DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed December 12, 2023. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-19 are pending. Claims 10-18 are withdrawn as set forth below. Claims 1-9 and 19 stand rejected as set forth below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 10-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 23, 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “8” has been used to designate both the slope sensor and the boom rest. 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. 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 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “sensor” is misspelled in line 19. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “lift” is misspelled in line 2. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: the phrase in line 1 is assumed to be “an LED panel”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the horizontal surface" in line 11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Applicant should note claims 2-9 and 19 stand rejected as being dependent on a rejected claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the chassis surface" in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the top" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the bottom" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase “measuring/updating” in indefinite as it is unclear if the applicant intends the slash to represent an “or”, “and” or “and/or”. Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding claim 7, the phrase “if the aerial life is equipped with a suitable set of stabilizers” is indefinite as it is unclear what defines the “suitability” of a set of stabilizers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 19 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art Mourlam (US 10,435,283) discloses a slope adjustment system for an aerial lift (Figs 1, 2) comprising a pedestal (56) sitting on a movable chassis, a turret (54) connected to a top of the pedestal and able to rotate horizontally (Figs 4a-c), a lower boom (22) connected to an upper boom (24) with a knuckle therebetween (Fig 2); the adjustment system comprising a sensor (52) to measure in real-time a chassis angle that is the angle of the chassis relative to a horizontal surface (col 6, lines 32-45), a hydraulic control valve (44) for controlling levelling (col 5, lines 25-38), and a control module (70) which receives real-time values of the chassis angle as measured by the sensor and switches the hydraulic valve on or off based on the values received and an algorithm (col 9, lines 22-58) (Fig 5). Mourlam does not disclose the sensor as a plurality of sensors, a slope sensor located on a bottom of the turret and a lower boom sensor on the lower boom; the hydraulic enable valve being on the turret to raise or lower the boom and a boom rest having a mechanical stow switch on its top for stopping the slope sensor from measuring or updating the chassis angle. Since the devices of Mourlam is able to level the turret even if the ground is not level there would be no reason to modify the boom of Mourlam to be prevented from being raised when the ground is not level.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See list of references on PTO-892.
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/BRIAN D MATTEI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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