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 Objections
Claims 10-12 are objected to because of the following informalities: “said machining tools”; “the machining tools”; “at least one of the machining tools”, should be “the at least one machining tool” for clarity and consistency with the limitation in claim 1.
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.
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.
Claims 1-20 are 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.
Claims 1 and 18 recite: “a horizontal surface for supporting the slabs” and “parallel to the support surface”. As claimed, it is unclear whether the “horizontal surface” and “support surface” are the same feature or entirely different parts. For examination purposes, the limitation of “the support surface” has been construed as “the horizontal surface”.
Claim 7 recites: “a plurality of spindles”. Claim 1 introduces “at least one spindle”. As claimed, it is unclear if both recited spindles are referring to the same or an entirely different feature. For examination purposes, claim 7’s “a plurality of spindles” has been construed as the same from claim 1.
Claim 11 recites: “a rotation axis”. As claimed, it is unclear if this axis is referring to the same “a rotation axis” introduced in claim 1 or a different axis. For examination purposes, claim 11’s “rotation axis” has been construed as “another rotation axis”
Claim 11 recites: “the axis of extension” and lacks antecedent basis since it has not been introduced. For examination purposes, the limitation of “the axis of extension” has been construed as “an axis of extension”.
Claim 12 recites: “the machining tools has the respective rotation axis” and lacks antecedent basis since it has not been introduced. For examination purposes, the limitation of “the respective rotation axis” has been construed as “a respective rotation axis”.
Claim 12 recites: “the axis of extension” and lacks antecedent basis since it has not been introduced. For examination purposes, the limitation of “the axis of extension” has been construed as “an axis of extension”.
Claim 16 recites: “the support surface”. As claimed, it is unclear whether the “horizontal surface” of claim 1 and “support surface” of claim 16 are the same feature or entirely different parts. For examination purposes, the limitation of “the support surface” has been construed as “the horizontal surface”.
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 1-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guazzoni (US 10675780 B2).
Referring to claim 1: Guazzoni discloses a machine (1 Fig. 1) for machining slabs made of stone, stone-like, agglomerate or ceramic material, comprising:
- a pair of fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1) designed to delimit a working area (working area for 3/8 shown in Fig. 1);
- a horizontal surface (surface of 5 Fig. 1) for supporting the slabs (3/8 Fig. 1) during machining thereof, positioned in said working area;
- a fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) supported by said fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1);
- a horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) movable with respect to the fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) and comprising at least one spindle (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) which is slidably mounted on said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) and designed to have at least one machining tool (35, 49, and 51 Fig. 2; “the invention may therefore preferably comprise from two to eight or more additional electrospindles rotationally and translationally integral with the first electrospindle, according to configurations having from three to nine or more electrospindles in total” Col. 10, lines 28-33) mounted thereon;
- movement means (55/55’ Figs. 5b, 5c, and 5d; “the actuator devices 55, 55′ are configured to act on the supporting arms 47, 48 and are configured to insert/extract the respective supporting arm 47, 48 into/from the housing zone 33′” Col. 25, lines 49-52) for moving said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) with respect to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) along a predetermined direction of advancing movement (advancing movement from 9 to 7 Fig. 1) lying in a plane which is parallel to the support surface (surface of 5 Fig. 1);
- rotation means (29 Fig. 3; “the actuator device 29 comprises an electric motor 30, preferably, of the brushless type, which rotates the first electrospindle 11 about the axis Z by means of a gear motor 31” Col. 20, lines 38-41) for rotating said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) with respect to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) about a rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1) which is arranged vertically; wherein said rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1) is fixed.
Referring to claim 2: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, further comprising an interconnecting intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5) arranged between said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) and said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) and coupled both to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) and to said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2).
Referring to claim 3: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 2, characterized in that said intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5) is coupled to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) rotatably about the rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 4: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 3, characterized in that said rotation means (29 Fig. 3; “the actuator device 29 comprises an electric motor 30, preferably, of the brushless type, which rotates the first electrospindle 11 about the axis Z by means of a gear motor 31” Col. 20, lines 38-41) comprise a motorized fifth wheel (31 Fig. 3) for the rotatable coupling between said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) and said intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5).
Referring to claim 5: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 2, characterized in that said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) is slidably mounted (via 55/55’ Figs. 5b, 5c, and 5d) on said intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5).
Referring to claim 6: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 5, characterized in that said movement means (55/55’ Figs. 5b, 5c, and 5d) comprise at least one pair of guides (58 and 58’ Fig. 5b) and a series of shoes (59 and 59’ Fig. 5b) slidably mounted on said guides (58 and 58’ Fig. 5b), said guides (58 and 58’ Fig. 5b) being mounted on said intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5) and said shoes (59 and 59’ Fig. 5b) being coupled to the movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) for the slidable mounting of the movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) on said intermediate element (33 Figs. 2 and 5).
Referring to claim 7: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of spindles (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) slidably mounted (via 37, 47, and 48) on said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2), at least one of said spindles (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) being provided with a suction cup manipulator device (40 Fig. 2; “the manipulator group 39 comprises gripping means 40 of the suction type” Col. 21, lines 57-58; “the gripping means 40 are provided with a plurality of pneumatically-activated suction cups” Col. 21, lines 60-62).
Referring to claim 8: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, further comprising at least one suction cup manipulator device (40 Fig. 2; “the manipulator group 39 comprises gripping means 40 of the suction type” Col. 21, lines 57-58; “the gripping means 40 are provided with a plurality of pneumatically-activated suction cups” Col. 21, lines 60-62) mounted on said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2).
