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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roncaglione (4,513,467) in view of Holbus (2010/0031459) and Gray (4,007,053).
Regarding Claim 1, Roncaglione teaches A pivot arm assembly (Fig. 1) for a washing apparatus (Ref. 10, Fig. 1, [Col. 3, Lines 60-63]), the pivot arm assembly comprising:
a vertical support (Ref. 2, Fig. 1);
a pivot arm (Ref. 20, Fig. 1) extending from said vertical support (2) and pivotable with respect to said vertical support (Fig. 1);
a spindle (Ref. 30&34, Fig. 2) extending from said pivot arm (Fig. 1), wherein said spindle includes an upper spindle portion (Ref. 30, Fig. 1&2) and a lower spindle portion (Ref. 34, Fig. 1-2), and wherein said lower spindle portion (34) is arranged at an acute angle (Fig. 4) with respect to said upper spindle portion (Fig. 1&4 shows the lower spindle portion is capable of being arranged at an acute angle when tilted during cleaning, Examiner notes arranged is interpreted as being put in an order); and
a car cleaning apparatus (Ref. 10, Fig. 3) coupled to said pivot arm at said lower spindle portion (34, fig. 3); and
wherein said pivot arm (20) is pivotable about some range of motion with respect to the vertical support ([Col. 3, Lines 60-62], Fig. 1).
Roncaglione fails to explicitly teach a mitter frame coupled to said pivot arm at said lower spindle portion and a plurality of mitter strips attached to and extending downward from said mitter frame. Holbus teaches a washing apparatus for a vehicle with a spindle and can be considered analogous art because it is within the same field of endeavor. Holbus teaches a vehicle cleaning apparatus (fig. 3) with a spindle (Ref. 34, Fig. 3) with a lower spindle portion (Fig. 3 shows a lower spindle) and a mitter frame (Ref. 26, Fig. 3) coupled to said pivot arm at said lower spindle portion (Ref. 34, fig. 3 shows a lower spindle) and a plurality of mitter strips (Ref. 28, Fig. 2, [0023]) attached to and extending downward from said mitter frame (Fig. 2 shows the strips 28 extend down from the frame). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to substitute the car cleaning apparatus, as taught by Roncaglione, with the clearing apparatus having a mitter frame and a plurality of mitter strips, as taught by Holbus, by simple substitution since such a modification is merely an alternate equivalent structure attached to a spindle to clean a car and since such a modification would yield the predictable results of cleaning a vehicle.
Roncaglione as modified further fails to explicitly teach wherein said pivot arm is pivotable about at least a 90 degree range of motion with respect to said vertical support. Gray teaches a washing apparatus for a vehicle with a spindle and can be considered analogous art because it is within the same field of endeavor. Gray further teaches a pivot arm assembly for a washing apparatus (Fig. 1-17) comprising a pivot arm (ref. 12, fig. 6&18) wherein said pivot arm (Ref. 12, fig. 1) is pivotable about at least a 90 degree range of motion (Ref. 45, Fig. 1-18 shows the range of motion is at least 90 degrees) with respect to said vertical support (Ref. 13, Fig. 19). Therefore, given the teachings of Gray, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the degree range of motion, as taught by of Roncaglione, to be at least a 90 degree range of motion, as taught by Gray, since it has been held that “[i]n the case where the claimed ranges ‘overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art’ a prima facie case of obviousness exists.” In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990) and since such a modification would achieve the predictable result of moving around a vehicle to clean a surface. Further, applicant appears to have placed no criticality on the claimed range (see pp. [0044] indicating the angle “could be” greater or less as desired).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Smith (4,239,551), Holbus (4,359,796), and Hanna (2006/0260076) teaches a pivot arm assembly for a washing apparatus comprising a pivot arm and a spindle and can be considered analogous art because they are within the same field of endeavor.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANA L POON whose telephone number is (571)272-6164. The examiner can normally be reached on General: 6:30AM-3:30PM.
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/DANA LEE POON/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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