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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/26/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 12 cannot depend from canceled claim 11. Appropriate correction is required.
For examination purposes, the examiner is treating claim 12 to depend from independent claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 5, 8, 9, 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suetaka et al. US 2016/0101953 (hereinafter “Suetaka”).
Regarding claims 1 and method claim 15, Suetaka, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, discloses an apparatus for storing media items at a storage zone, comprising:
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a storage zone (21S, shown in FIG. 3) for storing media items (BL);
a port region (21A) proximate to the storage zone for receiving at least one media item;
a first set of mover elements (a set including inner roller 32 and an outer roller 33, or a set including 35 and 36) to urge each media item thereby at least partially moving the media item along a transport pathway portion from the port region to the storage zone to a desired location in the storage zone, each mover element of the first set of mover elements configured to apply a frictional driving force to the media item along the transport pathway portion; and
wherein the first set of mover elements comprises at least one laterally inner mover element (32) and at least one laterally outer mover element (33), and wherein the at least one laterally inner mover element and the at least one laterally outer mover element are coaxially (32 and 33 share the same axis 31) aligned along a rotational axis and are laterally offset from one another across a width of the media item, and wherein the at least one laterally inner mover element is positioned closer to a central transport plane (central location formed by middle part 33) associated with the desired location than the at least one laterally outer mover element.
Regarding claim 5, wherein the outer mover element is closer to a lateral side of the transport pathway portion along a lateral axis than the inner mover element (refer to FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 8, wherein the first set of mover elements comprises two laterally inner mover elements and two laterally outer mover elements (refer to FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the transport pathway portion comprises an interface region (area downstream of 32 and 35 in FIG. 3) through which the media item passes from the transport pathway portion into the storage zone.
Regarding claim 12, wherein each mover element of the first set of mover elements comprises a roller for rolling engagement with the media.
Regarding claim 13, wherein each mover element of the first set of mover elements comprises a pair of pinch point wheels (32 is paired with 35, and 33 is paired with 38) and wherein the pair of pinch point wheels comprises a first wheel and a second wheel, the first wheel being rotatable by driven rotation of a first shaft and the second wheel being freely rotatable or driven on a second shaft.
Regarding claim 14, wherein the storage zone comprises a chamber region in a storage receptacle, wherein the storage receptacle comprises a currency cassette (17) and each media item comprises a currency note of a specified denomination whereby currency notes of a common denomination are stacked in the currency cassette (refer to FIGS. 1-4).
Regarding claim 16, further comprising: as the media item is moved, simultaneously urging the media item at three or more laterally spaced apart urging positions (see laterally spaced positions (using 33, 32 or 35, 36) each associated with a respective mover element.
Regarding claim 17, further comprising: as the media item is moved along the transport pathway portion, simultaneously urging the media item at laterally spaced apart urging positions that are symmetric about a central transport plane associated with the desired location (refer to FIG. 4, 36, 35).
Regarding claim 18, further comprising: as the media item is moved to the desired location in the storage zone, via the mover elements, balancing an urging force applied to a long edge region of the media item on each side of the central transport plane via a plurality of mover elements disposed at each side of the central transport plane (refer to FIG. 4, 36, 35).
Regarding claim 19, further comprising: balancing the urging force via a first plurality of mover elements, that each comprise a respective pair of pinch rollers (32 and 35) on a first side of the central transport plane, and a further plurality of mover elements, that each comprise a respective pair of pinch rollers (32 and 35), on a remaining side of the central transport plane.
Regarding claim 20, wherein the storage zone comprises a chamber region in a storage receptacle, wherein the storage receptacle comprises a currency cassette (17), and wherein each media item comprises a currency note of a specified denomination whereby currency notes of a common denomination are stacked in a currency cassette.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 3, 4, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suetaka.
Regarding claims 3, 4, 6 and 7, Suetaka teaches the claimed invention except for explicitly teaching wherein
a distance from the inner mover element to the central transport plane along the lateral axis is less than 35 mm (claim 3);
the distance from the inner mover element to the central transport plane along the lateral axis is less than 30 mm (claim 4);
a distance from the outer mover element to a central transport plane associated with the desired location along the lateral axis is greater than 40 mm (claim 6); and
the distance from the outer mover element to the central transport along the lateral axis is greater than 45 mm (claim 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Suetaka’s inner mover element/outer mover element spacing (distance) relative to the central transport plane to include the claimed ranges (claimed dimensions in mm), since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. Also, providing the recited claimed ranges would at least ensure proper spacing to symmetrically arrange the inner mover element and outer mover element to effectively discharge a sheet towards the storage zone. Furthermore, it appears it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to satisfy the claimed ranges, since Applicant has not disclosed that providing the recited ranges solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears the invention would perform equally well with the design of Suetaka.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Suetaka fails to disclose the amended limitation (“ each mover element of the first set of mover elements configured to apply a frictional force to the media”). Specifically, Applicant contends that the Suetaka’s feed rollers (32) are “intentionally configured to minimize friction and permit sliding, rather than apply a frictional driving force” as required by claim 1.
In response, the claim requires a frictional driving force is applied by each of the mover elements of the first set of mover elements. As best understood, feed rollers (32) are configured to apply friction (by high friction portions 32A, shown in FIG. 3). Also, Suetaka mentions “hardly any frictional force” for part of feed rollers 32 and 35, which the examiner interprets as low friction.
Since the arguments by Applicant are not persuasive, the claims stand rejected by the same art presented in the previous office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3094. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5:30pm.
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/LUIS A GONZALEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653