DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claims 1-17 are objected to because of the following informalities: The figure label numbers should be removed from the claims. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Clams 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seyeden (US 2009/0045311) in view of Derujinsky et al. (US 3,646,896).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Seyeden discloses a turntable system comprising a rotatable platform having a top surface and a bottom. See fig. 4 and note race-top 1, and note that it has a top face and a bottom face. The top face comprises platform 16 (see paragraphs 0033-0034).
Seyeden discloses an annular base which fits within an annular-groove in the bottom face of the race-top. See fig. 4, and note base 6. As shown in fig. 5, race-top 1 fits down around base 6 sandwiching roller bearings 11. This is described in paragraph 0035.
Seyeden does not disclose wherein the bearings are attached to the top and inner-side walls of the groove in the race-top (inner side walls as per claim 3). However, such roller attachment schemes are established, as is disclosed by the rotation system of Derujinsky in col. 3: 1-10 and figs. 10-11 (note that the rollers are affixed to the sides and against top of a groove in rotating platform 22). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing, to consider such schemes with the Seyeden system, so as to provide an effective roller mechanism (i.e. an established alternative bearing configuration for rotation).
Regarding claim 2, See fig. 5, and note that race-top 1 is raised above the bottom of the base.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-17 are objected to as depending from a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten to include the base claim and any intervening claims (and if the objections above regarding the figure labels are corrected). The prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed structure of claim 4, including the claimed configuration of bearings comprising the first set attached to the sides and top and the second set attached to the top only.
Conclusion
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TIMOTHY A. MUSSELMAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3715
/TIMOTHY A MUSSELMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715