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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1149 filed 11/15/2023. This IDS has been considered.
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter et al. (DE 102008062249; “Schlachter”, see attached machine translation) in view of Wenzel (DE 9413947; see attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 7, Schlachter discloses in figure 1 a rocker pin load support (¶ [0012]), comprising a base plate (2) designed to include a concentric cylindrical recess (9) with a planar bottom surface (¶ [0017]), a rocker pin bolt (1) designed to include a ball-shaped underside (10) (¶ [0016]) and a spherical topside (19) (¶ [0015]), a rocker pin piece (13) designed to include a cylindrical recess (7) of a diameter which is greater than a diameter of an upper portion (18) of the rocker pin bolt (1), and a centrally introduced depression (3) (¶ [0014]; see figure 1), with the rocker pin bolt (1) being mounted pivotally in the cylindrical recess (9) of the base plate (2) via the ball-shaped underside (10) thereof and pivotally mounting the rocker pin piece (13) via the spherical topside (19) thereof (¶¶ [0014]-[0017]).
Schlachter is silent to the claimed cover.
In the same field of endeavor, Wenzel teaches in figures 1 and 2 a rocker pin load support (¶ [0004]) which includes a bell-shaped cover (4) of elastic plastic (¶ [0008]), said cover (4) having an upper edge portion which is connected hermetically sealed to the rocker pin piece (8) (¶ [0010]), and a lower edge portion which is connected hermetically sealed to the base plate (16), so that a space is formed (see space surrounding bolt (18) (¶ [0010]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include the claimed cover as taught by Wenzel in Schlachter’s load support for the purpose of shielding the load support from the environment so that the interior parts are protected from corrosion or cleaning detergents (Wenzel, ¶ [0011]).
As to the limitation an air or gas filling received in the space and governed with the proviso that the gas or air volume is greater than a sum of volumes of portions of the rocker pin bolt and the rocker pin piece which are enclosed by the air or gas filling, the limitation is not expressly disclosed but it is a byproduct of the combination of Schlachter and Wenzel. As shown in Wenzel figure 2, the result of including a cover is the creation of a space that is occupied by either air or an intentionally injected gas whose volume is equal to the space. The claim language requires that volume be “greater than a sum of volumes of portions of the rocker pin bolt and the rocker pin piece” but does not specify which portions of the structural elements. Therefore, these “portions” can be chosen to be arbitrarily small thereby meeting the claim limitation.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter in view of Wenzel as applied to claim 7 and further in view of Mishima (JP 2000249597; see attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 8, Schlachter and Wenzel disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Schlachter and Wenzel are silent to an antibacterial plastic.
Mishima generally teaches applying a coating of antibacterial agent to a housing or cover of a load measuring device (¶¶ [0012], [0018]).
This would suggest to one having ordinary skill in the art that Schlachter’s load support as modified by Wenzel can likewise be treated with an antibacterial coating.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to apply the teachings of Mishima to Schlachter’s load support as modified by Wenzel by applying an antibacterial coating to the cover for the purpose of keeping the load support protected from bacteria while also preventing blackening, slime, and bad odors (Mishima, ¶ [0024]).
This combination results in the cover being made of an antibacterial plastic (Wenzel already discloses the plastic cover, Mishima merely discloses a paint, ink or coating) without further modification necessary.
Regarding claim 9, Schlachter and Wenzel disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Schlachter and Wenzel are silent to an antibacterial coating applied upon the cover.
Mishima generally teaches applying a coating of antibacterial agent to a housing or cover of a load measuring device (¶¶ [0012], [0018]).
This would suggest to one having ordinary skill in the art that Schlachter’s load support as modified by Wenzel can likewise be treated with an antibacterial coating.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to apply the teachings of Mishima to Schlachter’s load support as modified by Wenzel by applying an antibacterial coating to the cover for the purpose of keeping the load support protected from bacteria while also preventing blackening, slime, and bad odors (Mishima, ¶ [0024]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter in view of Wenzel as applied to claim 7 and further in view of Dillon et al. (USPN 4,815,547; “Dillon”).
Regarding claim 12, Schlachter and Wenzel disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Wenzel teaches the sealed cover is used to protect the load support from corrosion found in the air (¶ [0011]).
Schlachter and Wenzel are silent specifically to an inert gas filling.
In the same field of endeavor, Dillon generally teaches filling spaces surrounding rocker pin load supports with an inert gas (col. 13, lines 37-55).
Therefore, based on the combined teachings of the prior art, it would be within the purview of a skilled artisan to fill Wenzel’s space with an inert gas. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to fill Wenzel’s cover with an inert gas as suggest by Dillon for the purpose of protecting the load support from whatever corrosive chemical may be in the weighing environment.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 10, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a rocker pin load support as claimed wherein the cover is made of at least two plastic layers in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 11, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a rocker pin load support as claimed comprising a hygroscopic substance placed in the air or gas filling in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. USPN 9,612,150 discloses a rocker pin load support with a cover.
USPN 9,164,004 discloses a rocker pin load support with a hermetically sealed cover.
US 2005/0139018 discloses a rocker pin load support with a cover.
USPN 5,712,432 discloses a rocker pin load support with a cover.
USPN 5,566,575 discloses a rocker pin load support with a hermetically sealed cover.
USPN 4,8041,053 discloses a rocker pin load support with a hermetically sealed cover.
USPN 4,733,571 discloses a rocker pin load support with a cover.
USPN 4,258,810 and USPN 4,258,814 disclose rocker pin load supports each with a bell-shaped cover.
USPN 3,621,927 discloses a rocker pin load support with a cover.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATALIE HULS whose telephone number is (571)270-5914. The examiner can normally be reached T-F 7-4 EST.
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/NATALIE HULS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2863