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 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) 1-6, 9-13, 17, 20, 21, 23, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McLane (USPub 2019/0063565).
With respect to claim 1, McLane discloses a work implement [0003] including a driveline (108) configured for connecting to a PTO (302) of a powered vehicle, the work implement comprising: a frame (102) including a draft tongue (120) having an aperture configured for receiving a hitch pin for hitching the work implement to the powered vehicle (Figs 1-2); and a driveline support (100) pivotable between a stowed position (Fig 1) and a working position (Fig 2), the driveline support comprising: a support (114) including a surface configured for receiving the driveline when the driveline support is positioned in the working position (at contact point 204 in Fig 2); the support further including a guide (111) for positioning the driveline at a first position such that the aperture of the draft tongue is unobstructed by the driveline and accessible to receive the hitch pin (As shown in Fig 4, the width of the support 114 is wide enough that the driveline can move laterally along arrow 402 such that the hitch pin aperture shown in Figs 1-2 is exposed; the guide acts as a stop so the driveline does not fall off of the support 114); and a height-adjustment bar (110) pivotably mounted to said frame (at 104), the support being connected to the height-adjustment bar so as to set a height of the support by rotation of the height-adjustment bar [0036], wherein the driveline is positionable in a second position on the support such that the driveline is connectable to and disconnectable from the PTO (Figs 3A-3B).
With respect to claim 2, wherein the work implement is one of a rotary cutter, a tiller, and a bailer [0003].
With respect to claim 3, wherein the driveline support is fixedly connected to the frame [0020].
With respect to claim 4, wherein the driveline support is fixedly connected to the frame at a predetermined distance from the aperture of the draft tongue (Figs 1-2).
With respect to claim 5, wherein the predetermined distance is selected so that the driveline of the work implement may be positioned against the guide so that the aperture of the draft tongue is unobstructed and accessible to receive the hitch pin ([0046] discloses that the width of the support 114 is wide such that the driveline may move laterally along arrow 402 as shown in Fig 4 if it is initially misaligned with the PTO; however, this lateral movement would also allow the hitch pin aperture to be unobstructed; also, the predetermined distance would be such that the lateral movement is wide enough to accommodate a variety of misalignment amounts).
With respect to claim 6, wherein the predetermined distance is selected so that the driveline is removably connectable to a PTO of a first powered vehicle and a PTO of a second powered vehicle (the width of the support 114 is wide enough that the driveline could move along arrow 402 to accommodate PTO assemblies on a variety of vehicle sizes; [0033]).
With respect to claim 9, the driveline support further comprising a stop configured to prevent over-rotation of the height-adjustment bar [0025].
With respect to claim 10, further comprising a bracket configured for mounting the height-adjustment bar to the frame (structure in Fig 2 that pivot 104 is attached to).
With respect to claim 11, wherein the bracket comprises a slot for mounting a pivot, the height-adjustment bar being mounted to said pivot (Fig 2).
With respect to claims 12 and 23, wherein the support comprises a roller assembly (114) comprising a roller body mounted to a bushing [0027].
With respect to claims 13 and 21, wherein the driveline rests on the roller body (at contact point 204) and the guide prevents the driveline from sliding off of the roller body without a user lifting the driveline over the guide (Fig 2, guide 111 blocks driveline from sliding off roller body 114).
With respect to claims 17 and 24, wherein the height-adjustment bar comprises a plurality of apertures (113), and wherein the support is removably insertable in a selected one of the plurality of apertures [0033].
With respect to claim 20, McLane discloses a driveline support configured for supporting a driveline of a work implement [0003] when connecting the driveline (108) to a PTO (302) of a powered vehicle comprising: a support (114) including a first portion and a second portion, the support including a surface ( at contact point 204) configured for receiving the driveline when the driveline support is positioned in a working position (Fig 2); a guide (111) connected to the second portion (opposite end of 114) of the support, the guide providing a detent for positioning the driveline at a first position wherein the driveline is not aligned with the PTO and does not obstruct a hitch pin aperture of the work implement (As shown in Fig 4, the width of the support 114 is wide enough that the driveline can move laterally along arrow 402 such that the hitch pin aperture shown in Figs 1-2 is exposed; the guide acts as a stop so the driveline does not fall off of the support 114); and a height-adjustment bar (110) pivotably mounted to the work implement (at 104), the first portion (end of 114 connected to bar 110 via cradle 106) of the support being connected to the height-adjustment bar so as to set a height of the support by rotation of the height-adjustment bar [0036], wherein the driveline is positionable in a second position on the support such that the driveline is aligned with and connectable to and disconnectable from the PTO (Figs 3A-3B).
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 7, 8, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLane (USPub 2019/0063565).
With respect to claim 7, McLane discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein said first powered vehicle is a powered vehicle including a PTO positioned at a minimum vertical height according to an ISO 500 standard. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to form the driveline support such that it can accommodate a PTO on a vehicle according to an ISO 500 standard, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
With respect to claim 7, McLane discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the support has a length of about 5 inches to about 8 inches. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to try forming the support such that is has a length of about 5 inches to about 8 inches, 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.
With respect to claim 16, McLane discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the support extends about 4 inches to about 2.5 inches above the draft tongue when the driveline support is positioned in the stowed position. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to try forming the support such that it extends about 4 inches to about 2.5 inches above the draft tongue when the driveline support is positioned in the stowed position, 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.
Claims 18, 19, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLane (USPub 2019/0063565) in view of Lippke (US 3,007,535).
McLane discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the support is slidably mounted to the height-adjustment bar. Lippke discloses a support (164) that is slidably mounted via rails (153, 154) to a support panel (134). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of McLane in view of the teachings to use a sliding rail system to mount the support roller carriage (106) of McLane to the height-adjustment bar rather than using a bolt/aperture connection in order to have more adjustment locations for setting the height.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14, 15, and 22 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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