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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tetsuya (JP09-240665) in view of Norio (JP06-078228) further in view of Juechter (US 3,768,416).
Regarding claims 1-2, Tetsuya (fig. 1) discloses a collapsible container, comprising: a lower frame 1 including a rectangular bottom plate;
an upper frame 2 that has a frame shape identical to that of an outer rim of the lower frame 1 and includes a pair of first lateral surfaces opposed to each other and a pair of second lateral surfaces each connecting an end of one of the pair of first lateral surfaces to an end of another of the pair of first lateral surfaces;
a pair of flip-up lateral plates 4, each of which is swingably supported at an upper end to the upper frame 2 and is configured to swing between an upright state of being perpendicularly upright with respect to the bottom plate 1along a corresponding one of the pair of first lateral surfaces and a laid-down state of being laid down to be overlaid on the bottom plate;
a pair of divided lateral plates 3, each of which includes: an upper lateral plate 3a swingably supported to a corresponding one of the pair of second lateral surfaces;
a lower lateral plate 3b swingably supported to the bottom plate; and
a hinge pivotably connecting a lower end of the upper lateral plate to an upper end of the lower lateral plate;
the pair of divided lateral plates being configured to shift between a spread state where the upper lateral plate and the lower lateral plate are spread to be substantially flush with each other and a bent state where the upper lateral plate and the lower lateral plate are bent inwardly; and
a pair of lid plates 5, each of which is pivotably supported to an upper part of a corresponding one of the pair of second lateral surfaces and thus enables opening and closing of an opening of the upper frame 2, the collapsible container being collapsible to flat form when the pair of flip-up lateral plates 3 is brought to the laid-down state and the pair of divided lateral plates 4 is brought to the bent state, wherein on outer lateral surfaces of the upper lateral plate 3a and the lower lateral plate 3b, a plurality of first reinforcement ribs is continuously formed to extend linearly in an up-down direction from an upper end to a lower end of each of the pair of divided lateral plates astride the hinge,
each of the plurality of first reinforcement ribs includes: an upper reinforcement rib formed on the upper lateral plate; and a lower reinforcement rib formed on the lower lateral plate.
Tetsuya fails to disclose a convexity being formed on one of the upper reinforcement rib and the lower reinforcement rib, and when the pair of divided lateral plates is in the bent state, the upper reinforcement rib is opposed to an upper part of the lower reinforcement rib, and the convexity contacts another of the upper reinforcement rib and the lower reinforcement rib;
wherein the convexity is formed at an end of the upper reinforcement rib or the lower reinforcement rib distant from the hinge; and
an installation surface provided on a lower surface of the bottom plate has a plurality of grooves that are formed therein parallel to long sides of the bottom plate so as to be continuous over an entire region of the bottom plate between short sides thereof, and into which support rails are fitted, the support rails being provided on a support surface for placing the collapsible container thereon; and
the collapsible container moves along the support rails, with the plurality of grooves fitted over the support rails.
However, Norio teaches a convexity or stopper 17 being provided on a pair of divided plates 7, 8 on surfaces closer to the frames and where the plates are closest to each other when the container is collapsed (fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed, to have provided the device of Tetsuya, a stopper, on the reinforcements and closer to the frames, to minimize the biting of the upper and lower frames as taught by Norio, to prevent damaging the frames.
Further, Juechter teaches a bottom of a container having a plurality of grooves formed by guide ridges 110 that are formed therein parallel to long sides of the bottom plate so as to be continuous over an entire region of the bottom plate and into which support rails 65 are fitted, the support rails being provided on a support surface for placing the collapsible container thereon; and
the container moves along the support rails, with the plurality of grooves fitted over support rails (figs. 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed, to have provided the bottom of the container of the modified Tetsuya, grooves fitted over support rails, to facilitate passage of the container along a conveyor, as taught by Juechter, to easily move the container without having to lift it.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tetsuya (JP09-240665) in view of Norio (JP06-078228) and Juechter (US 3,768,416) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Richter (US 5,190,179).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Tetsuya discloses all elements of the claimed invention except for the lower frame including:
a pair of first upright walls that is perpendicularly upright along two opposed sides of the bottom plate; and
a pair of second upright walls that is perpendicularly upright along other two sides of the bottom plate, and on inner sides of the pair of first upright walls and the pair of second upright walls, a plurality of second reinforcement ribs is formed to extend in the up-down direction.
However, Richter teaches a collapsible container having a lower frame with upright walls and a plurality of reinforcement ribs 47 (fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed, to have provided the lower frame of the modified Tetsuya, upright walls and reinforcement ribs provided on the upright walls, as taught by Richter, to give the base extra strength to prevent the frame from being damaged due to loads applied to the collapsed container.
Regarding claim 4, the modified Tetsuya discloses all elements of the claimed invention except for a plurality of third reinforcement ribs extending in the up-down direction being formed on inner sides of the pair of first lateral surfaces and the pair of second lateral surfaces.
However, Richter teaches it is desirable to provide the inside of a frame with reinforcement ribs 47 that extend in the up-down direction (fig. 3).
It would have also been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed, to have provided the upper frame of the modified Tetsuya, reinforcement ribs, as taught by Richter, to also give the upper frame extra strength to prevent the frame from being damaged due to loads applied to the collapsed container.
Regarding claim 5, it is noted that the device of the modified Tetsuya, when the collapsible container is collapsed to flat form, upper ends of the pair of first upright walls are opposed with a prescribed gap (formed by the stopper 17 of Norio) to lower ends of the pair of first lateral surfaces, and upper ends of the pair of second upright walls are opposed with a prescribed gap (formed by the stopper 17 of Norio) to lower ends the pair of second lateral surfaces fig.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered. While Tetsuya, Norio and Richer do not teach the newly added limitation, newly applied reference Juechter teaches the limitation added by amendment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BLAINE GIRMA NEWAY whose telephone number is (571)270-5275. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM- 5:00PM.
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/BLAINE G NEWAY/Examiner, Art Unit 3735
/Anthony D Stashick/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3735