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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 8, 9, 13, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 2 930 038 B1 to (SICAM).
Regarding independent claims 1 and 18, (SICAM) discloses A tyre changing machine (2) for mounting and demounting a tyre (P) to and from a corresponding rim (C) of a vehicle wheel (R), comprising:
- a wheel-holder unit (4) rotatable about a first vertical axis of rotation and configured to support the rim (C) of the wheel (R) from which or to which a respective tyre (P) is to be demounted or mounted (fig. 1);
a frame which rests on a floor and which has a front portion and a flank (fig. 1);
- a bead breaker unit (1), mounted on the flank of the frame and connected thereto (fig. 2) and including:
an abutment surface (10) configured to receive the wheel (R) with the tread resting on a supporting surface at floor level and a sidewall abutted against the abutment surface
(fig. 1),
a bead breaking arm (1) articulated to the frame to rotate about a second vertical axis (A),
a paddle shaped bead breaker tool (8) mounted on the bead breaking arm (6, 7), a bead breaker actuator (9) connected to the bead breaking arm (6, 7) to move the bead breaker tool (8) towards and away from the abutment surface (10), so as to detach the bead of the tyre (P) from an annular edge of the rim (C) of the wheel (R) that is in contact with the abutment surface (10) and rests on the supporting surface (figs. 4-6), and
a driving element (11), mounted on the bead breaking arm (fig. 3) and configured to drive the bead breaker actuator (9), the driving element (11) alternately adopting an advance position, where it drives the bead breaker actuator (9) to move the bead breaker tool (8) towards the abutment surface (in direction F1), and a return position, where it drives the bead breaker actuator (9) to move the bead breaker tool (8) away
from the abutment surface (in direction F2; fig. 2), wherein the driving element (11) is also configured to adopt an intermediate position, where it stops driving the bead breaker actuator (9) in order to hold the bead breaking arm (6, 7) still (by bringing the control lever 11 in the balanced position shown in fig. 5 the driving of the actuator is stopped and the bead breaking arm 6 and 7 will stand still in this position, reference is
also made to paragraphs [0068] and [0069] indicating that in the balanced position the actuator stopped). Hence by bringing the control lever of D1 from an inclined position (figs. 4 or 6) into the balanced position according to fig. 5 the actuator stops the movement of the arm portion and thereby the tool at any moving position between the extreme positions of the tool to be located close to the abutment surface or far away from this abutment surface.
Regarding claim 2, in (SICAM), the driving element (11) has an elastic return mechanism (helical torsion spring 18, 19, 20)(paragraph [0052]) operating on the driving element to elastically return the driving element to the intermediate position.
Regarding claim 8, in (SICAM), the bead breaker actuator is controlled by a five-way valve (16) with three positions corresponding, respectively, to the advance position, the return position and the intermediate position of the driving element (paragraph [0050] – “The control distributor 16, in practice, consists e.g. in a three-way or more distribution valve, having a slider 17, which allows to direct the fluid to the operating actuator 9 to control its movement in the first direction F1 or in the second direction F2).
Regarding claim 9, in (SICAM), the bead breaking arm comprises a first stretch extending along an axis and a second stretch that is connected to the first stretch and substantially perpendicular to the first stretch, so as not to interfere with the tyre (Figs. 1-6).
Regarding claim 13, since (SICAM) discloses a tyre changing machine having all of the components necessary to operate in the manner as recited in claim 13, (SICAM) anticipates the method for using a tyre changing machine (see Paragraphs [0061]-[0069]).
Regarding claim 19, in (SICAM), the driving element is further commutable in a return position, where it drives the bead breaker actuator to move the bead breaker tool away from the abutment surface (contrasting surface 10)(paragraph [0033]-[0036], [0043]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (SICAM), as applied to claim 1 above, as being obvious in combination with EP 2 927 028 A1 to (GUILIANO GROUP SPA [IT]).
