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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fiore (US 2013/0011513 A1), in view of Wang (CN 115027020 A), and further in view of Lian (US Pat. No. 5,522,713), VEQUE et al. (US 2017/0348887 A1), and Oya (EP-0778116-B1).
Regarding claim 1, Fiore teaches an injection mold device (FIG. 1, [0008]-[0018]) comprising: a main body unit (see FIGs. 1, 2) that includes
a base seat (10),
a frame mounted (11) on said base seat 10 (see FIGs. 1, 2),
an elevating seat (“lower clamp member 7”) disposed on said frame 11 (see FIGs. 1, 2, [0061]), and movable upwardly and downwardly along said frame 11 (see FIGs. 1, 2, [0061]),
a fixing seat (“upper clamp member 6”, [0060]) fixed to said frame 11 and disposed above said elevating seat 7 (see FIGs. 1, 2, [0060]),
an installing seat (“barrel support 4”) fixed to said frame 11 and disposed above said fixing seat 6 (see FIG. 2, [0058]), and
a top plate (“upper support 1”) fixed to said frame 11 and disposed above said installing seat 4 (see FIGs. 1, 2, [0055]);
a mold unit (e.g., “injection mold”, see [0060] “Lower portion 6L is formed flat, and is adapted to be in contact with injection mold inserted under it.”, [0146]) that includes a hydraulic cylinder (8) disposed on said base seat 10 and connected to a bottom surface of said elevating seat 7 (see FIGs. 1, 2),
said cylinder 8 being operable for driving said elevating seat 7 to move upwardly and downwardly [0146], thereby capable of driving a lower mold to move relative to an upper mold;
a feeding unit that includes a feeding pipeline (e.g., Fiore at [0059] discloses that “Barrel 5 has aperture 5A on its upper end 5U. Plastic pellets enter inside barrel 5 through aperture 5A for purpose of injection. Plastic can be inserted through any conventional means used in the art, not illustrated herein, such as manual or automated hopper.”),
an injection mechanism (“barrel 5”) mounted to said main body unit (see FIGs. 1, 2), said injection mechanism 5 having a material collection barrel (see FIG. 2) that is disposed on said installing seat 4 and that is connected to said feeding pipeline,
a piston (“injection piston 3”, [0043], FIGs. 1, 2) that is disposed in said material collection barrel 5 and that is upwardly and downwardly movable [0057],
an injection pipeline (e.g., torpedo 13 having protrusion 13P, see [0117]-[0121]) that is connected to said material collection barrel and one of said upper mold and said lower mold (see FIG. 13, [0117]-[0121]), and
a cylinder (“injection cylinder 2”) that is operable for driving said piston 3 to move upwardly and downwardly [0056].
Fiore does not disclose: 1. the mold unit’s cylinder being an electric cylinder,
2. the mold unit comprising a lower mold disposed on a top surface of said elevating seat, and an upper mold disposed on a bottom surface of said fixing seat and aligned with a position of said lower mold,
3. a peristaltic pump operable for squeezing said feeding pipeline,
4. a servo cylinder that is operable for driving said piston to move upwardly and downwardly, and
5. a control unit that includes a surveillance module signally connected to and operable for controlling said electric cylinder, said peristaltic pump, and said servo cylinder.
As to the limitation 1. the mold unit’s cylinder being an electric cylinder, in the same field of endeavor of injection molding machines, Wang teaches a top device for plastic structure injection molding, comprising an operation table 1 fixedly connected with a bottom column 33, the bottom column 33 far away from the operation table 1 is fixedly connected with a base 34, a lower electric cylinder 11, the upper end of the lower electric cylinder 11 is provided with a lower piston rod 12, the upper end of the lower piston rod 12 is provided with a supporting plate 13, Wang discloses that the lower electric cylinder 11 the lower piston rod 12 drives the supporting plate 13 to move upwards. (Wang lines 163 – 201). Wang further discloses that the invention can control the height of the upper mould by controlling the vertical movement of the upper piston rod of the upper electric cylinder, so as to make the upper mould and the lower mould against or separate (Wang lines 91 – 105).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the mold unit’s hydraulic cylinder in the injection mold device of Fiore with an electric cylinder (e.g., Wang’s electric cylinder 11), for the purpose of automating the movement of Fiore’s mold unit with predictably good expectation of success (see MPEP 2143 (I) (B)), since it have held to be within the ordinary skill of worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP § 2144.07:
Ryco, Inc. v. Ag-Bag Corp., 857 F.2d 1418, 8 USPQ2d 1323 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (Claimed agricultural bagging machine, which differed from a prior art machine only in that the brake means were hydraulically operated rather than mechanically operated, was held to be obvious over the prior art machine in view of references which disclosed hydraulic brakes for performing the same function, albeit in a different environment.).
