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 § 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, 2, 4-6, 9-16, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Secrest (US Patent No 8,584,431).
Referring to claim 1: Secrest teaches a wall reinforcement system, comprising: (i) an anchoring pin (item 212) including a first pin-end and a second pin-end; (ii) a carbon fiber strap (CFS) (item 206) adhered to the wall structure over at least a portion of the wall structure having a top end and a bottom end, and the CFS includes a first end located below the bottom end of the wall structure; (iii) a hole (item 211) located at or proximate the bottom end of the wall structure and extending into a foundation portion, and being configured to receive at least a portion of a composite anchor, wherein the composite anchor comprises (a) a first portion of the CFS that terminates at the first end, and (b) at least a portion of the anchoring pin; and (iv) the composite anchor being secured within the hole. Secrest does not specifically teach wherein the first portion of the CFS at least partially encases the portion of the anchoring pin. However, Secrest teaches the pin is a separate element that is attached to the CFS (col 5, lines 3-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the device taught by Secrest and recognize that attaching the separate pin to the rolled up end of the CFS under broadest reasonable interpretation would involve encasing the pin.
Referring to claim 2: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the first portion of the CFS is folded upon itself (col 4, lines 56-59) and defines a sleeve component that at least partially encases the portion of the anchoring pin. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use the twisting and attaching of a separate pin taught by Secrest to at least partially encase the pin to provide a strong connection between the two.
Referring to claim 4: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 2 as noted above. Secrest does not specifically teach wherein the anchoring pin has a pin-length extending from the first pin-end to the second pin-end, and the sleeve component at least partially encases from about 20 to about 100% of the pin-length. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to sufficiently encase enough of the length of the pin to prevent it from being slid out of the CFS.
Referring to claim 5: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 2 as noted above. Secrest does not specifically teach the CFS has an original width at the first end prior to being folded upon itself, and a first width after being folded upon itself to define the sleeve component, wherein the first width is from about 10 to about 65% of the original width. However, one of ordinary skill would recognize from the figures of Secrest that the folded end of the CFS would be between 10 and 65% of the original width.
Referring to claim 6: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Secrest does not specifically teach wherein the hole has a first diameter and the anchoring pin has a second diameter, and wherein the second diameter is from about 50% to about 98% of the first diameter, and the hole has a hole-depth and the anchoring pin has a pin-length, and wherein the pin-length is from about 50% to about 150% of the hole-depth. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to design the hole and pin to corresponding dimensions in order to allow for a desired fit with adequate adhesive.
Referring to claim 9: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the composite anchor is adhered to one or more walls defining the hole (claim 1 teaches anchor is attached with epoxy). It would have been obvious to recognize that anchoring an anchor in a hole with epoxy as taught by Secrest would result in the anchor being adhered to one or more walls defining the hole.
Referring to claim 10: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the wall structure comprises a concrete block wall (figure 9).
Referring to claim 11: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the CFS includes a second end diametrically opposed the first end, the second end of the CFS is secured to a lower portion of a building (figure 9 at item 210).
Referring to claim 12: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 11 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the lower portion of a building is a floor joist, a rim joist, or a sill plate (item 108 is a sill plate).
Referring to claim 13: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 12. Additionally, Secrest teaches the second end of the CFS is secured to the lower portion of the building via a top bracket (item 210).
Referring to claim 14: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 12 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the CFS includes an intermediate portion disposed between the first end and the second end, and wherein at least a portion of the intermediate portion is adhered to the wall structure, such as by an epoxy-based adhesive (claim 1).
Referring to claim 15: Secrest teaches a method of reinforcing a wall structure having a top end and a bottom end, comprising: (i) adhering a carbon fiber strap (CFS) (item 206) to the wall structure between the top end and the bottom end, the CFS having a first end, a second end, and an intermediate portion disposed between the first end and the second end; (ii) providing or forming a hole (item 211) at or proximate the bottom end of the wall structure, the hole extending into a foundation portion located below the bottom end of the wall structure; (iii) providing an anchoring pin (item 212) including a first pin-end and a second pin-end; (iv) forming a composite anchor via folding a first portion of the CFS that terminates at the first end at least partially around at least a portion of the anchoring pin (col 4, lines 56-59 and col 5, lines 3-6); and (v) securing the composite anchor within the hole (claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the device taught by Secrest and recognize that attaching the separate pin to the rolled up end of the CFS under broadest reasonable interpretation would involve encasing the pin.
Referring to claim 16: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 15 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches securing the composite anchor within the hole comprises at least partially filling a void space defined by the hole and the composite anchor with an adhesive (claim 1).
Referring to claim 18: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 15 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches a step of securing the second end of the CFS to a lower portion of a building (figure 9).
Referring to claim 19: Secrest teaches all the limitations of claim 18 as noted above. Additionally, Secrest teaches the lower portion of a building is a floor joist, a rim joist, or a sill plate, and the second end of the CFS is secured to the lower portion of the building via a top bracket (figure 9).
Referring to claim 20: Secrest teaches a kit for reinforcing a wall structure, comprising: at least one anchoring pin (item 212) and at least one carbon fiber strap (CFS) (item 206), and optionally an epoxy-based adhesive (col 6, lines 7-9) and/or including a top bracket (item 210) configured for attachment to a lower portion of a building. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to recognize that Secrest teaches an epoxy-based adhesive being used to install the CFS and therefore would teach the kit comprising it and all the other components as noted above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7, 8, and 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record being Secrest does not teach the specific folds in the sleeve, the deformations in the pin, and specific secondary steps of claim 17 as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK J MAESTRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7859. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7-3.
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/PATRICK J MAESTRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635