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 .
Priority
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fritz et al. USP 6,857,629.
Fritz discloses, regarding claim 1, A sheet folding device comprising:
a first movement unit (30,52,44,45,50) disposed to be able to be raised/lowered above a placement region (see at least C5/L36-58);
a second movement unit (110,111,66,48) supported by the first movement unit and reciprocating along the placement region in a first direction (see at least C7/L43-46,53-58); and
a sheet discharge device (60) supported by the second movement unit and having a sheet discharge port (made up of feeder belts 61,62) facing the placement region, the sheet discharge port reciprocating along the placement region in a second direction crossing the first direction (via elements 22,24,32,34,36,38,39) (see at least C5/L11-25),
wherein a sheet continuous in a longitudinal direction is discharged from the sheet discharge port of the sheet discharge device so that a width direction of the sheet crosses the second direction (see at least fig.1).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the second movement unit stops at a plurality of positions at a distance of not less than a width dimension of the sheet in the first direction, and
the sheet discharge port of the sheet discharge device reciprocates along the placement region in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction and the sheet is discharged from the sheet discharge port so that the width direction of the sheet coincides with the first direction (this is shown by how the sheet is laid in at least fig.1).
Regarding claims 3,4, further comprising a pressing member (90,91) that returnably moves toward the placement region, on each side of the sheet discharge device in the first direction (see at least fig.2).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 5-7 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.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Occhetti (USP 3,913,904) discloses a sheet folding device comprising at least a sheet discharge device (26) having a sheet discharge port (40,41) that reciprocates (positions shown by phantom outlines 26a,26b) along a placement region (fig.2).
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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, Michael C McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 2/23/2026