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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 18/810,986 PLANAR NON-COMPRESSIBLE RIGIDIZABLE CHAIN ASSEMBLY filed on 8/21/2024. Claims 22-42 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 11/21/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 22-25, 27, 28, 30-35, 37 and 39-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Publication No. 2020/0114528 to Graham.
With regards to claim 22, the publication to Graham teaches an assembly (106) with multiple support elements (106A, 106B) aligned along a reference plane, the support elements having at least one projecting member (140) extending outwardly away from each support element, the support elements defining; a receiving cavity (144) within each support element; and a first passageway (150) through the multiple support elements; wherein the projecting member of at least one of the multiple support elements is received by the receiving cavity of at least one other of the multiple support elements (See Figure 4), a retention system (118) including a first retention member (118A) and an actuator (controller, See 0118) engaged with the first retention member, wherein the first retention member extends longitudinally and passes through the first passageways (150) in the support elements, wherein the actuator is configured to apply tension to the first retention member to bias the multiple support elements towards each other to retain the projecting member of one support element in the corresponding cavity of a neighboring support element (See 0116). Graham teaches that the actuator/controller is can be controlled by a multitude of items such as sensors or cameras (See 0118). While the exact location of the controller is not disclosed, it would be obvious to put the controller where there is space and is accessible to what controls the actuator. Therefore it is obvious that the actuator is positioned on an opposite side of the first structure relative to the multiple support elements as for the reasons stated above.
Graham also teaches wherein the support elements are substantially prevented from moving or rotating out of the reference plane when the retention system is actuated by virtue of the positioning of the projecting members within the receiving cavities; (See 0042) and wherein the multiple support elements (106) are positioned in a space between a first and second support structure (112), wherein the first retention member is coupled to a load (120, tool) positioned outside the space between the first and second support structures.
With regards to claim 23, Graham teaches that the first and second structures (112) are separated by a predetermined distance (See Figure 2), and wherein the predetermined separation between the first and second structures is maintained when the actuator is actuated.
With regards to claim 24, Graham teaches wherein the first and second structures positioned adjacent either end of the multiple support elements. (See Figure 2)
With regards to claim 25, Graham teaches wherein the multiple support elements are positioned between the first and second structures. (See Figure 2)
With regards to claim 27, Graham teaches wherein each of the support elements is rotatable relative to a neighboring support element around an axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the reference plane, each support element being rotatable by virtue of rotation of the projecting member within the receiving cavity. (See Figure 2)
With regards to claim 28, Graham teaches wherein the projecting members of the multiple support elements are substantially planar within the reference plane and are substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation for each support element. (See Figure 2)
With regards to claim 30, Graham teaches wherein the multiple elements define a second passageway (150, See Figure 5) extending through the multiple support elements.
With regards to claim 31, Graham teaches wherein the retention system further includes a second retention member (118) passing through the second passageway in the multiple support elements, and wherein the retention system is arranged and configured to maintain the projecting member of one support element in the corresponding cavity of a neighboring support element when one or both of the first and second retention members is actuated.
With regards to claim 32, Graham teaches wherein the retention system includes a first actuator, however does not teach a second actuator, and wherein the first retention member is coupled to the first actuator, and the second retention member is coupled to the second actuator. It has been held to be obvious to duplicate a part for the same function. So adding a second actuator merely duplicates the actuating function and is obvious.
With regards to claim 33, Graham teaches wherein the multiple support elements include body portions, wherein the body portions of the support elements define the receiving cavities of the support elements, and wherein the projecting members of the support elements are separate from the body portions of the support elements. (See Figure 7)
With regards to claim 34, Graham does not teach wherein the projecting members and the body portions are formed from different materials, however it has been held to be obvious to use suitable materials and having different materials is a suitable choice for the projecting members as the projecting members may be subject to more wear than the body portions.
With regards to claim 35, Graham teaches wherein at least one support element includes multiple projecting members (140) extending from that support element, and wherein at least one support element defines multiple cavities configured to receive the multiple projecting members. (See Figure 7)
With regards to claim 37, Graham teaches wherein the multiple projecting members extend from the support element side by side adjacent one another with an intervening space between them. (See Figure 7)
With regards to claim 39, Graham teaches wherein the retention system includes a measuring device configured to determine tension on the first retention member. (See 0118)
With regards to claim 40, Graham teaches wherein the retention member includes a cable (0117) and it would be obvious that they are made primarily of metallic or polymeric materials, because these are suitable materials for a cable.
With regards to claim 41, Graham teaches wherein the multiple support elements are separate unitary molded structures. (See Figure 7)
With regards to claim 42, Graham teaches wherein the first retention member includes a biasing element configured to apply a tension to the first retention member. (See 0014)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 26, 29, 36 and 38 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.
With regards to claim 26, the prior art does not teach a first end support element, wherein the first end support element is coupled to the first structure, wherein the first end support element has a projecting member extending outwardly away from the first end support element, wherein the projecting member on the first end support element is received within the receiving cavity of one of the multiple support elements; and a second end support element, wherein the second end support element is coupled to the second structure, wherein the second end support element defines a receiving cavity, wherein the projecting member on one of the multiple support elements is received within the receiving cavity of the second end support element.
With regards to claim 29, the prior art does not teach wherein the first passageway extending through the support elements passes through the projecting member of each support element.
With regards to claim 36, the prior art does not teach wherein the multiple projecting members are planar and define a curvilinear shape at the ends of the projecting members where the projecting members engage the multiple cavities.
With regards to claim 38, the prior art does not teach wherein the multiple projecting members of at least one support element define a convex curvilinear shape extending away from the support element, and wherein the multiple cavities of at least one support element define a concave curvilinear shape extending into the second support element.
Cited References
PN 2021/0285374 to Hawke et al. teaches a chain device
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
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/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 10/21/25