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.
Claims 1-3, 10, 14, 19, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by JP 09290300 (cited in the previous office action).
In regard to claim 1, the Japanese document shows roller conveyor system 1 with a continuous carry belt 4 to carry a bulk material a plurality of idler rollers 2/2a/2b/2b’ for supporting the continuous carry belt. The plurality of idler rollers 2/2a/2b/2b’ are mounted to a frame (not shown, but some form or frame would be inherent). Two or more idler rollers 2b/2b’ are configured to induce an oscillatory motion of the continuous carry belt that is transmitted to the bulk material due to the fact that the idler rollers 2b/2b’ define an undulating, corrugated or sinusoidal travel path for the continuous carry belt (see translation paragraph 0018 reference to the conveyor belt being “configured to move while undulating”).
In regard to claim 2, a first idler roller 2b is offset or eccentric to a second idler roller 2b (see the roller illustrated in dashed lines in the annotated figure below) to induce the oscillatory motion.
In regard to claims 3 and 14, some of the plurality of idler rollers 2/2a/2b/2b’ may be divided into idler roller sets RS1/RS2 to induce the oscillatory motion. Each idler roller set comprises a first idler roller 2b1 offset or eccentric to both a second idler roller 2b2 and a third idler roller 2b3.
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In regard to claims 10 and 19, the oscillatory motion of the belt 4 is at an oblique angle to the continuous carry belt or substantially transverse or orthogonal to the continuous carry belt 4 (see figure 3).
In regard to claim 22, in the method of operation described in the Japanese document, the bulk load being transported by the continuous carry belt 4 of the roller conveyor system 1 is a soft soil such as mud (see paragraph 0001 of the translation) that is mixed with a solidifying agent such as cement from nozzles 6 which would act to dry the mud as it is mixed by the oscillatory motion assembly described above. The oscillatory motion assembly includes a plurality of idler rollers 2/2a/2b/2b’ mounted to a first frame. The idler rollers 2/2a/2b/2b’ support the continuous carry belt 4. A first idler roller 2b is arranged offset or eccentric to a second idler 2b (illustrated in dashed lines as discussed above) to induce an oscillatory motion in the continuous carry belt that is transmitted to the bulk material. The arranging of the idler rollers includes arranging respective upper support surfaces of the idler rollers 2b to be in different planes relative to the continuous carry belt and arranging the idler rollers to define an undulating, corrugated or sinusoidal travel path for the continuous carry belt.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12, 14, 20-21, and 23-32are 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.
Claim 33 is allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK A DEUBLE whose telephone number is (571)272-6912. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday flex schedule.
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/MARK A DEUBLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
