Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/807,807

FULL-AUTOMATIC FABRIC RECTANGULAR CUTTING EQUIPMENT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 16, 2024
Examiner
DONG, LIANG
Art Unit
3724
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Beijing Hengmeite Technology Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
52%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 52% of resolved cases
52%
Career Allowance Rate
258 granted / 492 resolved
-17.6% vs TC avg
Strong +32% interview lift
Without
With
+32.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
50 currently pending
Career history
567
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
85.9%
+45.9% vs TC avg
§102
7.2%
-32.8% vs TC avg
§112
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 492 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. Claims 1-2, 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Myers (US 20100218658 A1) in view of Henderson (US 3659487), James (US 20060179989 A1), Pynt (US 20100288094 A1) and Gill (US 20240033868 A1). Regarding claim 1, Myers teaches a full-automatic fabric rectangular cutting equipment, comprising a work frame (paragraph 0056) and a material transferring rollers set (126 and roller near 156, see Figure 2) on an upper part of the working frame, a conveyor gantry support frame (frame for 36), a horizontal cutting moving mechanism (156) on the lower part of the working frame along running direction of the material transferring rollers (see Figure 2) and a vertical cutting moving mechanism set (56) on the upper part of the working frame along running direction of the material transferring rollers (see Figure 2); on horizontal cutting moving mechanism is provided with a horizontal cutting tool mechanism (56), and on the vertical cutting moving mechanism is provided with vertical cutting tool mechanisms (see Figures 1-2). Myers fails to teach a material transferring belt set, a vertical cutting moving mechanism set on the upper part of the working frame, a plurality of pressure sheets are set at intervals at a lower part of the conveyor gantry support frame, and one end of pressure sheets corresponding to running direction of the material transferring belt is connected with the horizontal cutting moving mechanism via pressure exerting components; in front of the working frame is provided with a plurality of cabinet doors with locks, in the cabinet door with lock is provided with a distribution box, bottom corners of the working frame is are provided with support feet. Henderson teaches a horizontal cutting moving mechanism set (50) on the upper part of the working frame (see Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Myers to change location of the horizontal cutting moving mechanism set to the upper part, as taught by Henderson. Since the courts have held that a rearrangement of parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art, absent any showing of unexpected results. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) MEPE 2144.04 VI. C. James teaches a fabric cutter with a material transferring belt set. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Myers to change the conveyer roller into conveyor belt, in order to better convey the work material (paragraph 0033 of James). Pynt teaches a cutting device including a plurality of pressure sheets (56) are set at intervals at a lower part of the conveyor gantry support frame (see Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Myers to add the pressure sheets, as taught by Pynt, in order to better hold the work piece (paragraph 0077 o Pynt). The resulting device of modified Myers teaches a plurality of pressure sheets are set at intervals at a lower part of the conveyor gantry support frame, and one end of pressure sheets corresponding to running direction of the material transferring belt is connected with the horizontal cutting moving mechanism via pressure exerting components (as modified by Pynt, see Figure 1 of Pynt). Gill teaches a working device including a frame with foot (58), with doors and locks (264, see Figure 2B). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Myers to add doors and locks for the frame arrangement, as taught by Gill, in order to better protect the device (paragraph 0125 of Gill). The resulting device of modified Myers teaches in front of the working frame is provided with a plurality of cabinet doors with locks (as modified by Gill, paragraph 0125 of Gill), in the cabinet door with lock is provided with a distribution box, bottom corners of the working frame is are provided with support feet (as modified by Gill, see Figure 2B of Gill). Regarding claim 2, modified Myers further teaches each pressure exerting component includes a pressure-exerting head placed on an upper part of the pressure sheet in a contacting manner, a pressure-exerting apparatus is provided on an upper part of the pressure-exerting head, and an upper part of the pressure-exerting apparatus is connected to a bottom of the horizontal cutting moving mechanism via a connecting plate; the pressure-exerting apparatus is a pneumatic cylinder or a pressure spring (as modified by Pynt, see Figure 1 of Pynt). Regarding claim 4, modified Myers further teaches the horizontal cutting moving mechanism includes a horizontal cutting gantry provided between the conveyor gantry support frame, on a top of the horizontal cutting gantry is provided with a top linear moving frame, and on a bottom thereof is provided with a cloth-pressing plate (as modified by changing location, 150 on the bottom of the frame); a horizontal cutting lateral slideway is provided at one side of the horizontal cutting gantry (see Figure 2 of Myers), and the horizontal cutting tool mechanism is slidably connected to the top linear moving frame and the horizontal cutting lateral slideway via the horizontal cutting tool fixing support; the vertical cutting moving mechanism includes a vertical cutting gantry, and a top of the vertical cutting gantry is provided with a rack moving frame (40 moving on 23, see Figure 1); one side of the vertical cutting gantry is provided with a vertical cutting lateral slideway, and the vertical cutting tool mechanism is connected to the rack moving support and vertical cutting lateral slideway by means of a vertical cutting tool fixing support (see Figure 1 of Myers). Regarding claim 8, modified Myers further teaches the vertical cutting tool fixing support includes a transmission gear that engages with a rack moving frame (gear drive replacement, paragraph 0075 of Myers), a transverse connecting plate that is set on the transmission gear, a lateral moving block (62) that cooperates with the vertical cutting lateral slideway (see Figure 3), and a vertical connecting plate that is connected with the transverse connecting plate and the lateral moving block; a bottom of the vertical connecting plate is connected to the vertical cutting tool mechanism via the telescopic adjusting mechanism (43), and on the transverse connecting plate is provided with a first drive motor that drives the transmission gear to rotate (see Figure 7 of Myers). Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Myers (US 20100218658 A1) in view of Henderson (US 3659487), James (US 20060179989 A1), Pynt (US 20100288094 A1) and Gill (US 20240033868 A1) and in further view of Hashikawa (US 20120085853 A1). Regarding claim 3, modified Myers further teaches the pressure sheet is a steel sheet with elasticity (as modified by Pynt, see Figure 1 of Pynt), and the pressure sheet includes a mounting portion connected to a bottom of the conveyor gantry support frame, a flat pressing portion corresponding to an upper surface of the material transferring belt, and an arc-shaped connecting portion connected with the flat pressing portion and the mounting portion (as modified by Pynt, bias into the arc shape, see Figure 1 of Pynt). Modified Myers fails to teach one side of the pressure sheet facing the material transferring belt is covered with a lubricating material layer. Hashikawa teaches a contact surface including with a lubricating material layer (paragraph 0028). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of modified Myers to add the lubricating material layer, as taught by Hashikawa, in order to better reduce friction (paragraph 0028 of Hashikawa). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-7 and 9-10 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. Regarding claim 5, modified Myers further teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 4 above. Modified Myers fails to teach the horizontal cutting tool fixing support includes a transverse plate set on a top of an electric sliding block in the linear moving support, and a vertical plate connected to the transverse plate towards the direction of the fabric; a bottom of the vertical plate is provided with a tool mounting plate, a tool moving plate, and a pressure wheel moving plate; one side of the horizontal cutting gantry near the vertical plate is also provided with a horizontal cutting lateral slideway, in the vertical plate is provided with a guiding sliding block in sliding connection with the horizontal cutting lateral slideway; a bottom of the tool moving plate is provided with a cutting knife, and the bottom of the tool moving plate is provided with a tool mounting slot, and the cutting knife is set inside the tool mounting slot; a bottom of the pressure wheel moving plate is rotatably connected to a pressure wheel; on both sides of the tool moving plate are outwardly provided with a cam plate, and the cam plate is connected to cams traveling on an upper part of the cloth-pressing plate. Salvado (EP 1579966 A1) teaches some elements of the same type of horizontal cutting tool mechanism arrangement. However modified Myers with Salvado still fails to teach some element such as “a guiding sliding block in sliding connection with the horizontal cutting lateral slideway” with “a transverse plate set on a top of an electric sliding block in the linear moving support” too. Furthermore, no additional prior art could be found to teach the claimed limitations either alone nor in combination to further modify the device of Myers, Henderson, James, Pynt, Gill, Hashikawa and Salvado. Thus claim 5 is allowable, claims 6-7 are allowable by virtue of its dependency on claim 5. Regarding claim 9, modified Myers further teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 4 above. Modified Myers fails to teach one end of the vertical cutting tool mechanism corresponding to the direction of fabric transmission is provided with a fabric shoveling mechanism, and an edge sealing mechanism is provided above one end of the fabric shoveling mechanism away from the vertical cutting tool mechanism; the fabric shoveling mechanism comprises shrapnel that are in contact with an upper surface of the material transferring belt, wherein one end of the shrapnel close to the vertical cutting tool mechanism is tilted downwards, and another end is provided with a pressure plate; the shrapnel are connected to a side wall of the vertical cutting tool mechanism via a shrapnel bracket; the edge sealing mechanism is provided above the pressure plate, and a top part of the edge sealing mechanism is connected to the side wall of the vertical cutting tool mechanism via an edge sealing bracket; the edge sealing mechanism is a hot-air edge sealing mechanism or a heated-plate edge sealing mechanism or a light-curing adhesive edge sealing mechanism. Gerber (US 3747454) teaches some elements of the same type of vertical cutting tool mechanism arrangement (see Figure 5-6). However modified Myers with Gerber still fails to teach some element such as “shrapnel bracket” with “the edge sealing mechanism is provided above the pressure plate” too. Furthermore, no additional prior art could be found to teach the claimed limitations either alone nor in combination to further modify the device of Myers, Henderson, James, Pynt, Gill, Hashikawa and Gerber. Thus claim 9 is allowable, claim 10 is allowable by virtue of its dependency on claim 9. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIANG DONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0479. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 AM-6 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ashley Boyer can be reached at 571-272-4502. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LIANG DONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3724 4/16/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 16, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
52%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+32.3%)
2y 11m (~1y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 492 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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