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
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, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Heimbruch et al. (5,992,238) (“Heimbruch”).
Regarding claim 1, Heimbruch teaches a slipform paver, comprising: a slipform configured to form a concrete structure from concrete (Column 1, Lines 15-25); at least one hydraulic concrete compaction device (10) including a hydraulic motor (18) for driving a vibration-generating imbalance; a hydraulic fluid system configured to provide a hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor (20, 22); and a monitoring system for monitoring a compaction of the concrete, the monitoring system including: at least one pressure sensor (88) arranged in the hydraulic fluid system, and configured to generate a pressure signal correlated to a pressure in the hydraulic fluid; and a controller (70) configured to receive the pressure signal and to evaluate the compaction of the concrete based on an analysis of the pressure signal (Column 5, Lines 25-60).
Regarding claim 8, Heimbruch teaches the hydraulic fluid system comprises a pressure line leading to the hydraulic motor (18) of the concrete compaction device and a return line leading from the hydraulic motor, and the at least one pressure sensor (88) is arranged in or on the pressure line and/or the return line.
Regarding claim 11, Heimbruch teaches a method of monitoring a compaction of concrete placed in a slipform of a slipform paver with at least one hydraulic concrete compaction device (10), which has a hydraulic motor (18) for driving a vibration-generating imbalance (Column 3, Lines 30-45), which is operated with a hydraulic fluid that is provided in a hydraulic fluid system, the method comprising: measuring a pressure in the hydraulic fluid using at least one pressure sensor (88) arranged in the hydraulic fluid system, which pressure sensor generates a pressure signal correlating with the pressure in the hydraulic fluid; and determining the compaction of the concrete placed into the slipform of the slipform paver based at least in part on an analysis of the pressure signal (Column 5, Lines 25-50).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 9-10, 12-16 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed on the attached PTO-892. Muller teaches a slipform paver with compaction monitoring.
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/ABIGAIL A RISIC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671 July 10, 2026
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