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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerrits et al (US 2014/0173946) In view of Heskin (US 2006/0119164). Gerrits discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A self-propelled “zero turn radius” batch cart for delivering loads of materials such as raw concrete mix to construction job sites, the cart comprising:
a rigid chassis 24 adapted to be disposed proximate a job site, the chassis 24 having a front and a rear;
a tiltable cargo bucket mounted on the front of said chassis 24 (“[0060] In other contemplated embodiments, the vehicle 20 may be configured to receive many other attachments at either the front mount 80 or the belly mount 82. For example, a blower, a rotary broom, or vacuum attachment may be coupled to the front mount 80 or the belly mount 82. A variety of earthmoving attachments may be coupled to the vehicle 20, such as a dozer blade, a front end loader bucket, or a front mounted dump box, allowing the vehicle 20 to be utilized to move dirt, gravel, or other bulk materials.”);
a pair of drive wheel assemblies 30 secured at the front of said chassis 24 for cart propulsion and maneuvering;
at least one caster wheel 32 secured at the rear of the chassis 24;
drive motors for rotating said wheel assemblies, said drive motors operable independently of one another so that one of said pair of drive wheel assemblies may be reversed in rotation relative to the other pair of drive wheel assemblies (“A tighter, "zero radius" turn may be achieved by rotating one front wheel 30 forward and the other front wheel 30 backward, causing the vehicle to rotate about a point between the two front wheels 30.” ¶[0029]; “The front wheels 30 may each be driven by an independent motor to allow increased maneuverability of the vehicle 20.” ¶[0031]);
wherein said at least one caster wheel 32 is mounted with negative caster (see Fig. 2); and,
whereby extreme “zero turn” cart maneuvering may be established with the drive wheel assemblies in cooperation with said at least one caster wheel (see ¶[0029]).
Gerrits fails to explicitly disclose the cargo bucket adapted to be switched between material transport and material discharge positions. Heskin teaches a self-propelled “zero turn radius” batch cart for delivering loads of materials similar to the vehicle of Gerrits, including a tiltable cargo bucket 40 mounted on the front of a rigid chassis 32, wherein the cargo bucket 40 is adapted to be switched between material transport (Figs. 4a and 4b) and material discharge positions (Figs. 5 and 6a). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the vehicle of Gerrits with the teaching of Heskin such that the cargo bucket of Gerrits is adapted to be switched between material transport and material discharge positions to allow for an easy manner in which to unload the payload.
With regard to claim 2, Gerrits discloses:
A self-propelled “zero turn radius” batch cart for delivering loads of materials such as raw concrete mix to otherwise hard-to-reach construction job sites, the cart comprising:
rigid chassis 24 adapted to be disposed proximate the job site and moved over it;
a tiltable bucket supported by said chassis 24 (“[0060] In other contemplated embodiments, the vehicle 20 may be configured to receive many other attachments at either the front mount 80 or the belly mount 82. For example, a blower, a rotary broom, or vacuum attachment may be coupled to the front mount 80 or the belly mount 82. A variety of earthmoving attachments may be coupled to the vehicle 20, such as a dozer blade, a front end loader bucket, or a front mounted dump box, allowing the vehicle 20 to be utilized to move dirt, gravel, or other bulk materials.”);
a pair of front-mounted hydraulic drive wheel assemblies 30 secured to said chassis 24 for propulsion and maneuvering (“[0031] The front wheels 30 may each be driven by an independent motor to allow increased maneuverability of the vehicle 20. According to an exemplary embodiment, the motors may be low-speed, high-torque hydraulic motors that are turned by hydraulic fluid provided by a hydraulic pump powered by the prime mover 22. The hydraulic pump may be coupled to the output shaft of the prime mover 22 via an intermediate transmission device such as a belt. Each motor is coupled to the respective wheel 30 through the transaxle 36.”);
at least one rear caster wheel 32 secured to said chassis 24, said at least one caster wheel 32 mounted with negative caster (see Fig. 2);
hydraulic drive motors for powering said drive wheel assemblies (see citation above);
wherein said drive wheel assemblies 30 may be rotated in either the same or different directions independently of one another (“A tighter, "zero radius" turn may be achieved by rotating one front wheel 30 forward and the other front wheel 30 backward, causing the vehicle to rotate about a point between the two front wheels 30. ¶[0029]”); and
wherein extreme “zero turn” cart maneuvering may be established with the drive wheel assemblies 30 in cooperation with said at least one caster wheel 32 (“A tighter, "zero radius" turn may be achieved by rotating one front wheel 30 forward and the other front wheel 30 backward, causing the vehicle to rotate about a point between the two front wheels 30.” ¶[0029]).
Gerrits fails to explicitly disclose wherein the tiltable bucket is adapted to be hydraulically switched between transport and discharge positions. Heskin teaches it is well known in the art to switch a dump basket between transport and discharge positions by employing “a hydraulic tipping mechanism to lift the skip and discharge its contents” (see ¶[0008]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Gerrits with the teaching of Heskins such that the tiltable bucket is adapted to be hydraulically switched between transport and discharge positions, with a reasonable expectation of success, to easily unload the bucket’s contents without needing to use manual strength.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 February 19, 2026