(SICAM), as applied to claim 1 above, provides a tyre changing machine having the claimed features, except for failing to provide a lifting device.
(GUILIANO GROUP SPA [IT]) provides a machine for fitting or removing a tyre. The machine includes, inter alia, a bead breaker unit, mounted on the frame and connected thereto…, and (GUILIANO GROUP SPA [IT]) teaches providing a lifting device (lifting member 52, 54, 56), including: - a lifting arm (52), - a supporting platform (loading area 56, the type of a fork, a platform or other), defining a horizontal supporting surface on which to rest the wheel (on which the wheel can be placed to lift it when the carriage 52 slides), connected to the lifting arm and movable between a lowered position, where it can receive the wheel (R) to be lifted off the floor, and a raised position, where it is lifted to make it easier to place the wheel on the wheel-holder unit (paragraph [0027], and - a lifting actuator (operating device 40), connected to the lifting arm to move the supporting platform between the raised position and the lowered position (paragraphs [0029]-[0030]; and the lifting device of (GUILIANO GROUP SPA [IT]) comprising a box-shaped body (not labeled but clearly evident in Figs. 1-3) having a lateral wall defining the abutment surface and internally defining a compartment (Fig. 3), wherein the lifting actuator is at least partly positioned in the compartment in the box-shaped body (part of shaft 46, pulley 48 and an end of cable 50)(Fig. 3)(paragraphs [0035]-[0042]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 14-17, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if claims 3, 4, 6, 7, 14-17 and 20 are 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: in claim 3 - the driving element comprises a handle grippable by an operator, and a control ring at one end of the handle and rotatable about an axis of rotation, the control ring being rotatable in a first direction corresponding to the advance position and in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, corresponding to the return position; in claim 4 - the bead breaker actuator has a first end that is interconnected at a first connecting point inside the frame, and a second end that is connectable to the bead breaking arm at a second, adjustable connecting point so as to define a plurality of connection configurations, corresponding to a plurality of maximum distances between the first connecting point and the second connecting point, the tyre changing machine comprising an adjustment element to switch the bead breaker actuator from one connection configuration to another connection configuration; in claim 6 - the bead breaker tool is configured to rotate about a vertical adjustment axis; in claim 7 - the bead breaker tool is configured to rotate about a horizontal adjustment axis; in claim 14 - the driving element comprises, on the bead breaking arm, a handle grippable by an operator, and a control ring at one end of the handle, the method comprising a step of rotating the control ring about an axis of rotation in a first direction corresponding to the advance position and a step of rotating the control ring in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, corresponding to the return position; in claim 15 - the tyre changing machine comprises: - a plurality of control means; - a lifting device including a lifting arm and a supporting platform, defining a horizontal surface on which to rest the wheel and connected to the lifting arm; and wherein the method comprises a step of lifting the supporting platform to facilitate placing the wheel on the wheel-holder unit and a step of setting the wheel-holder unit in rotation, these steps being performed by means of one or more of the plurality of control means; in claim 16 - the bead breaker actuator has a first end that is interconnected with the frame at a first connecting point, and a second end that is connectable to the bead breaking arm at a second, adjustable connecting point so as to define a plurality of different positions of the second end of the bead breaker actuator, and wherein the tyre changing machine comprises an adjustment element, the method comprising the following steps: - connecting the second end of the bead breaker actuator to the second connecting point so as to define a connection configuration corresponding to a maximum distance between the first connecting point and the second connecting point; - switching the bead breaker actuator from a first connection configuration to a second connection configuration by adjusting the second connecting point using the adjustment element; in claim 17 - comprising a lubricating step, wherein a lubricant fluid is sprayed on a bead of the tyre by a nozzle mounted to the bead breaking arm, responsive to an activation of a spraying command included in the driving element, by the user who handles the driving element; and, in claim 20 - the driving element comprises a handle grippable by an operator, and a command component, located at the handle, the command component being connected to the driving element for commuting the driving element among the working positions of the plurality of working positions.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/