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,
“wherein the handle is recessed within the top surface” of claim 6,
“wherein the platform has at least one guide lug configured to be received in the at least one vertically positioned rail to guide the frame along the vertical axis during movement of the platform” of claim 9, and,
“wherein the repair station comprises ventilation openings” of claim 17,
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 § 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.
Claims 1-3, 9-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akoin (JP2004142486).
1: A retractable step system (Figs. 1-5) for use with a pit defined in a floor, the retractable step system comprising: a frame (4, 5, 6) provided within the pit (7); a platform (top surface of 6) connected to the frame and spaced apart from an end thereof to define an opening (the area between 6 and 19) proximate the end of the frame; a plurality of floating steps (1) mounted on the frame adjacent one another and aligned with the opening; a set of stairs (3) comprising lateral frames (2), provided within the pit and aligned with the opening; and a lifting mechanism (Fig. 6, 64) operably connected to the frame and configured to move the frame between an elevated configuration, where the platform is positioned to be coplanar with the floor (Fig. 5), and a lowered configuration (Fig. 1), where the platform is lowered within the pit; wherein the plurality of floating steps (1) are adapted to be coplanar with the platform and the floor when the frame is in the elevated configuration (Fig. 5), thereby defining a temporary floor covering the pit; and wherein the plurality of floating steps are adapted to be sequentially deposited (Fig. 4) on the lateral frames (2) of the set of stairs when moving the frame from the elevated configuration to the lowered configuration to provide access to the pit (see e.g., pg. 5, lines 1-10 of MT).
2: The retractable step system of claim 1, wherein: the frame comprises frame indentations (14) extending along opposite sides of the opening; and the floating steps each comprise a bottom surface (28) complementarily shaped relative to the frame indentations and are configured to be received thereon to position the floating steps with respect to the frame (see “positioning member” on pg. 8, lines 8-9 of MT) .
3: The retractable step system of claim 2, wherein the set of stairs comprises a pair of lateral frames (3) comprising step indentations (28) configured to receive the bottom surface of the floating steps as the frame is moved from the elevated configuration to the lowered configuration (see “guide pipe” on pg. 8, last line to pg 9, line 3).
9: The retractable step system of claim 1, further comprising at least one vertically positioned guide rail (5) extending along a vertical axis, wherein the platform has at least one guide lug (see the pulley at the right hand end of platform 4 in Figs. 1 and 5) configured to be received in the at least one vertically positioned rail to guide the frame along the vertical axis during movement of the platform.
10: The retractable step system of claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a scissor linkage (Fig. 6, 64).
11:The retractable step system of any one of claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism is actuated using an electric system, a hydraulic system (Fig. 6, 65) or a combination thereof.
12: The retractable step system of claim 1, wherein the frame is provided in modular sections (Fig. 1, 4 and 6) connectable to one another (Fig. 1, 9).
13: The retractable step system of claim 1, wherein the floating steps have an L-shape (Figs. 2A and 2B, 25, 26).
14: The retractable step system of claim 13, wherein the L-shape of the floating steps defines a riser and a tread of the corresponding step of the set of stairs (Figs. 2A and 2B, 25, 26).
15: A repair station (Fig. 6, 60) comprising: a recessed pit (Fig. 1, 7) in the ground; and the retractable step system of claim 1 positioned inside the recessed pit to provide access between a floor level (Fig. 1, 15) and the recessed pit.
18: The repair station of claim 15 , wherein the recessed pit is shaped and sized to enable a vehicle to park over the recessed pit, and wherein the retractable step system enables access to an underside of the vehicle parked over the recessed pit (MT, pg. 2, lines 1-2: “Figure 6, to enable inspection and maintenance to be carried out from below without lifting the vehicle”).
19: A pit access system (Figs. 1-5) for providing access to a pit (7), comprising: a fixed portion (3) provided within the pit proximate an end thereof; a movable portion (4, 6) provided within the pit and operable between a first position (Fig. 1) and a second position (Fig. 5); and a floating portion (1) mounted to the movable portion and positioned above the fixed portion, the floating portion being displaceable with the movable portion (Figs. 1 and 5); wherein, when the movable portion (4, 6) is in the first position, the movable portion and the floating portion (1) are adapted to cooperate to define a temporary floor to cover the pit (Fig. 5); and when the movable portion (4, 6) is in the second position (Fig. 1), the floating portion (1) and the fixed portion (3) are adapted to cooperate to define a set of stairs (Fig. 1) descending into the pit (7).
