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 .
This is the First Office Action on the merits of Application No. 18/490318, filed on 10/19/2023. Claims 1-10 are still pending in the application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-8, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JPH 06-129131 to Morioka (henceforth referred to as Morioka).
Regarding claims 1-4, 7-8, 10, Morioka discloses a stereo garage (i.e. Fig. 1), characterized in comprising:
a main body (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10) provided with a lifting shaft, wherein the lifting shaft is provided with an opening (i.e. Fig. 1, ref 10b);
a lifting platform (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 20) located in the lifting shaft, wherein the lifting platform can ascend or descend in the lifting shaft along a height direction of the main body, such that the lifting platform can switch between an initial position (i.e. shown in Fig. 1) and an end position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, upper ref. 20), wherein the lifting platform can close the opening when the lifting platform is located in the initial position (i.e. shown in Fig. 1, ref. 12 and 20 in their lowered positions, respectively);
an anti-falling device connected to the main body, wherein the anti falling device comprises a blocking rod (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 12) which can be switched between a locking position (i.e. shown in Fig. 1, ref. 12) and an unlocking position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, upper ref. 12);
wherein the blocking rod can block a movement of a vehicle when the blocking rod is located in the locking position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, ref. 12 dotted line, and the lifting platform can cause the blocking rod to be switched from the locking position to the unlocking position when the lifting platform comes into the initial position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, position of ref. 20 and 12 dotted line to solid line).
Characterized in that the anti-falling device comprises a connection member (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 22e), an abutting rod (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 22d), a first pulley (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. R5 top right), a first guide rail (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 11), and a second guide rail (i.e. Fig. 1, other ref. 11), wherein the first pulley is fixedly connected to the top of the first guide rail, and along the height direction of the stereo garage, the abutting rod is slidably connected on the first guide rail, the connection member is wound around the first pulley, one end of the connection member is connected to the abutting rod and the other end thereof is connected to the blocking rod (i.e. page 6, lines 4-7: “A shutter plate 12 … is connected to the outer portions of the pair of cords 22e, 22e, and… pins 22d, 22d It is connected to the inner portions of the cords 22e, 22e”), wherein the lifting platform can abut against (i.e. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines abut 1: to border on: to touch along an edge; ref. 22d borders on ref. 20) the abutting rod to cause the blocking rod to move relative to the abutting rod and be switched from the locking position to the unlocking position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, position of ref. 20 and 12 dotted line to solid line).
Characterized in that the anti-falling device comprises a connection member (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 22e), an abutting rod (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 22d), a first pulley (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. R5 top right), a first guide rail (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 11), a second pulley (i.e. Fig. 6, other lower ref. R5), a second guide rail (i.e. Fig. 1, other ref. 11), and an extension rod (i.e. Fig. 2, not reference but upper bracket where motor, ref. M1, and shaft, ref. 13, are mounted), wherein one end of the extension rod is connected to a side wall (i.e. Fig. 1, side wall seen around ref. 10 but not referenced) at the top of the first guide rail, the second pulley is fixedly (i.e. fixed pulleys are indirectly connected to abutting rod) connected to the abutting rod, the first pulley is fixedly connected to the top of the first guide rail (i.e. Fig. 6, R5 top right), and along the height direction of the stereo garage, the abutting rod slidably connected on the second guide rail, the connection member is wound around the first pulley and the second pulley in sequence, one end of the connection member is connected to the extension rod and the other end thereof is connected to the abutting rod to cause the blocking rod to move relative to the abutting rod (i.e. page 6, lines 4-7: “A shutter plate 12 … is connected to the outer portions of the pair of cords 22e, 22e, and… pins 22d, 22d It is connected to the inner portions of the cords 22e, 22e”) and be switched from the locking position to the unlocking position (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, position of ref. 20 and 12 dotted line to solid line).
Characterized in that , the connection member is provided as a wire rope (i.e. Machine translation page 3, 8th paragraph: “cords (which are generally referred to as… wires, ropes, …”).
Characterized in that the lifting platform comprises a base (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, ref. 21) and a protruding rod (i.e. shown in Fig. 3, ref. 21a), the protruding rod is connected to the base, and the protruding rod protrudes from one end of the base and can abut against the abutting rod (i.e. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines abut 1: to border on: to touch along an edge; ref. 21, 21a, and 22d would all be adjacent or abutting each other).
Characterized in that the stereo garage further comprises a vehicle driving passage (i.e. Fig. 1, space behind ref. 10b), and the vehicle driving passage and the lifting platform are respectively located at two sides of the anti-falling device.
Characterized in that one vehicle driving passage and one anti-falling device are set as a lane group (i.e. Fig. 1, space behind ref. 10b and platform, ref. 20, respectively), and two such lane groups (i.e. Fig. 1, space car is parked at in front of ref. 10a and ref. 20 is a second lane group) are oppositely provided at two ends relative to the lifting platforms, respectively.
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) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JPH 06-129131 to Morioka.
Morioka does not specifically teach a distance between the blocking rod an dan upper surface of the vehicle driving passage is 30cm-50cm. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a distance between the blocking rod and the upper surface of the vehicle drive passage be 30-50cm to prevent fall but allow visibility into the platform to view the car since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 1207836390 to Lai et al teaches a landing door safety structure;
CN 120534844 to Zhang et al teaches an automatic safety door for a construction elevator;
WO 2021/139908 to Fassler et al teaches a door access for parking apparatus;
KR 10-2005-0011557 to Hwang teaches a stereo garage access
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654