of single shaped shells or a plurality of multiple shaped shells to form a plurality of seamed shells using a seam welding apparatus; (Laser welding apparatus 6, Figure 1)
Nilsen doesn’t teach but Rudd teaches,
forming a plurality of shell blanks from material blanks using a blank cutting apparatus; (Col. 1 L61-65 “FIG. 1 is a plan view of a plate or sheet illustrating the cutting thereof to form two blanks of tapered width for making two poles or posts”)
Nilsen does not teach but Lin teaches,
forming a plurality of apertures or a plurality of ends on the plurality of seamed shells using a cutting apparatus; (robot cutting welding mechanism 6, Workpiece welding [0021])
and welding a plurality of components to the plurality of shaped shells using a component welding apparatus. (robot cutting welding mechanism 6, Workpiece welding [0021])
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsen US 4497995 A in view of Rudd US 4508949 A, in further view of A Lin, CN 104476038 A and Leofati CN 107813046 A.
Regarding Claim 5 Nilsen, Rudd, Lin teach,
The pole manufacturing line of claim 4.
Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin do not teach but Leofati teaches,
wherein the blank handling apparatus comprises:
a rotation apparatus (abstract “supporting device including a pivoting arm arranged for rotatably supporting the pipe processing machine”) comprising:
a rotator table; (base 12)
a rotator carriage operatively coupled to the rotator table; (“pivot arm 22 composed of a base 12 is rotatably supported at a first end thereof to surround horizontally or laterally”)
and one or more rotator drive apparatuses operatively coupled to the rotator carriage; (Pivot arms 22, Fig. 1A)
wherein the one or more rotator drive apparatuses allow the rotator table to move laterally to receive or deliver the plurality of shell blanks in different lateral positions; (“The available from FIG. 3, seen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, by properly adjusting the support member 26 around the second rotation axis y2 of the corner position, different diameters of the tube T can be supported by supporting member 26, the longitudinal axis x of the tube T from the second distance from the rotation axis y2 is the same, therefore, if the pivot arm 22 remains in a fixed position, relative to the base 12 (and thus also relative to the tube bearing frame 14 and the fixing bracket 18) in the same vertical position.”)
wherein the one or more rotator drive apparatuses allow the rotator table to move vertically to receive or deliver the plurality of shell blanks in different vertical positions; (Pivot arms 22, tube bearing frame 14, fixing bracket 18, Fig. 1A)
and wherein the one or more rotator drive apparatuses allow the rotator table to rotate the first shell blank in the first orientation to the second orientation. (Pivot arms 22, tube bearing frame 14, fixing bracket 18 Fig. 1A)
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Leofati, Fig. 1A
Leofati is analogous to the previously cited sources as it describes a supporting device for use in supporting a pipe processing machine. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the rotating pipe processing machine as described with the combined pole manufacturing process of Nilsen, Lin and Rudd, in order to rotate the shell blanks as necessary in order to ensure that they are in the correct orientation before proceeding to further processing.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsen US 4497995 A in view of Rudd US 4508949, in further view of Lin, CN 104476038 A and Thelwell US 8267262 B2.
Regarding claim 10, Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin do not teach, but Thelwell teaches
wherein the shell assembly apparatus further comprises:
a shaped shell holding apparatus comprising:
a plurality of racks having two or more laterally spaced racks (Pairs of beams 200, 201 Fig 2)
and two or more vertically spaced racks; (upright frames 202 Fig 2)
and wherein the plurality of shaped shells having different attributes are stored in the plurality of racks. (Col 1 L12-14 “Known pallet racking offers the ability to store items using ever increasing capacities of vertical space up to the height and depth of the racks own dimensions.”)
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Thelwell, Fig 2
The Thelwell reference is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the inventor was concerned, in order to be relied upon as a basis for rejection of the claimed invention. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 24 USPQ2d 1443 (Fed. Cir. 1992). In the instant case using a plurality of racks in order to store a product in a vertical space, as such Thelwell is considered analogous art.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make use of the generic storage system that Thelwell describes within the combined pole processing system as described by Nilsen, Rudd and Lin to store the plurality of varying shells produced by the system until needed for processing.
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsen US 4497995 A in view of Rudd US 4508949 A, in further view of Lin, CN 104476038 A and Akamatsu CN 106029281 A.
Regarding claim 17 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 1.
Nilsen does not teach but Lin teaches,
communicate with the blank cutting apparatus to form two or more shell blanks having one or more attributes and send the two or more blanks to a holding apparatus; ([0006] “the PLC control system controls the robot cutting and welding mechanism of work cylinder pipe seat for cutting the hole site; the feeding point welding mechanism are fixed by spot welding the workpiece cylinder seat top fitting by artificial, PLC control system controls the robot cutting and welding mechanism for welding the workpiece cylinder tube base; the PLC control system controls the roller frame positioner rotating workpiece cylinder tube seat and tube seat bottom of the work cylinder cutting and welding. and mounting the saddle is composed of saddle automatic assembly tool.”)
communicate with the shaping apparatus to form the shaped shell from the shell blank; ([0006])
communicate with the seam welding apparatus to form one or more seam welds in the one or more seams of the one or more shaped shells; ([0006])
communicate with the shell cutting apparatus to form the one or more apertures or the one or more ends of the seamed shell; ([0006])
communicate with the component welding apparatus to weld the one or more components to the seamed shell to form the pole. ([0006])
While Lin doesn’t explicitly teach Akamatsu teaches,
a controller system (welding control device 85) comprising:
one or more memories storing computer-readable code; (“CPU executes the programs stored in a floppy disk, CD-ROM, memory card, etc.”)
and one or more processors operatively coupled to the one or more memories, (“A storage medium from the storage medium mounted on the ROM. temporary storage needed when executing the program data in the RAM.”)
wherein when executed the computer-readable code (“welding control apparatus 85 can execute various process by a single CPU, or may perform each processing with the combination of the special processing circuit by a plurality of CPUs, or a CPU.”)
Lin and Akamatsu are analogous as they both discuss automated welding systems control systems. Lin demonstrates that it is well known within the art to use a controller or processor to control various welding apparatuses. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the welding control apparatus as disclosed by Akamatsu to connect to each of the different apparatuses in order to control and monitor each step in the process in combination with the combined welding manufacturing line as described by Nilsen, Rudd and Lin.
Regarding claim 18 Nilsen, Rudd, and Lin teach
The pole manufacturing line of claim 17.
Nilsen does not teach but Lin teaches
wherein the controller system is configured to control the shell forming apparatus and the shell assembly apparatus to optimize pole manufacturing to reduce waste and improve lead times. ([0029] “automatically cutting the cylinder tube base, assembling, welding, improves the production efficiency and the automation degree and ensure safety production environment, reduces the labor intensity of the welding worker.”)
Motivation to combine and obvious statement follow the same rationale as claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bonnet; Christian et al. US 6054667 A teaches a device and a method of manufacturing a metal tube made from a metal sheet with two substantially straight edges.
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/A.T.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/STEVEN W CRABB/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
