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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu (CN 205537102). Lu discloses a heat treatment system including a heat treatment furnace (2) having an entrance, an exit, and an internal space in which a plurality of saggars are conveyed from the entrance to the exit (SEE Figure 1); a return line (1-4) located outside the heat treatment furnace and configured to convey the plurality of saggars from the exit to the entrance and a processor (3-1) located on the return line and configured to process the plurality of saggars on the return line wherein the return line includes a first processing line onto which a saggar is conveyed, a second processing line located in parallel with the first processing line and onto which a saggar is conveyed (SEE Annotated Figure 1), an entrance line (1-3) connected to the first processing line (1-6) and the second processing line and located upstream of the first processing line and the second processing line on the return line and an exit line (1-4) connected to the first processing line and the second processing line and located downstream of the first processing line and the second processing line on the return line and the processor includes a first processing device configured to process the saggar on the first processing line and a second processing device configured to process the saggar on the second processing line (SEE Annotated Figure 1 for clarification).
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In re claim 2, Lu discloses that the first processing line is substantially parallel to the second processing line (SEE Annotated Figure 1). In re claim 3, Lu discloses that the first processing line is perpendicular to each of the entrance line (the location which the 1-6 branches from section 1-3) and the exit line (1-4) and the second processing line is substantially perpendicular to each of the entrance line and the exit line (See the perpendicular portion of 1-2 and the exit line 1-4). In re claim 4, Lu discloses that the length of the first processing line is substantially equal to the length of the second processing line (SEE Annotated Figure 1 for clarification). In re claim 5, Lu discloses that each of the first processing device and the second processing device (SEE Annotated Figure 1) is selected from a group consisting of a recovery device configured to reverse the saggar and recover a material in the saggar, a cleaning device configured to clean the saggar, a filling device configured to fill the saggar with a material, and a surface smoothing device configured to smooth a surface of the material in the saggar (SEE Figure 3, Lu discloses an automatic feeding unit having two housings fixed above the linear return line and the rotary return line, respectively, with a dust collection device provided on top of each housing, the side of the housing is provided with a feed inlet through which a conveyor belt passes, inside the housing, along the travel direction of material, a feeding device, a material scraping device and a punching device which are sequentially arranged).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4882. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY A WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 June 11, 2026
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