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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/29/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, 10 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rinderer US 5961081 (hereinafter Rinderer) in view of Peterson 10186851 US (hereinafter Peterson).
Re. Cl. 1, Rinderer discloses: A cradle mount fixing (Fig. 2) configured to attach for attaching a component (12, Fig. 1) to a workpiece (supporting structure, Col. 3, Lines 33-35), the cradle mount fixing comprising: a body section (26, Fig. 2) comprising: the body section having a body first end that extends extending to a body second end which defines to define a longitudinal axis (see Fig. 2, longitudinal axis extending between top and bottom ends of 26); two longitudinally-extending guide flanges (32s, Fig. 1-2); the body section including a cable tie guide (70, 58s and 60s, Fig. 2) configured to receive for receiving a cable tie (see Fig. 5), the cable tie guide extends extending along the body section longitudinal axis from a guide first end to a guide second end (see Fig. 2), the cable tie guide includes: a pass-through (created by 58’s, Fig. 2 and 5) defined adjacent the body second end (see Fig. 4, close to or adjacent the bottom end of 26) between a first opening (left 58, Fig. 5) and a second opening (right opening 58, Fig. 5); and a recessed, open-ended trough (70, Fig. 2) defined between the two longitudinally extending guide flanges (see Fig. 2 and 4, the trough 70 is between 32s), the open-ended trough configured to receive the cable tie and pass the cable tie to the pass-through (see Fig. 5); a mounting section (34 and the fastener, Col. 3, Lines 33-35) connected to the body section (see Fig. 2), the mounting section comprising: a connector (fastener, Col. 3, Lines 33-35) configured to attach for attachment to the workpiece (Col. 3, Lines 33-35); and an object support (20, 24 and 16, Fig. 2) that extends extending from the body section (see Fig. 2), the object support and body section define defining a cradle therebetween (see Fig. 1, to receive 12s), the object support includes including: a stand-off member (20, Fig. 2) comprising having a member first end opposite a member second end (left and right ends of 20, Fig. 2), the stand-off member extends extending from the body section at the body first end (see Fig. 2); and a cradle arm (24 and 16, Fig. 2) comprising a proximal end that extends extending to a distal end (see Fig. 2), the proximal end of the cradle arm attaches to the member second end (see Fig. 2, the lower end of the arm 24 attaches to right end of 20), the distal end of the cradle arm comprising a bundle retainer (16, Fig. 2), the bundle retainer configured to retain for retaining the component in the cradle (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 2, Rinderer discloses: the bundle retainer extends in an inward direction towards the body section (see Fig. 2, from 24 towards 26 to enter into 42).
Re. Cl. 4, Rinderer discloses: the longitudinally-extending guide flanges are spaced apart and extend from the body first end to the first opening of the pass-through (see Fig. 2 and 4, 32s are spaced on opposite sides and extend around the entire device 10 and thus extend from end of 26 to opening 58).
Re. Cl. 5, Rinderer discloses: at least one of the guide first end or the guide second end comprises a ramped portion configured to guide for guiding an end of the cable tie into the cable tie guide (see Fig. 2, the lower end of 26 is ramped or curved to transition to 20).
Re. Cl. 6, Rinderer discloses: the object support further comprises: a support base configured to support the component (see 20, Fig. 1, supporting 12s).
Re. Cl. 7, Rinderer discloses: the support base is sloped away from the body section longitudinal axis (see Fig. 2, the portion 20 is sloped away from the vertical axis of 26 due to the curvature shown).
Re. Cl. 10, Rinderer discloses: the cradle arm extends parallel to the body section longitudinal axis (see Fig. 5, the cradle arm 24 extends parallel to a longitudinal axis extending vertically through 26 since 24 and 26 are parallel as shown).
Re. Cl. 21, Rinderer discloses: A cradle mount fixing (Fig. 2) configured to attach a component (12, Fig. 1) to a workpiece (supporting structure, Col. 3, Lines 33-35), the cradle mount fixing comprising: a body section (26, Fig. 2) comprising: a body first end that extends to a body second end that define a longitudinal axis (see Fig. 2, top and bottom ends of 26 with a vertical longitudinal axis extending therebetween); a cable tie guide (70 and 58s, Fig. 2) configured to receive a cable tie (see Fig. 2 and 5), the cable tie guide extends along the body section longitudinal axis (see Fig. 2); a mounting section (34 and fastener, Col. 3, Lines 33-35) connected to the body section (see Fig. 2), the mounting section comprising: a connector (fastener, Col. 3, Lines 33-35) configured to attach to the workpiece; and an object support (20, 24 and 16, Fig. 2) that extends from the body section (see Fig. 2), the object support and body section define a cradle therebetween (see Fig. 1, cradle for supporting 12s), the object support includes: a stand-off member (20, Fig. 2) comprising a member first end opposite a member second end (opposite left and right ends of 20, Fig. 2), the stand-off member extends from the body section at the body first end (see Fig. 2); a cradle arm (see 24 and 16, Fig. 1-2), the cradle arm comprising a proximal end that extend to a distal end (see Fig. 2), the proximal end of the cradle arm attaches to the member second end (see Fig. 2), the distal end of the cradle arm comprise a bundle retainer (16, Fig. 2) configured to retain the component in the cradle (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 22, Rinderer discloses: the cradle defined between the object support and body section is further defined as a U-shaped cradle that extends between the cradle arms (see Fig. 2).
