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 § 102
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.
Claim(s) 16-22 and 24-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 3128761 to Smith.
Re Claim 16, Smith teaches:
An alternating-pressure support (at least [Title] “Roller Massaging Machine”), comprising:
a guide arrangement having at least two guides disposed opposite one another in a transverse direction (at least Figs. 1-5 elements 34 and 36), said at least two guides extending in a longitudinal direction (at least Fig. 1);
and a plurality of support elements having opposite ends movably mounted in said at least two guides (at least Figs. 3-5 elements 75); said plurality of support elements configured for elastically supporting a load acting upon said plurality of support elements at said guide arrangement (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 17, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements have an elastic construction, at least in some section or sections (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 18, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective supporting arrangement, said supporting arrangements being elastically deformable, at least in some section or sections (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 19, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 18, wherein said plurality of support elements each have an axial part (at least Figs. 3-8 element 77) and a shell (at least Figs. 3-8 element 76); and said supporting arrangements each have: a base for rotationally secure connection to said axial part, a sleeve for rotationally secure connection to said shell (at least Figs. 5-6 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “A cylindrical shaft 77 extends through body 76; see FIGS. 5, 6 and 8. The shaft has conical or tapered opposite ends 78 which are engaged in the bearing members 70' which join the links”), and at least one elastically deformable element connecting said base to said sleeve (at least Figs. 5-6 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “The rollers are held in the chains and move in a straight course from left to right across the open top 29 of the casing”).
Re Claim 20, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements have a respective axle element and at least one respective support roller connected elastically to said axle element (at least Figs. 5-6 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “A cylindrical shaft 77 extends through body 76; see FIGS. 5, 6 and 8. The shaft has conical or tapered opposite ends 78 which are engaged in the bearing members 70' which join the links”).
Re Claim 21, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 20, wherein: said support rollers are each configured, at least in some section or sections, as a round tube around said axle element (at least Fig. 8); at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective supporting arrangement; said supporting arrangements being elastically deformable, at least in some section or sections; and said supporting arrangements are each disposed between a respective axle element and a respective support roller (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 22, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 21, wherein said supporting arrangement is seated on said axle element, and said support roller is seated on said supporting arrangement (at least Fig. 8).
Re Claim 24, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective elastically deformable profile (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 25, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 24, wherein said profile has a star-shaped cross section (at least Fig. 12).
Re Claim 26, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective spring arrangement (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 27, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein each of said plurality of support elements has: an axle element (at least Fig. 8); and a respective running roller at each of said opposite ends for movable mounting in a respective one of said guides, said running rollers each being connected elastically to a respective one of said axle elements (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
Re Claim 28, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, wherein said plurality of support elements are configured for performing an oscillatory motion along and counter to the longitudinal direction in alternation (at least Figs. 1-5 and 13-14 and [Col. 3 lines 40-60] “driving force is transmitted from the motor alternately to shafts 59' and 97, 67' during each revolution of the motor shaft, and the chains are driven alternately in opposite directions. The rollers 75 move alternately in opposite directions across the open side of the casing”).
Re Claim 29, Smith teaches:
A patient bed, comprising a frame, and the alternating-pressure support according to claim 16, the alternating-pressure support being supported by said frame (at least Figs. 1 and 13-14).
Re Claim 30, Smith teaches:
A method for operating an alternating-pressure support (at least [Title] “Roller Massaging Machine”), the method comprising: placing a plurality of support elements opposite one another in a longitudinal direction, and orienting the plurality of support elements in a transverse direction (at least Figs. 3-5 elements 75); movably mounting opposite ends of the plurality of support elements in at least two guides of a guide arrangement (at least Figs. 1-5 elements 34 and 36); moving the plurality of support elements in the at least two guides; and using the plurality of support elements to elastically support a load acting upon the plurality of support elements (at least Figs. 1-5 and [Col. 2 lines 45-65] “Each roller has a cylindrical body 76 which may be of soft or hard rubber, plastic or other material of predetermined resiliency”.).
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) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith in view of US 3419268 to Bellet.
Re Claim 23, Smith teaches:
The alternating-pressure support according to claim 16 (detailed with respect to claim 16).
Smith does not explicitly teach:
wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective elastically deformable foam body.
However, Bellet teaches:
wherein at least some of said plurality of support elements each have a respective elastically deformable foam body (at least Figs. 1-4 and [Col. 1 lines 55-70] “ foam 2 surrounding the core”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the rollers taught by Smith with the foam taught by Bellet with a reasonable expectation of success and predictable results. A person having ordinary skill would have been motivated to do so because “Desired compression in the soft material is obtained” (Bellet [Col. 1 lines 55-70]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE SUN whose telephone number is (571)270-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am-4:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Justin Mikowski can be reached at (571) 272-8525. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GEORGE SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673