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.
Claims 12-16 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(A1) as being anticipated by Low (US 6,880,479 B2).
Low discloses a method of removal of an anchor [26] in a substrate within a body of water, the method comprising: introducing fluid into a lift bag system to increase buoyancy of the lift bag system within the body of water (see the abstract), the buoyancy of the lift bag system causing testing and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water, the lift bag system comprising: a lift bag body [20] that includes a lift bag top end and one or more sidewalls that define a lift bag cavity, the lift bag body configured to hold a volume of fluid within the lift bag cavity, wherein the introducing fluid into the lift bag system comprises introducing fluid into the lift bag cavity to increase buoyancy of the lift bag body within the body of water to cause testing and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water. The lift bag system further comprises a tube [62], which is broadly considered to be a compression tube, extending between a top end attached to an air compressor and a bottom end, an attachment point [73], and a plurality of bridles [64, 77, 70] (see col. 4, lines 11-13; lines 18-22 and lines 42-43).
Re claim 13, the lift bag system is fixed at a position along an anchor line [40], wherein fixing the lift bag system at the position along the anchor line includes fixing the anchor line at the attachment point such that the lift bag system is securely coupled to the anchor line at the attachment point.
Re claim 14, introducing fluid into the lift bag system increases buoyancy of the lift bag system within the body of water and generates a load or force on the anchor to cause the testing of the anchor and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water.
Re claim 15, the lift bag body has a top face plane that is capable of being positioned parallel to a main axis of the compression tube.
Re claim 16, fluid is introduced into the lift bag system via a fluid line [24].
Re claim 18, when the lift bag body is in deflated state, the compression tube bottom end is capable of being positioned so that it extends below the lift bag body (see Fig 9).
Re claim 19, when the lift bag body is in deflated state, it can be positioned within the boat so that the attachment point is disposed at or proximate to the compression tube top end and disposed above or proximate to the lift bag top end.
Claims 12-14, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(A1) as being anticipated by Sturtevant (US 2,451,002 A).
Low discloses a method of removal of a load [9] in a substrate within a body of water, wherein the load is broadly considered to be an anchor, the method comprising: introducing fluid into a lift bag system to increase buoyancy of the lift bag system within the body of water, the buoyancy of the lift bag system causing testing and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water, the lift bag system comprising: a lift bag body [1] that includes a lift bag top end and one or more sidewalls that define a lift bag cavity, the lift bag body configured to hold a volume of fluid within the lift bag cavity, wherein the introducing fluid into the lift bag system comprises introducing fluid into the lift bag cavity to increase buoyancy of the lift bag body within the body of water to cause testing and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water. The lift bag system further comprises a tube [19], which is broadly considered to be a compression tube, extending between a top end and a bottom end, an attachment point [7], and a plurality of bridles [4].
Re claim 13, the lift bag system is fixed at a position along an anchor line [8], wherein fixing the lift bag system at the position along the anchor line includes fixing the anchor line at the attachment point such that the lift bag system is securely coupled to the anchor line at the attachment point.
Re claim 14, introducing fluid into the lift bag system increases buoyancy of the lift bag system within the body of water and generates a load or force on the anchor to cause the testing of the anchor and/or removal of the anchor from the substrate within the body of water.
Re claim 16, fluid is introduced into the lift bag system via a fluid line [12, 15].
Re claim 17, the compression tube extends through a central location of the lift bag body.
Re claim 18, the compression tube bottom end extends below the lift bag body.
Re claim 20, the plurality of bridles is coupled to the compression tube bottom end via a connector [5, 20] and top bridle ends are coupled to respective locations at the lift bag body.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Brown (US 20070264890), Holmes (US 5690047), Puchois (US 3950806), and Bruno (US 2870730) each shows inflatable lift bag systems capable of lifting anchors from a bottom of a body of water.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJAY VASUDEVA whose telephone number is (571)272-6689. The examiner can normally be reached 6:00 am - 3:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marc Jimenez can be reached at 571-272-4530. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AJAY VASUDEVA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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