DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on May 22, 2024 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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, 25, 26 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hofstatter (WO 2020052879 A1).
Hofstatter discloses tamping machine, and method of operating the machine. The machine is comprised of four tamping units 6, each having four tamping tools 9 and a lifting and lining unit in the form of a tool carrier 10. A measuring system 4 with a measuring value transducer and a control/regulating device 16 having at least two controllers including a first controller 17 assigned to a first lifting mode for a standard operation, and a second controller 18 assigned to a second lifting mode for turnouts.
The tamping machine is configured for carrying out the method which comprises the steps of actuating the lifting and lining unit 10 via the control/regulating device 16 in dependence on a track position recorded by means of the measuring system 4 such that a treated track section is lifted to a target level during a lifting time and selecting at least two controllers 17, 18 set up in the control/regulating device 16 such
that a first controller 17 of the controllers is activated in a first lifting mode for standard
operation and that a second controller 18 of the controllers is activated in a second
lifting mode for turnouts. The method further comprises providing the control/regulating device 16 with position data of the track for switching between the first and second lifting modes, based on the machine being over a straight section or a turnout section of the track.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-21, 23, 24, 27 and 29-32 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. Lichtberger (US 10,550,525), Philipp (WO 2020083584 A1) and Plasser (AT 519739 B1) all show various tamping machines and methods of operating.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
July 13, 2026
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