As to the limitation 2. Fiore/Wang discloses the claimed invention except for the injection mold comprising of a separable lower and an upper mold. However, injection molding systems comprising an injection mold consisting of a lower and upper mold are well known and routine in the art. For example, Lian teaches a molding system comprising a lower mold (106) disposed on a top surface of an elevating seat (104), and an upper mold (86) disposed on a bottom surface of a fixing seat (84) and aligned with a position of said lower mold (see Lian’s FIGs. 2 – 3, Col. 4, lines 49 – 67, cont. Col. 5, lines 1 – 14).
Lian discloses that the molding system allows for e.g., encapsulating semiconductor devices, and comprises, inter alia, a press 10 coupled to a clamping driver 20 and transfer driver 30 for clamping the molds and transferring molding compounds into the cavities of lead frame in the semiconductor encapsulation process, a programmable logic controller 50 and a computer 60 coupled to the clamping driver 20 and the transfer driver 30 over a servo controller 40, the servo controller 40 activates and disables the clamping and transfer motors in response to predetermined threshold parameters with the assistance of a closed-loop control (FIG. 7), the programmable logic controller 50 controls all sequence of system operations such as the loading of resin compound pellets, transporting the lead frames etc., the computer 60 performs data acquisitions from the sensors at various strategic locations of the press 10 and displays the same. (Lian Col. 4, lines 15 – 63).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify the injection mold in the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang to comprise a lower mold and an upper mold, as suggested and taught by Lian, since it have been held that constructing formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in art. See MPEP § 2144.04 (V)(C). One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the mold unit in the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang with the lower and upper mold of Lian for the purpose of e.g., allowing the injection mold device to produce encapsulated molded products, as taught by Lian. See MPEP 2143 (I) (G).
As to the limitation 3. Fiore/Wang/Lian discloses the claimed invention, except for a peristaltic pump operable for squeezing a feeding pipeline. Fiore, however, discloses at [0059], that plastic can be inserted through aperture 5A of barrel 5 [injection mechanism] by any conventional means used in the art, “such as manual or automated hopper”, for purpose of injection.
VEQUE et al. teaches a device (1) for supplying at least one molding device (2) with a polymerizable mixture from a storage (3) through dispensing lines (31, 31’) [analogous to the claimed “feeding pipeline”], a mixing device (4), a dispensing device (5), regulating means (50, 50′), a metering pump (51, 51′) which makes it possible to precisely meter the quantity of reactant coming from the storage tanks (30, 30′) to molds 20 (see VEQUE et al. [0050] – [0058]), the supply of material being controlled and regulated by means of a programmable CPU [0121] – [0122], [0128], communicating with pressure regulator (111) [0094], flow rate measurement sensor (52, 52’) [0057].
VEQUE et al. discloses that the metering pumps 51, 51′ could be peristaltic pumps [0059].
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian with a peristaltic pump (e.g., VEQUE et al. 51, 51’), operable for squeezing a feeding pipeline (e.g., VEQUE et al. 31, 31’), as suggested and taught by the prior art of VEQUE et al., to feed molding material through aperture 5A of the injection mechanism (5) of Fiore, as suggested by Fiore, since it have held to be within the ordinary skill of worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP § 2144.07.
As to the limitation 4., Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE discloses the claimed invention, except for a servo cylinder that is operable for driving the injection mechanism’ piston to move upwardly and downwardly. However, the use of servo cylinders for driving injection mechanisms are well-known in the art.