Re. Cls. 1, 8, 10, and 21, Rinderer discloses the use of an opening (60) on cradle arm (24) which enables the cable tie to pass through to wrap around objects (12) but does not disclose the cradle arm is a first cradle arm and a second cradle arm spaced apart from and separate from the first cradle arm; and a cable tie slot defined between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm, the cable tie slot configured to receive the cable tie therein (Cl. 1), the second cradle arm is parallel to the first cradle arm (Cl. 8), the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm extend parallel to the body section longitudinal axis (Cl. 10) or the cradle arm includes a first cradle arm parallel to and spaced apart from a second cradle arm, the first cradle arm separate from the second cradle arm; and a cable tie slot defined between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm, the cable tie slot configured to receive the cable tie therein and between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm (Cl. 21). Peterson discloses a cradle mount (Fig. 1) which includes a body section (20, Fig. 1) and an object support (22 and 14, Fig. 1) which includes a first cradle arm (28, Fig. 1) and a second cradle arm (30, Fig. 1) spaced apart from and separate from the first cradle arm (see Fig. 1, separated by slot 26); and a cable tie slot defined between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm (26, Fig. 1), the cable tie slot configured to receive the cable tie therein (see Fig. 1, 26 is configured to receive a cable tie therein in the same manner as 32); the second cradle arm is parallel to the first cradle arm (see Fig. 1, 28 and 30 are parallel to one another); the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm extend parallel to the body section longitudinal axis (see Fig. 1, parallel to a longitudinal axis extending vertically though 20); a first cradle arm parallel to and spaced apart from a second cradle arm (see 28 and 30, Fig. 1), the first cradle arm separate from the second cradle arm (see Fig. 1, separated by 26); and a cable tie slot defined between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm (26, Fig. 1), the cable tie slot configured to receive the cable tie therein and between the first cradle arm and the second cradle arm (see Fig. 1, in the same manner as receiving 32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the opening (60) on cradle arm (24) of Rinderer with the spaced configuration of arms creating a slot (26) as disclosed by Peterson with reasonable expectation of success to enable for securing fewer cables (12) as shown in Rinderer’s Fig. 1 for instance. By replacing the opening (60) in Rinderer with separate arms for passing a cable tie therethrough, would enable the user to wrap the cable tie further downward than the position shown in Fig. 5 of Rinderer, thus making it easier to tightly secure fewer cables (12) than what is shown. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the opening (60) on cradle arm (24) of Rinderer with the spaced configuration of arms creating a slot (26) as disclosed by Peterson with reasonable expectation of success since it has been held obvious to replace one known means with another to achieve a predictable result. KSR Int’l Co. V. Teleflex Inc. 550 U.S. ___, 82 USPQ 2d 1385 (Supreme Court 2007) (KSR)
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rinderer in view of Peterson as applied above, and in further view of Gretz US 5988570 (hereinafter Gretz).
Re. Cl. 3, Rinderer does not disclose that the bundle retainer comprises a flexible tab. Gretz discloses a cable support (Fig. 2) which includes a body section (16), a standoff member (12) and a cradle arm (18) which cooperate to form a cradle for supporting a component (see Fig. 2). Gretz discloses the distal end of the cradle arm comprising a bundle retainer (20, Fig. 4), the bundle retainer configured for retaining the component in the cradle (see Fig. 4); the bundle retainer extends in an inward direction towards the body section (see Fig. 4); and wherein the bundle retainer further comprises a flexible tab (see 20, Fig. 4, Col. 3, Lines 12-15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the bundle retainer of Rinderer with the bundle retainer of Gretz with reasonable expectation of success since it has been held obvious to replace one known means with another to achieve a predictable result. KSR Int’l Co. V. Teleflex Inc. 550 U.S. ___, 82 USPQ 2d 1385 (Supreme Court 2007) (KSR)
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rinderer in view of Peterson as applied above, and in further view of Olver US 7861981 (hereinafter Olver).
Re. Cl. 11, Rinderer does not disclose a cut director configured to protect a component from damage when a fixed cable tie is cut off the cradle mount fixing, the cut director comprising: a first ridge that extends from a surface of the fixing; and a second ridge that extends from the surface of the fixing, the first ridge and the second ridge define a channel therebetween, the channel configured to receive a cutting tool, wherein the cut director is configured to receive the cable tie with the cable tie spanning the channel. Olver discloses a cable cradle (Fig. 2) which includes a cut director (27, Fig. 6) which is configured to protect a component from damage when a fixed cable tie is cut off the cradle mount fixing (see Fig. 5), the cut director comprising: a first ridge (29’, Fig. 6) that extends from a surface of the fixing (see Fig. 6); and a second ridge (29’, Fig. 6) that extends from the surface of the fixing (see Fig. 6), the first ridge and the second ridge define a channel therebetween (see 27, Fig. 6), the channel configured to receive a cutting tool (see E, Fig. 5), wherein the cut director is configured to receive the cable tie with the cable tie spanning the channel (see Fig. 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Rinderer device to include the cut director of Olver with reasonable expectation of success since Olver states that such a modification provides an accommodation for the nose of a cutter to cut the cable tie (Col. 3, Lines 15-22) to release the cables from the saddle (Col. 3,Lines 24-25).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant's disclosure. Edwards US 5832567, Farrell US 5354021, Geiger US 2024/0360923, Gretz US 10920910, and Huebner US 2007/0205335 disclose other known cradle mounts presented to the Applicant for their consideration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E GARFT whose telephone number is (571)270-1171. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at (571)272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER GARFT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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