FIRST NON-FINAL REJECTION
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
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) 1-3, 6, 7, 9-11, 14, 15, and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Slosson et al. Identifying Sources of High Friction in Anatomical Fractions of Corn Stover, 2022 ASABE Annual Internation Meeting.
With respect to claims 1, 9, and 17, Slosson teaches a measurement system for measuring flow properties of a material having a plurality of material particles (Inter-particle mechanical tester, figure 2) comprising: a plurality of sample holding plates (particle mounts, figure 3), each configured to securely hold a material particle (corn stover particles adhered to particle mounts, page 4); a first and a second sample holder (removable particle mount, figure 2), each configured to securely hold a first and second one of the plurality of sample holding plates (pages 3-4 , figure 2), the first sample holder being fixed during a measurement (the stationary particle mount, figure 2); a normal force actuator configured to apply a normal force between material particles held by the first and second sample holding plates (the normal force applicator, figure 2); a sliding force actuator configured to apply a sliding force between the first and second sample holding plates (the traction force application, figure 2); a normal force sensor configured to determine the normal force (the normal force sensor, figure 2); a sliding force sensor configured to determine an amount of sliding force transmitted from the sliding force actuator through the material particles held by the first and second sample holding plates (the traction force sensor, figure 2); and a processor configured to control the normal force and sliding force actuators, receive measurements from the normal force and sliding force sensors, and determine adhesion and friction characteristics between material particles held by the first and second sample holding plates (the friction coefficients of the samples are determined to determine adhering properties, pages 5-6).
With respect to claims 2-3 and 10-11, Slosson teaches wherein each of the plurality of sample holding plates are configured to hold material particles using an adhesive that is a cyanoacrylate glue (particles are adhered to the mounts using Permatex Ultra Bond super glue, page 4).
With respect to claims 6, 14, and 18, Slosson teaches wherein the processor is further configured to store the adhesion and friction characteristics for multiple combinations of the plurality of sample holding plates and to create a statistical model of interparticle forces, wherein the model divides material particles into predetermined particle types and identifies force characteristics for each particle type (the plurality of friction results of the samples and a statistical Wilcoxon signed-rank test is conducted, pages 5 and 6).
With respect to claims 7, 15, and 19, Slosson teaches wherein the material is corn stover and the plurality of material particles comprise pieces of cob, husk, leaf, and stalk (pages 4 and 5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 8, 16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Slosson et al. Identifying Sources of High Friction in Anatomical Fractions of Corn Stover, 2022 ASABE Annual Internation Meeting in view of Yi et al. Correlation between inter-particle mechanical properties and bulk flow properties of milled biomass, ASABE Annual International Meeting.
With respect to claims 8, 16, and 20, Slosson teaches the claimed invention except wherein the material is forest residue and the plurality of material particles comprise wood chips, bark, needles, and twigs.
Yi teaches testing biomass particles wherein the particles may be wood chips, bark, needles, and twigs (pages 3 and 4).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Slosson with testing of the other biomass materials as taught by Yi in order to provide better predict biomass material behaviors.
Claim(s) 4-5 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Slosson et al. Identifying Sources of High Friction in Anatomical Fractions of Corn Stover, 2022 ASABE Annual Internation Meeting in view of Werner et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0293001.
With respect to claims 4, 5, 12, and 13, Slosson teaches the claimed invention except wherein each of the plurality of sample holding plates have a mating face that is keyed such that it slides into each sample holder, and wherein each of the plurality of sample holding plates have a mating face that is keyed such that it is configured to mount to each sample holder in a plurality of predetermined orientations to facilitate testing the same particle in multiple selectable orientations.
Werner teaches a universal tester having modular sample stages wherein modular sample stages 14 that is shaped (keyed) to engage with a base 24 of the tester 10 by guide pins 30, ball locks 34, and openings 38,40 (paragraphs 30-31, figures 3 and 4).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Slosson with modular sample stages that engage with the tester as taught by Werner in order to provide a more versatile tester machine.
Conclusion
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FREDDIE KIRKLAND III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
/Freddie Kirkland III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 7/11/2026
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