DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final Office Action on the merits for U.S. App. 18/764,310.
Claims 1-6 are pending.
Claims 1-6 are examined.
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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 defines “a pre-buried plate,” which renders the claimed invention indefinite since one of ordinary skill in the art would not know what scope and elements are being defined with such limitations. The claim preamble is directed toward “a reliable connection structure,” so as to suggest the claim is only directed towards the connection structure that includes the bolt, connecting plates, and pre-buried plate, but the “pre-buried” limitations confuses one as to whether such a plate must be buried within another element and if so what kind of element and if such an element is a positive element of the claimed invention. For examining purposes and in light of the specification and drawings, the limitations “pre-buried” are considered product-by-process limitations, where such a plate is considered to be positively buried within another element and the connecting plates are to be welded thereto to form an assembly. Moreover, claims 2-6 are rendered indefinite for depending upon such limitations.
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) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shevlin (U.S. Patent 9,422,720) in view of Patton (U.S. Publication 2020/0400272) and Corsi (EP 2662646).
Regarding claim 1, Shevlin discloses a reliable connection structure for a bolt and a pre-buried plate, comprising a component (the receiving fixture or equipment bracket that is to be secured to the bolt #201; see col. 8, ll. 21-26), wherein a bolt through hole is provided on the component (the hole within the fixture or bracket which is to receive the bolt #201 to attach it thereto), a connecting plate (#200) comes in contact with the component (the fixing of the component to the bolt #201 holds the component to the plate #200 and thus contacts such elements with one another), a pre-buried plate (plate #100 is pre-buried, such as when fasteners extend through the holes #102 of plate #100 and are buried into the underlying roofing substrate so as to anchor the plate thereto and/or buried by membranes #300 and #500) is welded to the connecting plate (see col. 6, ll. 31-35), a high-strength bolt (bolt #201 is considered high-strength since it is configured to attach to a bracket that is to support satellite or solar equipment or other heavy objects) comes into contact with the pre-buried plate (see figure 4, where the bolt head is to directly or indirectly come into contact with plate #100), the high-strength bolt is slidably connected to the bolt through hole (as depicted in figure 7, when the assembly is attached to a roofing structure, the only possible way to attach the bolt #201 to a component is to slide the component over the end of the bolt in order to attach it thereto with a nut or other female threaded fastener), an outer side of the high-strength bolt is configured to be connected to a high-strength nut through a screw thread (the outer threading of the bolt #201 as depicted in figure 2b).
However, Shevlin discloses the bolt is welded to the connecting plate #200 and thus does not specifically disclose the bolt is configured to slidably connect to the connecting plate as defined. It is highly well known in the art, as evidenced by Patton, that such connections can comprise of a connecting plate #12 over a pre-buried plate #9, where the connecting plate #12 comprises of a two tiered opening to receive the bolt #9 and head flush therein so the bolt head and the connecting plate #12 can both be coplanar with a lower surface of the assembly and the bolt is slidable within such an opening in the connecting plate. Though not specifically disclosed within Patton, common bolt head retention within such holes, as evidenced by Corsi, comprises of an opening which comprises of a hexagonal shape #212 which is configured to receive the bolt head to prevent rotation of the bolt, where the hole can be shaped so that the sidewalls and bottom surface of the opening #212 retain the bolt head and prevent turning of the bolt head, or only the sidewall surfaces of the opening interfaces with the bolt head to prevent turning (but allows for vertical movement of the head within the opening due to a larger depth of the opening compared to the embodiment where the bottom surface is to contact the bolt head. (See figures 6 and 7 and paragraph 35 of Corsi). Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have constructed the connecting plate of Shevlin to comprise of a two-tiered opening which is configured to engage a hex head bolt so as to prevent rotation of the bolt but allow slidable connection between such elements, as taught in Patton and Corsi, in order to provide a more flush connection between the connecting and pre-buried plates while also reducing the amount of welding steps and still allowing for threaded connection to such a bolt as needed.
