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, the elongated inner tubular member 134 of claims 2 and 6 must be shown or the feature canceled from the claims. Note that the elongated inner tubular member is shown as having a solid cross section in Figs. 3-5. 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 Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 1, “is” should be removed;
Line 2, “comprises” should be “comprising”; and,
Line 3, “is” should be “being”.
Claims 4, 7, and 8 are objected to similarly to claim 3.
Claims 6-8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 1, "caster assembly" should be replaced with “rolling ladder”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (KR20130139064) in view of Bender (DE102008037756).
Re claim 1, Hong discloses a bushing guided caster assembly (14) for a rolling ladder (Figs. 1-4) comprising: an outer housing (20); an inner tubular slide (21) sliding within the outer housing; a caster (12) is attached to the inner slide; and a gas spring formed in the inner tubular slide (see para. [0035] of the MT of Hong: “the suspension (14) can be applied with things such as a rigid spring, a gas cylinder, a shock absorber, etc.) wherein the inner slide slides up within the housing as an increasing force is applied downwardly on the housing until the inner tubular slide has traveled a preselected distance (see para. [0039] of the MT of Hong: “the suspension (14) is compressed and its height is reduced, and eventually, the brake (15) on the safety staircase body (13) touches the ground, so that the entire safety staircase can be fixed”).
Hong fails to disclose the inner tubular member sliding with the outer housing on bushings. Bender teaches guide bushings (see Fig. 2: upper guide bushing 16 and lower guide bushing 17) between an inner tubular slide 2 and an outer housing 1 of a gas spring 22 (see e.g., para. [0018] of the MT of Bender: “gas spring”).
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 guide bushings in the gas spring disclosed by Hong according to the teachings of Bender in order to guidably slide the inner tubular slide on the outer housing (see e.g., para. [0018] of Bender: “The upper housing part 2, which forms the piston rod of the gas spring/gas spring, is guided by an upper guide bushing 16 and a lower guide bushing 17 during extension and retraction”).
Re claim 2, Hong in view of Bender disclose the caster assembly according to claim 1 wherein the gas spring comprises an intermediate tubular member (10 in Fig. 2 of Bender) and an elongated inner tubular member (8 in Fig. 2 of Bender) which slides within the intermediate tubular member. Note also that Hong discloses “a piston (not shown) with a valve function, fluid, etc. are installed and filled inside the internal and external cylinders”, see para. [0036] of the MT of Hong.
Re claims 3 and 4, Hong in view of Bender fail to disclose the caster assembly further comprising an anti-rotation tab attached to the outer housing, the anti-rotation tab comprising a slot for receiving a pin which rides therein, rotation of the inner slide being prevented by the pin and slot. However, Hong in view of Bender disclose “a slot (24) is formed on the side of the outer cylinder (20) to guide the up and down movement of the fixed bolt (23)”, see Fig. 1 and para. [0038] of the MT of Hong. Per MPEP 2144.04.V.C, making separable what is integral in the prior art is prima facie obvious. Accordingly, 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 a separate slotted anti-rotation tab instead of the integrated slot of Hong in order to make the slot separate from the outer housing.
Re claim 5, Hong in view of Bender disclose a rolling ladder (Figs. 1-4) comprising: a rolling ladder (13) having fixed feet (15) for contacting a floor or surface; a caster assembly (14) comprising an outer housing (20); an inner tubular slide (21) sliding within the outer housing; a caster (12) attached to the inner slide; and a gas spring formed in the inner tubular slide (see para. [0035] of the MT of Hong: “the suspension (14) can be applied with things such as a rigid spring, a gas cylinder, a shock absorber, etc.) wherein the inner slide slides up within the housing (see Figs. 5a and 5b of Hong) wherein the outer housing is attached to a rear of the ladder (see para. [0033] of the MT of Hong: “at the four corners at the bottom of the safety staircase body”) wherein when an increasing force is applied downwardly on the ladder by a user on the ladder the inner tubular travels a preselected distance until the fixed ladder feet contact the floor or surface upon which the ladder is supported (see para. [0039] of the MT of Hong: “the suspension (14) is compressed and its height is reduced, and eventually, the brake (15) on the safety staircase body (13) touches the ground, so that the entire safety staircase can be fixed”).
Hong fails to disclose the inner tubular member sliding with the outer housing on bushings. Bender teaches guide bushings (see Fig. 2: upper guide bushing 16 and lower guide bushing 17) between an inner tubular slide 2 and an outer housing 1 of a gas spring 22 (see e.g., para. [0018] of the MT of Bender: “gas spring”).
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 guide bushings in the gas spring disclosed by Hong according to the teachings of Bender in order to guidably slide the inner tubular slide on the outer housing (see e.g., para. [0018] of Bender: “The upper housing part 2, which forms the piston rod of the gas spring/gas spring, is guided by an upper guide bushing 16 and a lower guide bushing 17 during extension and retraction”).
Re claim 6, Hong in view of Bender disclose the caster assembly according to claim 5 wherein the gas spring comprises an intermediate tubular member (10 in Fig. 2 of Bender) and an elongated inner tubular member (8 in Fig. 2 of Bender) which slides within the intermediate tubular member. Note also that Hong discloses “a piston (not shown) with a valve function, fluid, etc. are installed and filled inside the internal and external cylinders”, see para. [0036] of the MT of Hong.
Re claims 7 and 8, Hong in view of Bender fail to disclose the caster assembly further comprising an anti-rotation tab attached to the outer housing, the anti-rotation tab comprising a slot for receiving a pin which rides therein, rotation of the inner slide being prevented by the pin and slot. However, Hong in view of Bender disclose “a slot (24) is formed on the side of the outer cylinder (20) to guide the up and down movement of the fixed bolt (23)”, see Fig. 1 and para. [0038] of the MT of Hong. Per MPEP 2144.04.V.C, making separable what is integral in the prior art is prima facie obvious. Accordingly, 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 a separate slotted anti-rotation tab instead of the integrated slot of Hong in order to make the slot separate from the outer housing.
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.
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, Daniel Cahn can be reached at (571) 270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BAP/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634