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 .
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, “a cylinder tube” of claim 3 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 Interpretation
Claims 1, 10, 12, and 18 recite the term, “and/or” and it is interpreted as --or--.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-3, 6, 8-14, 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hohensee (US 2007/0271762 A1) in view of Stankus et al (US 6,283,451 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Hohensee (‘762) discloses a cable tensioning unit comprising: a unit housing (figA, para[0016]), a hydraulic jack 14 (para[0020]), and a controller 28 (para[0017]); wherein the hydraulic jack 14 is coupled to a top portion (figA) of the unit housing (figA); and wherein the controller 28 is configured to control, monitor, and/or record pull information (para[0018]). It is noted that fig 1 of Hohensee shows that the hydraulic jack is coupled to the top portion of the unit housing via ports A,B and a feedback line 52 (para[0016],[0021]). Though fig 1 of Hohensee shows that ports A,B and a feedback line 52 seem to be removed from the hydraulic jack 14 and the top portion of the unit housing, Hohensee does not explicitly disclose in the written description that the hydraulic jack is removably coupled to the unit housing. It has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP2144.04 V.C.). Also, Stankus et al (‘451) teaches a use of fittings 115 (col.4 line30) to connect hydraulic lines 112,114 (col.4 lines28-30) to a hydraulic jack (col.2 line52, “hydraulic” cable tensioning device) of a hydraulic tensioning unit 2 (fig2, abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure to removably couple the hydraulic jack to the unit housing, since constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP2144.04 V.C.), and also as taught by Stankus et al, to provide easy storage by removing the hydraulic jack from the unit housing when not in use.
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Regarding claim 2, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the hydraulic jack includes one or more position sensors 48 (para[0021]) configured to transmit piston position to the controller (para[0021]).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the hydraulic jack comprises: a jack frame 40 (para[0020]), a piston rod 44 (para[0020]), a cylinder tube 42 (para[0020]), and a yoke 45 (para[0020]); wherein the piston rod 44 is configured to move the yoke 45 along the jack frame 40 (para[0020]).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller further comprises a control panel 30,32 (para[0018]).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller further comprises a controller interface 32 mounting to the unit housing; and wherein the controller interface 32 is configured to display real-time diagnostics (para[0018]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 8. Hohensee further discloses wherein the real-time diagnostics include one or more of cylinder position, fluid temperature, and hydraulic pressure (para[0023]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 8. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller 28 is configured to monitor a cylinder position and/or a fluid pressure (para[0023]) in real-time and display the cylinder position and/or the fluid pressure on the controller interface (para[0023],[0019]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 8. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller interface is configured to enable a user to input pull information (para[0018],[0019]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 11. Hohensee further discloses wherein the pull information includes one or more of bed number, bed length, strand size, strand number, target initial tension (para[0022]), target final tension (para[0022]), target final elongation, date, time, actual initial tension, and/or actual final tension (para[0022]).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 2. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller is configured to use a combination of the one or more position sensors 48 and one or more fluid pressure sensors (para[0023]) to generate at least a portion of the pull information for each strand pull (para[0021],[0023],[0026]).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 13. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller is configured to automatically load at least a portion of the pull information for a second strand after a first strand pull is complete (para[0025]-[0027]).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller is configured to display if at least a portion of the pull information is within a tolerance during a pull operation (para[0023]).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller is configured to generated calibration reports (para[0019]).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1. Hohensee further discloses wherein the controller is configured to record, display and/or update elongation corrections (para[0019]).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Hohensee (US 2007/0271762 A1) and Stankus et al (US 6,283,451 B1) in further view of Simms (3,755,880).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 3. Hohensee however does not explicitly disclose a use of a cable chuck and a clamp release. Simms (‘880) teaches a use of a cable chuck 225, wherein the cable chuck 225 (col.3 line46) is configured to enable a cable to slide along an interior portion thereof; and wherein the cable chuck 225 includes a clamp release 203 (col.3 line18) configured to be pushed to release a gripping force on the cable (col.3 lines44-53). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hohensee to use a cable chuck with a clamp release, as taught by Simms, for the purpose of releasing the cable after the tensioning of the cable has been completed (col.3 lines33-35).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Hohensee, Stankus et al, and Simms teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 4, wherein the yoke 45 (Hohensee) is configured to abut against a front portion of the cable chuck (Simms); and wherein the piston rod 44 (Hohensee) is configured to pull the yoke 45 (Hohensee) toward the cylinder tube 42 (Hohensee) which pulls the cable chuck (Simms) against the yoke 45 (Hohensee) applying tension to the cable (para[0020]-Hohensee).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Hohensee (US 2007/0271762 A1) and Stankus et al (US 6,283,451 B1) in further view of Jackson et al (US 2020/0295555 A1).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 6. Hohensee discloses wherein the control panel 30,32 includes a hydraulic actuator, a start button, a stop button, an initial tension actuator, a final tension actuator, an auxiliary actuator, and a controller interface (para[0018],[0019]), however, does not explicitly disclose a use of an emergency stop. Jackson et al (‘555) teaches a use of an emergency stop 12 (para[0052]) that can be pressed in the event of an emergency situation to request the halt of operation (para[0052]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hohensee to use an emergency stop, as taught by Jackson et al, so that the emergency stop can be pressed in the event of an emergency situation to request the halt of operation (para[0052]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Hohensee (US 2007/0271762 A1) and Stankus et al (US 6,283,451 B1) in further view of MacDonald et al (US 2021/0044093 A1).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Hohensee and Stankus et al teaches the cable tensioning unit of claim 1, however, does not explicitly disclose that the controller is configured to automatically save data. MacDonald et al (‘093) teaches a use of a controller which is configured to automatically save data during one or more transient operations (para[0047],[0048]) so that the collected/stored data can be queried and analyzed (para[0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hohensee to use a controller which is configured to automatically save data, as taught by MacDonald et al, so that the collected/stored data can be queried and analyzed (para[0048]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Seahee Hong whose telephone number is (571)270-5778. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8am-4pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at (571) 272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEAHEE HONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723