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 § 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 1-14 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.
The term “adapted to” in claim 1, 4, and 9 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. the term “adapted to” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 5 discloses “the first end plate and the second end plate include a rotatable axle.” It is unclear how two end plates would include a rotatable axle.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "said first and second rotatable cylindrical bar" in lines 1-2 There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 1 recited “a first and second cylindrical bar and a rotatable forming member”.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the recess assembly" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation 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.
Claims 1-6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petershofer (4,756,863) in view of Whiteside (5,201,981).
Regarding claim 1, Petershofer discloses a sheet bending apparatus, comprising a frame member 1-3 having a base grate 4 with side bars 5 supporting a bending mechanism having upper and lower clamping bars 1, 2, two frames 3 arranged at both ends of the clamping bars 1, 2; and a roller assembly 8-15 with a rotatable actuator arm 9, 11, 12, 19 coupled a bending roller 15 for displacing said roller assembly through a predetermined and adjustable distance for bending a sheet material 30, and that the sheet 30 is heated to a forming temperature prior to bending – col. 4, lines 50-56.
Petershofer fails to disclose a base member having an upper surface to support the vinyl sheet and a heat housing member.
Whiteside discloses an apparatus for forming a plastic film-protected external siding board in a molding press, comprising a differential pressure forming press 14, an air tight heating chamber 17a, an upper clamp box frame 17, a lower clamp box assembly 35 is shown as supported from the press frame members 15 on angle support members 37 supporting a film F and a core 11, wherein the film F is heat-treated to a moldable temperature to tightly drawn on to the core 11 such as to cause the film F to assume the configuration of the core 11, in which the edges of the film F is curved around the edges of the core 11 – see Figures 3-4, F, 11, 12.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Petershofer with a lower support member or a base member a heat housing member as taught by Whiteside, so that the base member can provide additional support to the sheet material, while the heat housing member would be more efficient in heating the sheet material compared to an open heating source.
Regarding claim 2, Whiteside further discloses that the heat housing member 17 includes a lower cover 44 with a plurality of vacuum channels 44a to provide suction or gripping to the core 11 and the bending portions 12 of the film F – see Figs 7, 9.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the heating element 17a is transversely spans the length of the upper cover of said heat housing member and the upper surface of said base with a plurality of heaters 22.
Regarding claim 4, wherein the heat housing member 17 further includes a control adapted to regulate the temperature of said end section of the sheet – see Fig. 13.
Regarding claims 5-6, Petershofer further discloses that two uprights 18 are mounted on the upper side of the upper clamping bar 2 which is mounted between the two end plates 3, wherein the upper ends of the two uprights 18 are pivoted on one end of a hydraulic adjusting devices 19 around an axial in between the end plates 3, while the other ends of these adjusting devices 19 are pivoted on base supports 20 which are connected to the bending plate 12 connecting to the bending roller 15.
Regarding claim 14, wherein Whiteside further discloses that the forming member 44 of sits in the recess 41 of the base 36, 37, 39, 44.
Claims 7-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petershofer (4,756,863) in view of Whiteside (5,201,981) as applied to claims 1-6 and 14 above, and further in view of Kani et al. (12,290,994).
Petershofer discloses the apparatus including a pair of upper and lower clamping bars 1, 2 for clamping and shaping a laminated sheet 30 as described above. However, Petershofer fails to discloses that the first and second bars 1, 2 are rotatable cylindrical rollers.
Kani et al. discloses an apparatus for shaping a stack of laminated sheet, comprising a plurality of upper and lower roller pairs 11a-b, 14a-b, 21a-b, 24a-b, 32a-b, 34a-b for feeding and shaping and cooling a laminate 200.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the bars in Petershofer with rollers or to provide upper and lower shaping rollers in addition to the bars as taught by Kani et al. because as the rollers rotate, they can move the laminated sheet forward while increasing the contacting surface between the roller and the material and that would increase the shaping/bending/forming/cooling area and expedite the shaping/bending process.
In regarding to claims 8-13, wherein the rotation of the rollers and/or the linkage members, and/or the space between the rollers, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the rotation of the rollers/linkage members or the space in between the rollers in the same manner as taught by Petershofer (4,756,863), Whiteside (5,201,981) and Kani et al. in order to accommodate sheets of different material, different thickness and/or different forming conditions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Thu-Khanh T. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-1136. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:30.
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/Thu Khanh T. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743