20: A pit access system (Figs. 1-5) for providing access to a pit (70, comprising: a fixed portion (3) provided within the pit proximate an end thereof; a movable portion (4, 6) provided within the pit and operable between a first position (Fig. 1) and a second position (Fig. 5); and a floating portion (1) removably mounted to the movable portion (4, 6) and positioned above the fixed portion (3), the floating portion (1) being displaceable with the movable portion (4, 6); wherein the system is operable in a floor configuration (Fig. 5), where the movable portion and the floating portion define a temporary floor to cover the pit; wherein the system is operable in an access configuration (Fig. 1), where the movable portion defines a pit floor and the floating portion and fixed portion cooperate to define stairs enabling access to the pit floor; and wherein the system is operable in a maintenance configuration where, from the floor configuration, the floating portions are removed to enable access to the pit below the movable portion (inherent to the disclosure of Akoin, specifically, when the movable portion (4, 6) of Akoin is lowered the floating steps (1) are necessarily removably mounted on fixed portion (3) and may thus be removed to enable access to the pit (7) below).
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoin (JP2004142486) in view of Mettenmeyer (,).
4: Akoin fails to disclose the retractable step system of claim 3, wherein the set of stairs comprises a plurality of fixed steps extending between the pair of lateral frames. Mettenmeyer teaches, in the context of stairs that convert to a platform, wherein the set of stairs comprises a plurality of fixed steps (Fig. 1, 10) extending between the pair of lateral frames. It 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 to have included wherein the set of stairs comprises a plurality of fixed steps extending between the pair of lateral frames in the retractable step system of Akoin according to the teachings of Mettenmeyer in order to further support the set of stairs.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoin (JP2004142486) in view of Hogberg (US4191113).
Akoin fails to explicitly disclose the retractable step system of claim 1, wherein the floating steps are removably mounted onto the frame, and wherein each floating step comprises a handle provided on a top surface thereof to facilitate removal. However, wherein the floating steps are removably mounted on the frame (4) is inherent to Akoin. Specifically, when the frame is lowered the floating steps (1) are necessarily removably mounted relative to the frame indentations 14, i.e., this feature enables the floating steps to release from the frame 4 of Akoin during lowering). Hogberg teaches a handle (6) provided on a top surface (Fig. 1) of a step. It 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 to have included wherein each floating step comprises a handle provided on a top surface thereof in the retractable step system of Akoin according to the teachings of Hogberg in order to impart “ease of carrying” to each step during maintenance or repair, see col. 1, lines 58-59 of Hogberg.
6: Akoin in view of Hogberg disclose the retractable step system of claim 5, wherein the handle is recessed within the top surface (see Fig. 1 of Hogberg, the handle 6 is a hole and therefore, recessed).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoin (JP2004142486) in view of Umeda (JP2006143459).
7: Akoin fails to disclose the retractable step system of claim 1, wherein the platform is spaced from a second end of the pit, thereby defining a second opening opposite the opening. Umeda teaches, in the context of retractable step systems, wherein the platform is spaced from a second end of the pit, thereby defining a second opening opposite the opening (see Fig. 6 and MT [0055], subparagraph 3). It 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 to have included wherein the platform is spaced from a second end of the pit, thereby defining a second opening opposite the opening in the retractable step system of Aikin according to the teachings of Umeda in order to provide ingress/egress at both ends of the pit.
8: Akoin in view of Umeda disclose the retractable step system of claim 7, further comprising a second set of stairs (Fig. 6, 30) provided within the pit and aligned with the second opening, and wherein the plurality of floating steps comprise a first set of floating steps aligned with the opening, and a second set of floating steps aligned with the second opening (see floating steps of Akoin).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoin (JP2004142486) in view of Nemoto (JP2000289581).
16: Akoin fails to disclose the repair station of claim 15, wherein the repair station comprises lighting on walls of the recessed pit. Nemoto teaches wherein the repair station comprises lighting on walls of the recessed pit (MT [0036]: “In addition, electric lighting equipment is provided in the pit 1, and the lighting is automatically turned on when the floor lift 2 descends, and automatically turned off when the floor lift 2 reaches the same level as the floor surface, thereby enabling automatic energy-saving operation). It 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 to have included wherein the repair station comprises lighting on walls of the recessed pit in the repair station disclosed by Akoin according to the teachings of Nemoto in order to facilitate repair of a vehicle at the repair station.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoin (JP2004142486) in view of Routt (US8756869).
17: Akoin fails to disclose the repair station of claim 15, wherein the repair station comprises ventilation openings. Routt teaches, in the context of in-ground storm shelters, ventilation openings (col. 4, lines 6-8 of Routt: “In most cases it is desirable to include a battery-operated ventilation fan (not shown). For this purpose an air vent 54 (FIGS. 5 & 10) is provided in the stationary panel 20”). It 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 to have included wherein the repair station comprises ventilation openings in the repair station disclosed by Akoin according to the teachings of Routt in order to inhibit carbon monoxide poisoning of a mechanic in the pit.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ben Pezzlo whose telephone number is (571)272-9656. The examiner can normally be reached M to Th 7 to 5.
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/BAP/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634