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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/22/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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) 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (2013/0212834) in view of Lee (5,115,539).
Chen (2013/0212834) in figures 1-9, disclose a removable transport caster assembly than can used for positioning a cabinet in a data center. The removable transport caster assembly comprises a transport caster having a mounting plate (1), a mounting bracket extending from the mounting plate, a lifting plate (8) pivotally connected to the mounting plate, a lifting lever (13) pivotally connected to the mounting bracket and a wheel assembly (15). Chen fail to show a transport caster bracket secured to the transport caster, whereby the transport caster bracket secures the transport caster to the cabinet.
Lee (5,115,539), in figures 1-6, disclose a braking and wheel orienting mechanism comprising a transport caster bracket (21), which is secured to a transport cast (22). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Lee by further comprising the transport caster bracket disclosed by Chen in order to mount mounting bracket to the cabinet.
Regarding claim 2, Lee disclose the transport caster bracket having an offset portion with a mounting hole (see figure 2A) adjacent the offset portion for receiving a fastener to secure the transport caster bracket.
Regarding claim 3, Lee disclose the transport caster bracket having threaded inserts extending from a front of the transport caster bracket and extending through holes in the mounting plate of the transport caster.
Regarding claim 4, Lee in figure 4A, disclose the transport caster bracket having a cutout area for providing a passageway to route cables.
Regarding claim 5, Lee disclose the transport caster bracket having a lifting flange (the bracket has a recess that can be considered a flange) extending from the bottom rear of the transport caster bracket, whereby the lifting flange is positioned under the cabinet for supporting the cabinet when lifted to be relocated.
Regarding claim 6, Lee disclose a backing plate for increasing the rigidness of the transport caster assembly, wherein the backing plate having a main member with an offset portion complementing the offset portion of the transport caster bracket and a mounting hole for receiving a fastener to secure the backing plate to the cabinet.
Regarding claim 7, Lee disclose the backing plate having buttresses extending from sides of the main member and a tab, wherein the buttresses and the tab extend backward away from the backing plate, whereby the buttresses transfer load to the cabinet and the tab prevents the backing plate from rotating when under load.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record don’t disclose a removable transport caster comprising a transport caster bracket having threaded inserts extending from a front of the transport caster bracket and extending through holes in the mounting plate of the transport caster and formed hooks extending from the rear of the transport caster bracket for engaging cage nut holes in a front to back beam in the cabinet.
Conclusion
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/HAU V PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615