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 § 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) 1-4, 6-8 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeon (KR20230076691).
Regarding claim 1, Jeon discloses a work table comprising:
a fire extinguishing tank (10) which is configured to store a fire extinguishing liquid (50) therein (Paragraph 26), a top plate (60) pivotally attached to an open upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Figure 4, the plate is attached to the upper end that may be opened by hole 58) and configured to receive a work object thereon (Paragraph 31, Examiner interprets the powder extinguishing agent as a work object; The agent may be received on the plate), and a handle unit (68, 64, 66) configured to support the top plate covering the open upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Paragraph 30) and is operable to release the support of the top plate covering the open end of the fire extinguishing tank (Paragraph 29).
Regarding claim 2, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 1, wherein:
the handle unit (68, 64, 66) includes a handle part (68) and a guide shaft (64) coupled to the handle part (Figure 4) and configured to support the top plate (Figure 4), and a lower surface of the top plate includes a bearing member that contacts the guide shaft (64) (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1).
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Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1
Regarding claim 3, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein when the handle part is pulled, the guide shaft having supported the top plate moves forward to be separated from the top plate, so that the top plate moves down to open the upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Paragraph 30).
Regarding claim 4, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein: the guide shaft (64) supports one edge of the top plate (Figure 4, the shaft supports the edge having the bearing member), an edge of an opposite side to the top plate is hinge-coupled to the upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1, “opposite end”), and the top plate is rotatable downward by at least 90 degrees around the hinge-coupled edge (Figure 6 depicts the top plate rotated 90 degrees).
Regarding claim 6, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein: the bearing member includes a plurality of bearing members (Figure 1, there is a bearing member on each door), and the plurality of bearing members are arranged along a longitudinal direction of the guide shaft (Figure 1).
Regarding claim 7, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein: one end of the guide shaft is coupled to the handle part (Figure 4, one end is coupled by wire 66), a second end of the guide shaft includes a bearing guide part (The second end is received in the bearing member) which can come into contact with the bearing member to support the bearing member thereon (Figure 4), and the bearing guide part is partially cut along a longitudinal direction of the guide shaft to have one of a flat or concave shape (Figure 4, the guide part has a concave shape).
Regarding claim 8, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein: the handle unit further comprises a guide block (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) supporting the guide shaft (The guide block supports the guide wire and handle, and thereby, the guide shaft), and the guide block is fixed along one edge of the upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) and includes a through hole enabling the guide shaft to move therethrough (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1; The through hole is larger than the shaft, which allows the shaft to move through).
Regarding claim 13, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, wherein a longitudinal direction of the guide shaft (64) is orthogonal to an extending direction of one edge of the top plate (Figure 4, the direction of the guide shaft is orthogonal to the short edge of the top plate).
Regarding claim 14, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, a plurality of sets of the guide shaft and the bearing member there are provided (Figure 1, each door has a guide shaft and bearing member), and the handle part is coupled to the plurality of guide shafts (Figure 1) and has a bar shape arranged in parallel to one edge (Figure 4, the horizontally protruding portion of the handle part is parallel to an edge of the top plate).
Regarding claim 15, Jeon discloses the work table of claim 2, further comprising a front wall (The walls of tank 16) arranged along an edge of a front side of the top plate when the top plate is supported by the handle unit (Figure 1), wherein a height of the upper end of the front wall is taller than a height of the top plate (Figure 1).
Claim(s) 1 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeong (KR20230070958).
Regarding claim 1, Jeong discloses a work table comprising:
a fire extinguishing tank (100) which is configured to store a fire extinguishing liquid therein (Paragraph 32, “the lower part is the lower side so that the battery fire extinguishing liquid (FEL) can be filled”, a top plate (200) pivotally attached to an open upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Paragraph 18, the emergency handle 110 is rotated, which pivots the plate 200 about the horizontal axis of the bed) and configured to receive a work object thereon (Figure 10 depicts a battery being received on the plate), and a handle unit (110, 210, 211, 212, 213) configured to support the top plate covering the open upper end of the fire extinguishing tank (Figures 2 and 3) and is operable to release the support of the top plate covering the open end of the fire extinguishing tank (Paragraph 40, rotation of the handle provides for release of the support members 212 and 211 of the top plate covering the tank).
Regarding claim 17, Jeong discloses the work table of claim 1, wherein: the work object includes at least one of a battery cell, a battery module, and a battery pack (Figure 10, battery pack).
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.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Deng (CN215634383).
Regarding claim 5, Jeong discloses the work table of claim 2, but fails to disclose wherein the bearing member is ball bearing.
Deng discloses a rotating shaft device wherein a bearing member (1) is a ball bearing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jeong with the disclosures of Deng, further providing the device to include a ball bearing (Deng, 1) as the bearing member, in order to provide for protection against deformation of the rotating shaft, as disclosed by Deng (Lines 92-93).
Claim(s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Fogtec (DE202021106777)
Regarding claim 16, Jeong discloses the work table of claim 1, but fails to disclose the table further comprising a pipe capable of draining the fire extinguishing liquid at a lower end of the fire extinguishing tank, and a valve coupled to the pipe.
Fogtec discloses a device further comprising a pipe (140) capable of draining fire extinguishing liquid (Paragraph 111, lines 15-16) at a lower end of a fire extinguishing tank (100) (Figure 1), and a valve coupled to the pipe (Paragraph 57, lines 2-3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jeong with the disclosures of Fogtec, providing the worktable to include a pipe (Fogtec, 140) capable of draining the fire extinguishing liquid (Fogtec, Paragraph 111, lines 15-16) at a lower end of a fire extinguishing tank (Jeong, 100) (Fogtec, Figure 1), and a valve coupled to the pipe (Fogtec, Paragraph 57), in order to provide for the fluid inside the container to be replaced for the cooling device to work effectively, as disclosed by Fogtec (Paragraph 112, line 17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The limitations “the guide block comprises a locking member, in case of locking of the locking member of the guide block, an end of the locking member contacts the guide shaft to fix the guide shaft so that the handle unit can be used to move the work table, and in case of unlocking of the locking member of the guide block, when the handle part is pulled, the guide shaft moves forward” are not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art. ‘691 discloses a handle member that does not include a locking member. The handle member of ‘691 is configured for pulling of the shaft to release the door. Provision of a locking member, as claimed, would defeat the purpose of the handle in ‘691, as the handle would no longer be appropriate for releasing of the door.’958 fails to disclose contemplation of the guide shaft moving forward. The guide shaft includes elements that move out of the openings 231, but are only moved through rotation of the handle. Further, the guide block of claim 8 is not put forth by ‘958. The remaining prior art also fails to disclose the claimed structure. Examiner finds no teaching, suggestion or motivation to modify the prior art to arrive at the claimed device.
Conclusion
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CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/CHRISTOPHER R DANDRIDGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
Prosecution Insights