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 .
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because:
Phrases that can be implied, such as “is disclosed” (see line 1) should not be present therein.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Reference character 130 (see paragraph 0043, line 2) is not present in any of the drawings; and
In Figure 6, in step 606, “hte” should be “the”.
The drawings are further objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the door (as defined in claims 14 and 15) must be shown or the feature canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
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.
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph 0038, on line 6, “funnel component 104” should be “funnel component 102”; and
In paragraph 0044, on line 5, “106” should be deleted since reference character 106 is used in the drawings and written specification to denote the side walls of the funnel component 102 and not the side of the chute 116.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 8-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In regard to claim 8, it is unclear as to whether or not the “pair of attachment components” are referring to the “attachment component” defined in claim 1, or a pair of attachment components in addition to the attachment component defined in claim 1.
In regard to claim 12, lines 5 and 6 should be deleted since this structure is defined on lines 13-16 (currently, it is unclear as to whether or not the attachment components defined on lines 13-16 are referring to the same attachment component defined on lines 5-6 or some other structure.
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 2 and 3 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.
In regard to claim 2, the term “generally” (see line 1) is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “generally” 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 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 1-10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Workman (U.S. Patent 9,856,085).
In regard to claim 1, the Workman reference discloses a concrete pouring device that provides a user with a multipurpose and controllable device to accurately pour concrete into a form, the concrete pouring device comprising:
a funnel component 24; and
an attachment component 28;
wherein the funnel component is removably secured to a concrete chute 14 from a concrete truck (see column 2, lines 53-56);
wherein the funnel component is secured via the attachment component to the concrete chute; and
further wherein the funnel component directs flow of concrete to a desired form (it is noted although a “form” is not specifically disclosed, anyplace the concrete is dispensed would be defined as a “form”.
In regard to claim 2, the funnel component is “generally shaped” like a triangular prism.
In regard to claim 3, the funnel component comprises opposing side walls, a front surface and a back surface.
In regard to claim 4, the side walls and front and back surfaces provide for a top aperture 34 and a bottom aperture 40 which allow access to an interior cavity.
In regard to claim 5, the back surface has a cutout section 44 (see Figure 4) sized and shaped to allow for the concrete chute of the concrete truck to be placed within.
In regard to claim 6, the sidewalls and front surface slope toward a center of the funnel component creating a funnel-type configuration.
In regard to claim 7, the funnel component allows concrete to be poured into the top aperture and dispensed out through the bottom aperture.
In regard to claim 8, a pair of attachment components 28 are utilized to secure the funnel component to the concrete truck.
In regard to claim 9, each of the pair of attachment components are positioned on either side wall, near a top of the funnel component.
In regard to claim 10, the pair of attachment components secure to rod-shaped handles 22 on either side of the concrete chute.
In regard to claim 20, the Workman reference discloses a method of pouring concrete into a form to eliminate spillage, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a concrete pouring device comprising a funnel component 24, an attachment component 28 and a concrete truck chute 14;
positioning the concrete pouring device under the concrete truck chute (see Figure 1);
securing the concrete pouring device to the concrete truck chute;
positioning the concrete pouring device and the concrete truck chute of the form; and
allowing concrete to flow down the concrete truck chute, into the funnel component and into the form.
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 11-13 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Workman.
In regard to claim 11, the attachment components include hook-shaped members 66 and 68. Although the Workman reference does not disclose the hook-shaped members 68 welded to the opposing sidewalls, it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the members 68 could be welded to the sidewalls (or attached in any other suitable manner) without effecting the overall operation of the device, especially since the Applicant has not indicated that welding the attachment components to the side walls is critical to the overall operation of the device and the attachment components can be attached to the sidewalls via other known mechanism (see paragraph 0039, lines 4-5).
In regard to claim 12, as discussed above, the Workman reference renders the claimed structure obvious.
In regard to claim 13, although the Workman device does not include indicia thereon, the examiner takes official notice the indicia is commonly used on various articles in order to convey a message to a user. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Workman device can include indicia thereon in order to convey a message to the user.
In regard to claim 16, the funnel component is positioned with the top aperture facing upward and the attachment components positioned on either side of the chute to secure to handles 22 of the concrete chute.
In regard to claim 17, the concrete pouring device is positioned at a distal end of the concrete chute and then positioned over the desired form such that the bottom aperture is of appropriate size to only allow concrete to flow into the desired form and not spill outside the desired form.
In regard to claim 18, although the Workman reference does not disclose the particular type of form used, it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the concrete pouring device disclosed in the Workman reference can be used to pour concrete into any suitable and known type of form, including those claimed, without effecting the overall operation of the device.
In regard to claim 19, although the concrete pouring device disclosed in the Workman reference is not disclosed as being made from steel or aluminum, it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the deice can be made from any suitable and known material, including the claimed materials, without effecting the overall operation thereof, especially since the Applicant has indicated other suitable materials than those claimed can be used to made the device (see paragraph 0047).
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Workman in view of Gardner (U.S. Patent 1,026,641).
Although the Workman reference does not include a door as claimed, attention is directed to the Gardner reference which discloses another concrete pouring device (see page 1, lines 16-19) wherein the bottom aperture of the funnel component has a door F which opens and closes to open or close the bottom aperture and allow for a more precise dispensing of concrete to a form wherein the door is the same shape as the bottom aperture and can be opened and locked in various open positions to control flow of concrete (see page 1, lines 70-77) in order to allow a user to better control the flow of concrete. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art a the time the invention was made the Workman device can include such a door which can be open and locked into various open positions in order to enable a user to better control the flow of concrete.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The Hassan et al. and Manno references are cited as being directed to the state of the art as teachings of other concrete pouring devices attached to the ends of concrete conveying devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J WALCZAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30-4:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at 571-270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DJW
9/16/25
/DAVID J WALCZAK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754