DETAILED ACTION
This application is a national stage entry of PCT/EP2022/080054 claiming foreign priority to DE 20 2021 105 873.0. The applicant meets all of the requirements for PCT filing and foreign priority and therefore, the effective filing date for the application is 10/17/2021. Claims 27-52 are pending in the application and are examined on the merits.
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.
Claims 27, 28, 32-35, 42, and 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clark (US PG PUB 2016/0175877).
Regarding claims 27, 42, and 47, Clark discloses a method of using a glue pot filling device for an edge banding machine (item 10, figure 1) and filling a glue pot (melter 16, figure 1) of said edge banding machine, for melting an adhesive granulate, the glue pot filling device comprising:
a storage container (item 12, figure 1) for holding an adhesive granulate; and
an adhesive granulate conveying device (item 14, figure 1) for pneumatically conveying the adhesive granulate from the storage container into the glue pot of the edge banding machine (paragraph [0020]) wherein the adhesive granulate conveying device comprises:
a conveying line (item 42, figure 2) having a first end section (item 36, figure 2) assigned to the storage container and a second end section assigned to the glue pot (paragraph [0023], other end of outlet hose 42 is connected to adhesive melter 16, figure 1);
a compressed air supply device (items 52, 54, figure 1) assigned to the first end section for feeding compressed air into the conveying line (paragraph [0023]; and
a filling nozzle (the other end of outlet hose 42 acts a nozzle to fill glue pot of melter 46, figure 1) arranged at the second end section for discharging the adhesive granulate to the glue pot.
Regarding claim 28, Clark discloses that the adhesive granulate conveying device further comprises a volume flow booster (see paragraph [0029], [0032], the additional air nozzles and geometry of pump structure provides boost to move larger pellets of adhesives) associated with the first end section of the conveying line.
Regarding claim 32, Clark discloses that the adhesive granule conveying device further comprises a suction pipe (inlet 34, figure 3) arranged at the first end section of the conveying line.
Regarding claim 33, Clark discloses that the suction pipe has a pipe casing (item 78, figure 3) with at least one through-opening.
Regarding claim 34, Clark discloses that the storage container has a wall (item 26, figure 1) with an adhesive granulate inlet opening (open top, figures 1 and 2) for filling the adhesive granulate into the storage container and an adhesive granulate outlet opening (item 24, figure 3), and the suction pipe (item 34, figure 3) is connected to the storage container such that the suction pipe sucks in the adhesive granulate through the adhesive granulate outlet opening.
Regarding claim 35, Clark discloses that the storage container comprises a wall with an adhesive granulate inlet opening (bottom wall of container 12, figures 3-4) and the conveying line extends through the adhesive granulate inlet opening (conveying apparatus 14 extends through bottom inlet of container 12, figures 1-4).
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.
Claims 36, 37, 43, 44, and 50-52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Clark in view of Ganzer et al. (“Ganzer” hereinafter) (US PG PUB 2015/0083230), and Tix et al. (“Tix” hereinafter) (US PG PUB 2013/0105005).
Regarding claims 36, 37, 43, 44, and 50-52, Clark teaches a controller (item 56, figure 1) that controls the air supplied to the air nozzles that effectively move the adhesive pellet from the storage container to the glue pot (paragraphs [0009], [0023], [0031], [0033-0034]). However, Clark does not explicitly teach a filling level measuring device associated with the storage container, a filling level monitoring device associated with the glue pot, and that the controller monitors the readings from the filling level measuring device, and the filling level monitoring device to control the operation of the compressed air device and output a warning signal if the measured level inside the storage container and/or the glue pot is below a set minimum threshold level.
Ganzer teaches another adhesive filing and dispensing device (item 10, figure 1) comprising a storage container (item 12, figure 1) that stores adhesive pellets, a conveying device (item 24, figure 2), a level sensor (item 104, figure 3) inside the storage container, and a controller (paragraph [0047]) that receives the sensed data from the sensor and outputs a warning to an operator about low adhesive level in the storage container (paragraphs [0013], [0047], [0052-0053]).
Tix teaches another adhesive filling and dispensing device (item 10, figure 1) comprising a glue pot (item 30, figure 1) with a level sensor (item 58, figures 2A and 5) that continuously measures the amount of melted product in the glue pot (paragraphs [0019], [0022], [0040]) and a controller (item 18, figure 1) that monitors the entire filling and dispensing operation and receives data from the level sensor (paragraph [0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Clark as taught by Ganzer and Tix to provide a level sensor inside the storage container and the glue pot such that the levels of materials in both of these containers can be continuously determined and the controller can use such data to provide warnings to an operator to fill the amount of material in the storage container and also to control the operation of the conveying device to convey material from the storage container to the glue pot.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-31, 38-41, 45, 46, 48, and 49 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following documents disclose subject matter related to dispensing systems that carry, move, and melt solid adhesive material to dispense liquified adhesive at a target location: US PN 6,095,803, US PG PUB 2006/0182887, US PG PUB 2009/0095730, US PG PUB 2013/0105526, US PG PUB 2013/0112312, and US PN 9,580,257.
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/Vishal Pancholi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754