For example, Oya teaches an analogous resin transfer moulding machine (see FIGs. [0026] – [0036]. Oya discloses that after the clamping mechanism clamps the lead frames, the plungers 16 are moved upward by the servo motor 42 [analogous to the claimed “servo cylinders”], so as to send the melted resin from the pots 12 to the cavities in the molding dies 10. (Oya [0048] – [0054]), Oya further discloses that “plungers 16 are driven by the servo motor, so they can be precisely controlled” [0084].
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the hydraulic injection cylinder (Fiore’s 2) in the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE with a servo cylinder (e.g., Oya’s servo motor 42) that is operable for driving the injection mechanism’ piston to move upwardly and downwardly, so it can be precisely controlled, as taught by Oya [0084], MPEP 2143 (I) (G)), for the purpose of automating the material injection of Fiore’s injection mold device with predictably good expectation of success (see MPEP 2143 (I) (B)), since it have held to be within the ordinary skill of worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP § 2144.07:
Ryco, Inc. v. Ag-Bag Corp., 857 F.2d 1418, 8 USPQ2d 1323 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (Claimed agricultural bagging machine, which differed from a prior art machine only in that the brake means were hydraulically operated rather than mechanically operated, was held to be obvious over the prior art machine in view of references which disclosed hydraulic brakes for performing the same function, albeit in a different environment.).
As to the limitation 5. It would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya with a control unit that includes a surveillance module signally connected to and operable for controlling said electric cylinder (e.g., Wang’s electric cylinder 11), said peristaltic pump (VEQUE et al. metering peristaltic pumps 51, 51′ [0059]), and said servo cylinder (e.g., Oya’s servo motor 42), as suggested by the prior art (e.g., Lian’s programmable logic controller 50, computer 60 coupled to the clamping driver 20 and the transfer driver 30 over a servo controller 40, the servo controller 40 activates and disables the clamping and transfer motors in response to predetermined threshold parameters with the assistance of a closed-loop control, the programmable logic controller 50 controls all sequence of system operations such as the loading of resin compound pellets, transporting the lead frames etc., the computer 60 performs data acquisitions from the sensors at various strategic locations of the press 10 and displays the same, see Lian Col. 4, lines 15 – 63; see also VEQUE et al. [0050] – [0058], the supply of material being controlled and regulated by means of a programmable CPU [0121] – [0122], [0128], communicating with pressure regulator (111) [0094], flow rate measurement sensor (52, 52’) [0057]), since "The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results." KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S.Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). MPEP 2141 (I).
Claim(s) 2 – 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fiore (US 2013/0011513 A1), in view of Wang (CN 115027020 A), and further in view of Lian (US Pat. No. 5,522,713), VEQUE et al. (US 2017/0348887 A1), and Oya (EP-0778116-B1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sato et al. (US 2016/0075076 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 1, except for, wherein: said mold unit further includes at least one forming member that is disposed in at least one of said upper mold and said lower mold; said at least one forming member is configured as at least one heater; and said control unit further includes a temperature control module that is electrically connected to said at least one forming member and that is signally connected to said surveillance module, said surveillance module being operable for controlling temperature of said at least one forming member via said temperature control module.
Sato et al. teaches a mold system 11 “formed from a material which transmits ultraviolet light for curing a resin on a substrate, for example, quartz.” [0026];
[0031] “the shape correction unit 16 may deform the pattern surface 11a by applying heat to the mold 11 and controlling the temperature of the mold 11”, “by locally thermally expanding the substrate 13 by irradiating the substrate at a predetermined position with light having constant intensity instead of deforming the pattern surface 11a of the mold 11. In this case, the imprint apparatus 1 includes a heat supply unit serving as a shape correction unit which supplies heat to the mold 11 or the substrate 13.”; [0032] “the control unit 17 controls the amount of deformation of the pattern surface 11a of the mold 11 by the shape correction unit 16.”
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify in the same way the mold unit in the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya to further include at least one forming member that is disposed in at least one of said upper mold and said lower mold, as in the mold 11 of Sato et al., said at least one forming member is configured as at least one heater, as in the mold 11 of Sato et al., and said control unit further includes a temperature control module (e.g., as in the control unit 17 of Sato et al.) that is electrically connected to said at least one forming member and that is signally connected to said surveillance module, said surveillance module being operable for controlling temperature of said at least one forming member via said temperature control module, as taught by Sato et al., for the purpose of controlling the temperature applied to the molds, as taught by Sato et al. See MPEP 2143 (I) (G).
