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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based PCT/TR2022/018137, however, a certified copy of that document has not been received.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the:
“at least two depth adjusting mechanisms consisting of a splined shaft, adjusting arm, and a jack lever”
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. In the drawings provided, while elements are labeled as these components, due to the drawing quality and the views shown, the details of these element can not be seen. These elements need to be more clearly shown to aid in understanding of the invention.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical, idiomatic, and antecedent basis errors. The claim also contains various limitations that appear to be recited in method step format rather than functional limitations as would be proper for an apparatus claim.
Further with regards to claim 1, the following are examples of various issues, note that this is not an exhaustive list:
the phrase “such as” in line 2 renders the claim indefinite as it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention;
“the blasting system… and roller system” in lines 4-5 lack antecedent basis in the claim;
It is unclear what is considered to constitute “blasting” soil;
It is unclear what would be a “counter part” to an adjustment pin (line 8);
“the objects broken by the crushing blade” (line 23) lacks antecedent basis in the claim.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,181,476 – Rau et al.
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Rau teaches:
An agricultural machine (as shown in Figure 6) capable of preparing soil for planting of grains that are sown in rows, comprising:
A main chassis having a transmission box that transfers power taken from a tractor (chassis shown in Figure , power taken from tractor via PTO 119, the transmission box is considered to be the connection between 119 and the pulley system driving rotary device pointed to by 14, 102) to a crushing system (102),
A three point linkage (110) that connects to a tractor during transportation;
A blasting system (19) and an adjustment pin (pin at the upper end of 20 to position the tool in the holes shown);
Crushing blades (14, 102), a roof panel and a side panel (as shown the rotary device is in an enclosed housing);
A spring curtain (15, 80); and
A roller system (17) that can be lifted upwards with a hydraulic lift (as shown 17 is lifted by element 30, which could be replaced with a hydraulic lift – note that the claim does not require the hydraulic lift).
Rau lacks wherein the blasting system includes a depth adjustment mechanism consisting of a splined shaft, adjusting arm and a jack level; and
Wherein the drive system comprises multiple gears connecting the transmission box to the crushing blades (note that Rao uses a pulley system to transfer rotational power from the transmission box to the rotary tool).
A series of gears and a pulley system are considered to be mechanical equivalents in the art for transferring rotational power from a drive source to a driven tool on an agricultural implement. As such, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the belt and pulley drive of Rao with a geared drive system as the two are known and readily interchangeable in the art.
With regards to the depth adjustment system, the Examiner takes Official Notice wherein depth adjustment systems consisting of a splined shaft, adjusting arm and a jack level is an old and well-known configuration for adjusting the depth of tools on an agricultural frame. As such, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Rao to add a depth adjustment system as claimed for the blasting system tools to provide additional control of the depth of the tines of the blasting system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew D Troutman whose telephone number is (571)270-3654. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joe Thomas can be reached at 571-272-8004. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Matthew Troutman/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679