Referring to claim 9: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of spindles (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) slidably mounted on said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2), there being provided means for adjusting the inclination (via 37 Fig. 2) of at least one of said spindles (11 Fig. 2) with respect to a vertical plane.
Referring to claim 10: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the machine is designed for the cutting of slabs, said machining tools (35, 49, and 51 Fig. 2) comprising cutting tools (“cutting discs 35, 49 and 51” Col. 29, line 22).
Referring to claim 11: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the machining tools (35, 49, and 51 Fig. 2) have a rotation axis (tool spinning axis of 35, 49, and 51 shown in Fig. 2) which is substantially horizontal and parallel to the axis of extension (extension axis of 47\48 shown in Figs. 5B and 5D) of said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2).
Referring to claim 12: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the machining tools (35, 49, and 51 Fig. 2) has the respective rotation axis (tool spinning axis of 35 shown in Fig. 7e) inclinable relative to the axis of extension (extension axis of 47\48 shown in Figs. 5B and 5D) of the movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2).
Referring to claim 13: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one spindle (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) is rotatable about an axis (spindle axis of 37 of 11 shown in Fig. 7h) which is substantially parallel to said rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 14: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said horizontal support surface (surface of 5 Fig. 1) is formed by a conveyor belt (7 Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 15: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that each of said fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1) has an opening (opening of 17b shown in Fig. 1) for the passage of the slabs (3/8 Fig. 1) entering into and exiting the working area (working area for 3/8 shown in Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 16: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1) are stably secured to the ground (shown in Fig. 1) or to the machine (1 Fig. 1), in particular to the support surface (surface of 5 Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 17: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1) is perpendicular and fixed (shown in Fig. 1) with respect to said direction of advancing movement (advancing movement from 9 to 7 Fig. 1).
Referring to claim 18: Guazzoni discloses a plant (1 Fig. 1) for machining slabs (3/8 Fig. 1) comprising:
- a loading station (9 Fig. 1) for loading the slabs (3/8 Fig. 1) to be machined;
- a machine (14 Fig. 1) for machining the slabs ;
- an unloading station (10 Fig. 1) for unloading the machined slabs (3/8 Fig. 1); characterized in that said machine is for machining slabs made of stone, stone-like, agglomerate or ceramic material, the machine comprising:
- a pair of fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1) designed to delimit a working area (working area for 3/8 shown in Fig. 1);
- a horizontal surface (surface of surface of 5 Fig. 1) for supporting the slabs (3/8 Fig. 1) during machining thereof, positioned in said working area;
- a fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) supported by said fixed support structures (17b Fig. 1);
- a horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) movable with respect to the fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) and comprising at least one spindle (11, 45, and 46 Fig. 2) which is slidably mounted on said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) and designed to have at least one machining tool (35, 49, and 51 Fig. 2; “the invention may therefore preferably comprise from two to eight or more additional electrospindles rotationally and translationally integral with the first electrospindle, according to configurations having from three to nine or more electrospindles in total” Col. 10, lines 28-33) mounted thereon;
- movement means (55/55’ Figs. 5b, 5c, and 5d; “the actuator devices 55, 55′ are configured to act on the supporting arms 47, 48 and are configured to insert/extract the respective supporting arm 47, 48 into/from the housing zone 33′” Col. 25, lines 49-52) for moving said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) with respect to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) along a predetermined direction of advancing movement (advancing movement from 9 to 7 Fig. 1) lying in a plane which is parallel to the support surface (surface of 5 Fig. 1);
- rotation means (29 Fig. 3; “the actuator device 29 comprises an electric motor 30, preferably, of the brushless type, which rotates the first electrospindle 11 about the axis Z by means of a gear motor 31” Col. 20, lines 38-41) for rotating said movable horizontal beam (47/48 Fig. 2) with respect to said fixed horizontal beam (16 Fig. 1) about a rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1) which is arranged vertically; wherein said rotation axis (rotation axis (Z) Fig. 1) is fixed.
Referring to claim 20: Guazzoni discloses the machine according to claim 10, wherein the cutting tools are cutting disks (“cutting discs 35, 49 and 51” Col. 29, line 22).
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 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guazzoni (US 10675780 B2).
Referring to claim 19: Guazzoni discloses the plant according to claim 18, but is silent on wherein the plant specifically comprises a series of machining machines, each machine for machining slabs made of stone, stone-like, agglomerate or ceramic material, comprising:
- a pair of fixed support structures designed to delimit a working area;
- a horizontal surface for supporting the slabs during machining thereof, positioned in said working area;
- a fixed horizontal beam supported by said fixed support structures;
- a horizontal beam movable with respect to the fixed horizontal beam and comprising at least one spindle which is slidably mounted on said movable horizontal beam and designed to have at least one machining tool mounted thereon;
- movement means for moving said movable horizontal beam with respect to said fixed horizontal beam along a predetermined direction of advancing movement lying in a plane which is parallel to the support surface;
- rotation means for rotating said movable horizontal beam with respect to said fixed horizontal beam about a rotation axis which is arranged vertically; wherein said rotation axis is fixed.
As disclosed above in claim 18, Guazzoni teaches the individual components. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the assembly of Guazzoni with additional machining machines for the purpose of having an efficient assembly lines which would reduce the time of the overall production, and since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B)
Conclusion
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CHRISTOPHER SOTO
Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/CHRISTOPHER SOTO/ Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723