Furthermore, though Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi disclose use of a single connecting plate instead of use of upper and lower connecting plates welded together as presently defined, whether a person of ordinary skill in the art uses a single, integral plate or two plates welded together to form an integral plate would comprise of the same final structure and function for the invention and comprise of no new or unexpected result. Furthermore, In re Harza held that that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have constructed the connecting plate of Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi to comprise of two plates welded together instead of a single integral plate since forming such an element as a rigid integral plate out of a single plate or two plates welded together would have yielded the same predictable result of a connecting plate assembly for retention of a bolt head and also since it has been held that that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza. Thus, such a two connecting plate assembly of Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi would comprise of a two-tiered bolt hole that extends through such an assembly and thus allows the bolt to be slidably inserted and connected within such plates as explained above.
Finally, though Shevlin discloses the threaded end of the bolt is configured to attach to fixtures or brackets to support equipment thereabove, Shevlin does not specifically disclose use of a high-strength hexagonal nut that comes into contact with a gasket to attach the component to the upper connecting plate. It is highly well known in the art, as evidenced by Corsi, that such threaded ends of bolts are used with hexagonal nuts #246 in order to attach a component #250 thereto, where gasket washers are provided adjacent bolts heads #231 to provide a smooth waterproof surface of the bolt to bear on. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used a hexagonal nut and a gasket washer to bear against the component and attach the component to the bolt of Shevlin, as taught in Corsi, in order to properly attach the component thereto and prevent the further ingress of water within such connecting plate(s) holes.
Regarding claim 2, Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi render obvious a bolt through groove is provided on the upper connecting plate, and the high-strength hexagonal head bolt is slidably connected to inside of the bolt through groove (as explained above, when Shevlin is modified to include the bolt connection of Patton and Corsi therein, as well as the addition of a second connecting plate, such an upper connecting plate of the prior art would comprise of a central opening that allows for vertical sliding of the bolt therein).
Regarding claim 3, Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi render obvious the number of bolt through grooves is three, and the three bolt through grooves are unevenly distributed on the upper connecting plate (Col. 8, l. 49 - col. 9. l. 4 of Shevlin disclose that more than one bolt can be provided through the second connecting plate #200 and such a hole can be off center. Paragraph 25 of Corsi similarly discloses one or more fasteners can be used to attach a roof mount adapter to the flat surface and the assembly can be configured in order to interface with various types of brackets #250. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have constructed the upper connecting plate of the prior art to comprise of three bolt through grooves that are unevenly distributed within the upper connecting plate in order to attach to specific types of brackets or other fixture components that comprise of a special fastener pattern, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art, and also since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).).
Regarding claim 4, Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi render obvious a bolt head self-locking card slot is provided on the lower connecting plate, and the high-strength hexagonal head bolt is slidably connected to inside of the bolt head self-locking card slot (as explained above, when Shevlin is modified to include the bolt connection of Patton and Corsi therein, as well as the addition of a second connecting plate, such a lower connecting plate of the prior art would comprise of a central opening that is hexagonal shaped in order to allow for engagement with the hex head of the bolt and prevent rotation of the bolt but allows for vertical sliding of the bolt therein since the bottom surface of the opening does not contact the bolt head to prevent such rotation of the bolt).
Regarding claim 5, Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi render obvious the number of bolt head self-locking card slots is three, and the three bolt head self-locking card slots are unevenly distributed on the lower connecting plate (Col. 8, l. 49 - col. 9. l. 4 of Shevlin disclose that more than one bolt can be provided through the second connecting plate #200 and such a hole can be off center. Paragraph 25 of Corsi similarly discloses one or more fasteners can be used to attach a roof mount adapter to the flat surface and the assembly can be configured in order to interface with various types of brackets #250. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have constructed the lower connecting plate of the prior art to comprise of three bolt head self-locking card slots that are unevenly distributed within the lower connecting plate in order to attach to specific types of brackets or other fixture components that comprise of a special fastener pattern, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art, and also since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).).
Regarding claim 6, Shevlin in view of Patton and Corsi render obvious the gasket is slidably connected to the high-strength hexagonal head bolt, and the gasket comes into contact with the component (as depicted in figure 7 of Corsi, the gasket washers extend between the nut #246 and the component #250 in order to contact and attach the component to the bolt and connecting plates and are to be slid upon the end of the bolt #244, where such features would be provided within Shevlin as explained above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE V ADAMOS whose telephone number is (571)270-1166. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9-5.
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/THEODORE V ADAMOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635