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 . 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating
obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller US 3,710695 in view of Zhou et al. CN 211536786U and further in view of DE
1020130074461 (Verstraeten). Miller discloses a slip form paver configured to form curbs along roadways, the slipform paver comprising:
A frame (68), a plurality of propulsion tracks (150), a plurality of height adjustable legs (110) connecting the frame and the propulsion tracks, A drive motor (90) configured to power the machine, at least one mold (40) and an auger conveyor (18) configured to deliver paving material (14) from a hopper (12) to said mold (40). Figs. 1-5, 15 Col. 4, ln. 39-Col. 6, ln. 28. Miller does not disclose is how to clean the auger conveyor (18) when done. However Zhou et al. teach a conveyor auger (2), a spray bar assembly (27) including a plurality of spray nozzles (26) configured to spray a cleaning fluid into the conveyor auger shell (21) so as to remove concrete residue from hardening and sticking to the auger. [0030-0040]. What Zhou et al. do not disclose is a movable spray bar assembly. Verstraeten teaches a movable spray head assembly that can be fixed or movably mounted on guide rails so as to be movable to clean various components of a paving machine (10). [0005-0010, 0020-29]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the slipform paver of Miller with an auger conveyor spray bar, for cleaning the auger as taught by Zhou et al. and to make said spray bar assembly movable, as taught by Verstraeten in order to maximize the cleaning effectiveness of the spray assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-17 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.
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND W ADDIE whose telephone number is (571)272-6986. The examiner can normally be reached on m-f 7:30-12:30, then 6-9pm.
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/RAYMOND W ADDIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671 7/22/2026
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