Regarding claim 3. Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya/Sato teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mold unit further includes at least one forming member that is disposed in at least one of said upper mold and said lower mold, and that is configured as at least one ultraviolet (UV) curer (see Sato et al. [0026]).
Claim(s) 4 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fiore (US 2013/0011513 A1), in view of Wang (CN 115027020 A), and further in view of Lian (US Pat. No. 5,522,713), VEQUE et al. (US 2017/0348887 A1), and Oya (EP-0778116-B1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WANG, CHUAN-SHENG (CN 106985366 A; “CN366”).
Regarding claim 4. Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 1, except for, wherein said feeding unit further includes a pressure sensor plate that is fixed to said frame and that is disposed below said top plate, said servo cylinder being mounted to said pressure sensor plate, said pressure sensor plate being operable for sensing a reactive force of said servo cylinder to calculate a pushing force of said piston.
CN366, in the same field of endeavor of electric injection molding apparatus that can simulate different rubber molding process, controllable process parameters, such as temperature, injection speed, extrusion speed, injection, extrusion, extrusion and injection pressure, and vibrating frequency and amplitude and so on; and accurate control, can be the traditional forming technique such as measuring the rubber flow static injection, static in the extrusion process, of simple operation, accurate measuring effect and low cost, comprising a first heating plate, an upper template of the injection mould is provided with a second heating plate, the first heating plate and the second heating plate are respectively installed with temperature sensor, wherein the material in the cartridge or the die can be heated to a specified temperature (CN366 lines 94 – 114), and teaches an embodiment (Embodiment 1, FIGs. 1, 2), comprising a device for detecting connection of the computer control system 6, mounted on the frame 1 and through the lower connection plate 12 and a vibrating system 13 of joint rubber moulding device, wherein a detecting device comprises a bracket cross beam 2 on the pressure sensor 3, joint through the upper joint plate 4 and the pressure sensor 3 of the turbine screw rod elevating machine 5 and through coupler 8 and lifter 5 connected with the servo motor 7 lower end of the lifter 5 is has an extending section extending downwards, the extending tail end of the space is material pressing plunger cylinder 20, when the rubber moulding device is a rubber extrusion forming device rubber forming device comprises fixing connected on the lower connection plate 12 on the hollow bracket 11 mounted on the bracket 11 of the hollow barrel 9, and the barrel 9 is clearance fit with the cylinder neck 14, barrel 9 and the hollow bracket 11 in interference fit, the cylinder 9 opening end has flange extending along the radial direction. flange is placed on the upper opening end of the hollow bracket surface, rubber flow measuring, the cylinder 9 and the pressing piston 16 tail clearance fit; the hollow bracket 11 is mounted outside the first heating plate 15, the first heating plate 15 is mounted a temperature sensor 10. (lines 188 – 203).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya, so that the feeding unit further includes a pressure sensor plate (e.g., CN366 pressure sensor 3) that is fixed to said frame and that is disposed below said top plate, as suggested and taught by CN366 (FIGs. 1, 2), said servo cylinder (e.g., Oya’s servo motor 42) being mounted to said pressure sensor plate, as suggested and taught by CN366 (FIGs. 1, 2), said pressure sensor plate being operable for sensing a reactive force of said servo cylinder and capable of calculate a pushing force of said piston, as suggested by CN366 (lines 94 – 114 “extrusion and injection pressure”), and the modification would have yielded nothing more than predictable successful results e.g., an injection mold device capable of simulate different polymeric materials molding process with accurate control and of simple operation, accurate measuring effect and low cost, as taught by CN366 lines 94 – 114. MPEP 2143 (I) (D).
Regarding claim 5, Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya/CN366 teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said control unit further includes a pressure sensor module that is signally connected to said surveillance module (e.g., see CN366 lines 103 – 114), and that is operable for receiving a result signal from said pressure sensor module, said surveillance module being operable for adjusting an output of said electric cylinder in accordance to said result signal to control a locking pressure between said upper mold and said lower mold (e.g., see CN366 lines 128 – 165), and therefore capable of adjusting an output of said servo cylinder in order to control said pushing force of said piston (“To satisfy an intended use limitation which is limiting, a prior art structure which is capable of performing the intended use as recited in the preamble meets the claim.” See, e.g., In re Schreiber. See MPEP § 2111.02 (II)).
