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.
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(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oie (US-20090211874-A1) in view of Adachi (US-20140332340-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Oie discloses A bill processor comprising:
an accepted bill identification unit (A) having a bill acceptance slot (12) to accept a bill, a separation section (Paragraph 162, lines 4-6) to separate a plurality of the accepted bills one by one, and an identification sensor (5) to identify a currency denomination of each of the bills that have been separated one by one;
a plurality of storage units (B, C, D), each of which stores the bill;
a bill dispensing unit (G) having a bill dispensing slot (14) to dispense the bill to outside; and
a conveyance path for the bill in the accepted bill identification unit (6a), a conveyance path for the bill in each of the storage units (6b-6d), and a conveyance path for the bill in the bill dispensing unit (6g) are connected to any of the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path (taught below by Adachi, see Adachi figure 2), each of which is a linear portion of the circulation conveyance path.
Oie does not disclose, however Adachi discloses a circulation conveyance path (X) that conveys the bill to enable circulation of the bill, wherein
the circulation conveyance path has:
a first linear conveyance path (top of L and M, as shown in figure 3);
a second linear conveyance path (bottom of conveyance loop, as shown in figure 3) that is arranged to oppose the first conveyance path;
a first curved conveyance path (right of L, as shown in figure 3) that connects one end of the first conveyance path and one end of the second conveyance path and includes a curved section; and
a second curved conveyance path (left of M, as shown in figure 3) that connects another end of the first conveyance path and another end of the second conveyance path and includes a curved section.
Regarding claim 1, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to replace the circular drum conveyor disclosed by Oie with the rounded rectangular conveyor disclosed by Adachi. One of ordinary skill would identify that the style of conveyor taught by Adachi would reduce the complexity of the conveying system, as it would eliminate the need for guide members between conveyance routes. While Oie does not expressly teach the identification sensor being integrated into the accepted bill identification unit, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art as a matter of design choice to move the identification sensor from the conveyance loop to the accepted bill identification unit in order to detect abnormal bills before they reach the circulation conveyance path, allowing for quicker ejection of rejected bills from the machine.
Regarding claim 2, Oei in view of Adachi teaches the bill processor according to claim 1, wherein the accepted bill identification unit (Oie, A) and the bill dispensing unit (Oie, G) are connected to the first conveyance path (Adachi, top of L and M, as shown in figure 3), and at least one of the storage units (Oie, B, C, D) is connected (Adachi, 5) to the second conveyance path (Adachi, bottom of conveyance loop, as shown in figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, Oie in view of Adachi teaches the bill processor according to claim 2, wherein a side surface of each of the accepted bill identification unit (Oie, A), the bill dispensing unit (Oie, G), and the storage units (Oie, B, C, D) on the circulation conveyance path side constitutes a part of the first conveyance path (Adachi, top of L and M, as shown in figure 3) or the second conveyance path (Adachi, bottom of conveyance loop, as shown in figure 3). Regarding claim 4, Oie in view of Adachi teaches the bill processor according to claim 3, wherein the first conveyance path (Adachi, top of L and M) includes: a first belt (Oie, 22) that comes into contact with one surface of the bill and supports the bill; and a first pinch roller (3) that is urged in a direction toward the first belt, and the bill is sandwiched between the first belt and the first pinch roller and conveyed, and the second conveyance path (Adachi, bottom of conveyance loop) includes: a second belt (Oie, 22) that comes into contact with another surface of the bill and supports the bill; and a second pinch roller (3) that is urged in a direction toward the second belt, and the bill is sandwiched between the second belt and the second pinch roller and conveyed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-12 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.
Regarding claim 5, the disclosed invention ultimately overcomes the prior art due to the separation of the pinch roller on the front/rear units and the belt on the circulation conveyance unit.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN R UEBERSCHAER whose telephone number is (571)270-5553. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.R.U./ Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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