Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/497,441

REMOVING APPARATUS FOR REMOVING A FRAME FROM A SOLAR PANEL OF A SOLAR CELL MODULE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 30, 2023
Priority
Aug 24, 2023 — TW 112131935
Examiner
KIM, PAUL D
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
National University Of Tainan
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
1379 granted / 1572 resolved
+27.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
54 currently pending
Career history
1617
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
38.2%
-1.8% vs TC avg
§102
26.9%
-13.1% vs TC avg
§112
31.9%
-8.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1572 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Claim Objections Claims 10 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities: Re. claim 10: The phrase “the solar cell module 900 carried by” as recited in line 2 appears to be --the solar cell module carried by--. Appropriate correction is required. 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fan et al. (CN-115179022 A). Fan et al. teach a removing apparatus for removing a frame (g1, Fig. 1) from a solar panel (g3) of a solar cell module G, Fig. 1), the frame including front, rear, left and right frame parts attached to front, rear, left and right sides of the solar panel and each having two ends as shown in Fig. 1, comprising: a frame mechanism j, Fig. 2); a transporting mechanism (a conveyor, s, Figs. 2 and 7) which is mounted on the frame mechanism for carrying and transporting the solar cell module as shown in Fig. 2; a panel fixing mechanism (A, Fig. 8) which is mounted on the frame mechanism, the panel fixing mechanism being operable to move the solar cell module upwardly (by a telescopic cylinder, a21) away from the transporting mechanism and to be retainingly connected with the solar panel as shown in Fig. 8; and a removing mechanism (3, Fig. 2) which is mounted on the frame mechanism and disposed above the transporting mechanism, the removing mechanism including front, rear, left and right removing modules (B and C, Fig. 7) which are operable to be respectively registered with the front, rear, left and right frame parts, each of the front, rear, left and right removing modules being driven individually to thrust sequentially the two ends of a corresponding one of the front, rear, left and right frame parts so as to remove firstly one end (a short side) of the corresponding frame part and then the other end (a long side) thereof from the solar panel (i.e., the photovoltaic assembly G is conveyed to a frame removing station (2); s2, dismantling the frame: s21, after the photovoltaic assembly G with the junction box G7 disassembled is conveyed to a frame disassembling station, the photovoltaic assembly G is clamped by relative movement of a second pressing mechanism a1 and a second lifting mechanism a2, an upper glass cover plate G2 of the photovoltaic assembly G faces upwards, and a lower bottom plate G4 faces downwards after positioning; s22, the photovoltaic module G after positioning is realized by adopting a short edge dismantling unit C, under the motion regulation of a positioning area and a first driver C31, two groups of inner supporting mold strips C11 are positioned right above an upper glass cover plate G2 and are relatively attached to the upper glass cover plate G2, and then the inner supporting mold bases C10 synchronously move in opposite directions along the direction of a long edge G10, so that the inner supporting mold strips C11 are relatively attached to the surface of the upper glass cover plate G2 and move from inside to outside to synchronously open the short edges G11 of a frame G1; s23, after the short edge is removed, the long edge removing units B are adopted, two groups of long edge removing units B synchronously and in the same direction remove long edges G10 on two sides, specifically, under the driving of a stripping power device B3, a stripping frame seat B11 moves forwards from back, at the moment, a pinch roller assembly B2 keeps pressing and pressing the edges of an upper glass cover plate G2 and a lower base plate G4 and synchronously moves along with the stripping frame seat B11, a front supporting wheel B120 moves above the upper glass cover plate G2 and is abutted to the inner side of the long edge G10 from the wheel surface, meanwhile, the front supporting wheel B120 is abutted to the inner side of the long edge G10 and moves forwards until a rear supporting wheel B121 is contacted with the long edge G10 and forces the long edge G10 to be relatively separated from a photovoltaic assembly G (namely the edges of the upper glass cover plate G2 and the lower base plate G4), meanwhile, an upper shovel blade B132 and a lower shovel blade B133 which are attached to the upper glass cover plate G2 and the lower base plate G4 from the back synchronously remove adhesive strips G5 and lower adhesive strips G6, the stripped long edge G10 sequentially passes through a stripping channel, and the stripping channel 10B moves away from the stripping channel, wherein the stripping channel 10B is kept at the end of the stripping channel 10 and the stripping channel 10B) as shown in Figs. 7-13. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-11 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. The Prior Art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim (PGPub 2024/0322748 A1), Fu (US PAT. 12,602,668), and Wang et al. (US PAT. 11,811,357) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to a removing apparatus for removing a frame from a solar panel of a solar cell module. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM. 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, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. 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. /PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 30, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1572 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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