The Examiner notes that the claimed limitations are directed to the manner the claimed apparatus is intended to operate. Applicant is respectfully reminded that, as per MPEP 2114 (II), the manner of operating the device does not differentiate apparatus claim from the prior art:
"[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original). A claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
Claim(s) 6 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fiore (US 2013/0011513 A1), in view of Wang (CN 115027020 A), and further in view of Lian (US Pat. No. 5,522,713), VEQUE et al. (US 2017/0348887 A1), and Oya (EP-0778116-B1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Pham (US 2005/0136146 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 1, except for, wherein said control unit further includes a communicating module that is signally connected to said surveillance module, that uploads signals received from said surveillance module to a cloud server, an Internet of Things (IoT), or a local area network (LAN), that receives signals from the cloud server, the IoT, or the LAN, and that transmits the signals to said surveillance module.
Pham, in the same field of endeavor of injection mold devices, teaches an injection mold device (60, FIG. 1), comprising a control system 90 which includes a programmable general purpose computer or programmable PLC 13, a keyboard, a touch screen monitor 12, a modem, a local-area-network communication device, a wide-area-network communication device, the silicone resin pumps 22A and 22B, the water cooling devices (chiller) 14, the molding device 70, the heaters 37A and 37B, the hydraulic actuated injection valves, including at least 30A, 30B, 30C, 30D and 30E, the silicone resin supply system 80, the pressure sensors for the silicone resin supply system 80, the temperature sensors, including at least one thermocouple 38, the hydraulic actuator 1 for the molding device 70, the flow sensors for the silicone resin supply system 80, control switches 16A and 16B for the apparatus 60, and redundant safety switches with laser connection for the apparatus 60 (see Pham [0108]-[0113]).
Pham [0109] discloses that the PLC 13 monitors and controls the operation of the apparatus 60, may comprise any number of conventional programmable industrial controllers capable of transmitting and receiving analog and digital signals, and may communicate with the various input-output devices of the apparatus 60 using any number of conventional communication protocols.
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify the control unit in the injection mold device of Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya to further include a communicating module that is signally connected to said surveillance module (e.g., monitoring), that uploads signals received from said surveillance module to a local area network (LAN), that receives signals from the LAN, and that transmits the signals to said surveillance module, as taught by Pham, for the purpose of allowing the control unit to monitor and control the operation of the injection mold device by any number of conventional programmable industrial controllers capable of transmitting and receiving analog and digital signals, and may communicate with the various input-output devices of the injection mold device using any number of conventional communication protocols, as taught by Pham [0109].
Regarding claim 7, Fiore/Wang/Lian/VEQUE/Oya/Pham teaches the injection mold device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit further includes a display (Pham 12) that is signally connected to said surveillance module (see Pham [0108]), and a human machine interface (e.g., Pham display is a “touch screen monitor”) that is operable for receiving an input signal and transmitting a controlling signal to said surveillance module (see Pham [0108]-[0109]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Brown et al. (US Pat. No. 5,302,103) Brown et al. teaches an injection mold device (20, see FIG. 1, Col. 2, lines 37 – 48).
Sano et al. (US Pat. No. 4,439,123) Sano et al. teaches an injection molding machine of the vertical type and includes a base 11, a die closing cylinder 12, a die closing ram 19, tie rods 13, a die head 14, a screw cylinder 15, a screw drive mechanism 16, an injecting cylinder 17 and a lift cylinder 18. The upper half of the die halves 6 and 7 of the molding machine 1 is a female die 6 fixedly mounted on the die head 14 to serve exclusively for the injection molding, while the lower male die 7 is mounted on the carriage 5 to serve as a lower die common to the respective machines 1 to 3. (Col. 3, lines 57-68, cont. Col. 4, lines 1-16).
Matsubayashi et al. (US Pat. No. 5,914,139): electric motor injection apparatus for vertical injection molding machine.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDGAREDMANUEL TROCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-9766. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam Zhao can be reached at 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDGAREDMANUEL TROCHE/Examiner, Art Unit 1744
/JEFFREY M WOLLSCHLAGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742