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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-7, 9-12 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kande et al (US 7,195,211).
Kande et al discloses a crossing gate mechanism comprised of a swingable gate arm 12 and a rotatable gate arm shaft 24 fixed to the gate arm so that rotation of the gate arm shaft corresponds with swinging of the gate arm. An electronic sensor assembly 108, in the form of a proximity sensor, is coupled to the gate arm shaft to sense an angular position of the gate arm shaft and transmit a position signal corresponding to the position of the arm. The electronic sensor assembly being configured to generate the position signal based on position of the gate arm shaft.
An angular characteristic detection assembly 112, in the form of an additional shaft position sensor, detects an angular characteristic of the gate arm shaft by reading gear teeth and notches on an encoder disc 116, also mounted on the shaft, as shown in figure 9, and transmits a characteristic signal corresponding to the position of the disc. A controller 122 receives the position signal from the electronic sensor assembly and transmits data associated with the angular position of the gate arm shaft and the controller also receives the characteristic signal from the angular characteristic detection assembly and compare the position and characteristic signals.
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) 4 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kande et al (US 7,195,211).
Kande et al discloses the crossing gate mechanism as described above. However. Kande et al does not show a fixed angle of rotation of the shaft being in a range between and including about twenty-five degrees (25°) and about seventy-five degrees (75°). It is well known that the drive shaft of a crossing gate arm will have a sweep of various angles when operating between raised and lowered positions. It would have been an obvious design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have arranged for the shaft to have a range between twenty-five degrees (25°) and seventy-five degrees (75°) with the expected result of providing a crossing gate arm with an adequate range of the movement to block a crossing and adequately move up and out of the way of road traffic.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, S. Joseph Morano can be reached at 571-272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
May 20, 2026
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