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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "wherein the surface cleaning comprises vibrating debris collected." In lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. In is unclear wherein the independent claim 12 upon which claim 16 is based, when/where debris collection is disclosed. Appropriate collection is required.
Claim 18 recites “pivoting the vehicle between a horizontal operational position and a vertical shipping position.” It is unclear in view of the specification and drawings how the “vehicle” is being pivoted. In view of the specification and drawings, the claim has been examined as if “vehicle” is a grooming apparatus. Appropriate correctio to claims 12 and 18 are required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7-10, 12, 14, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Davis (WO 2009/091452).
Regarding claim 1, Davis discloses a turf grooming system, comprising:
at least one grooming device [10], each comprising a rotary brush [18] and an interchangeable assembly [16],
wherein the rotary brush [18] is drivingly connectible to at least one drive wheel [11] (via sprocket [18] and drive wheel [11]),
wherein at least one of the at least one grooming device [10] is liftable by pivoting about a pivot point (Axis of front wheels [11] for shipping rotation and axis of lower bar [66] for operational rotation).
Regarding claim 3, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, the interchangeable assembly [16] comprises a debris collection assembly [16].
Regarding claim 4, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, wherein each grooming device [10] further comprises a frame [12, 64, 66, 68, 72, 95] and a magnet assembly [94],
wherein the at least one drive wheel [11] is positionable at a front end of the frame [12, 64, 66, 68, 72, 95] (The drive wheel [11] is seen at the front end of the frame in Fig. 3.), the interchangeable assembly [16] is positionable behind the at least one drive wheel [11] (The interchangeable assembly is seen behind the drive wheel [11] in Fig. 3.), the rotary brush [18] is positionable behind the interchangeable assembly [16] (The rotary brush [18] is positionable behind the interchangeable assembly [16] as seen in the annotated Fig. 3 below.),
and magnet assembly [94] is positionable behind the rotary brush [18] (The magnet assembly [94] is seen positioned behind the rotary brush [18] as seen in Fig. 2), wherein the at least one drive wheel [11] comprises a first drive wheel (as seen on the left side of the grooming apparatus [10] in Fig. 2) connectible to a side of the frame [12, 64, 66, 68, 72, 95] and a second drive wheel [11] connectible to an opposite side of the frame [12, 64, 66, 68, 72, 95] (The second drive wheel is seen connected to the grooming device on the right side of the frame as seen in Fig. 4.).
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Regarding claim 5, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, further comprising a drive connector [14] drivingly connectible to the turf grooming system (The drive connector [14] is a hitch which connects the turf grooming system to the vehicle which drives it; therefore, the hitch [14] is considered a drive connector.).
Regarding claim 7, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, further comprising a vibrating motor [20] connectible to interchangeable assembly [16].
Regarding claim 8, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, the rotary brush [18] raiseable relative to a surface over which grooming device is moved (Page 12 lines 19-21 disclose the actuator [30] adjusts the operating height of the rotary brush [18] relative to the ground.).
Regarding claim 9, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, wherein the pivoting of the grooming device [10] transitions the grooming device [10] between a horizontal position (The operational position/horizontal position as seen in Fig. 2) and a vertical position (The uplifted/vertical position as seen in Fig. 6.).
Regarding claim 10, Davis discloses the turf grooming system of claim 9, wherein the pivot point (Axis of front wheels [11] for shipping rotation and axis of lower bar [66] for operational rotation) comprises a shipping pivot point and an operational pivot point (Page 12 lines 26-27 disclose that upon operation of the actuator [30] used to tilt or operate the grooming apparatus [10], the grooming apparatus operationally rotates around the axis of lower bar [66] which is considered to be the operational pivot point.).
Regarding claim 12, Davis discloses a method for grooming turf, comprising:
providing decompaction of the turf by brushing (via rotary brush [18]);
providing deep grooming of the turf or surface cleaning of the turf or both (The debris collection baskets [16], by holding debris, work to surface clean the turf by holding debris);
and providing an attractive force magnetically over a turf (via magnet assembly [94]);
by driving a single vehicle (Page 6 lines 28-29 disclose the grooming device [10] is operated by being pulled by a small tractor or vehicle.).
Regarding claim 14, Davis discloses the turf grooming method of claim 12, the surface cleaning comprising the brushing (via rotary brush [18]) and collecting of debris (via debris collection basket [16]) at the surface of the turf.
Regarding claim 16, Davis discloses the turf grooming method of claim 12, wherein the surface cleaning comprises vibrating debris collected (via vibrator [20] located in the debris collection baskets [16]).
Regarding claim 17, Davis discloses the turf grooming method of claim 12, further comprising adjusting a height over the turf at which the brushing is performed (Page 12 lines 19-21 discloses the actuator [30] adjusts the operating height of the rotary brush [18] relative to the ground.).
Regarding claim 18, Davis discloses the turf grooming method of claim 12, further comprising pivoting the grooming device between a horizontal operational position (The operational position/horizontal position as seen in Fig. 2) and a vertical shipping position (Fig. 6 and page 5 lines 6-11 disclose a “uplifted” orientation which is largely vertical in order to ship the grooming apparatus).
Regarding claim 19, Davis discloses the turf grooming method of claim 18, wherein the pivoting is about a pivot point and the pivot point comprises a shipping pivot point (The front axis of wheels [11] as that is what the grooming device [10] rotates on to get into the vertical position as seen in Fig. 6.) and an operational pivot point (Page 12 lines 26-27 disclose that upon operation of the actuator [30] used to tilt or operate the grooming apparatus [10], the grooming apparatus operationally rotates around the axis of lower bar [66] which is considered to be the operational pivot point.).
Claims 1-2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Murphy (US 2011/0079968).
Regarding claim 1, Murphy discloses a turf grooming system, comprising:
at least one grooming device [5], each comprising a rotary brush [30] and an interchangeable assembly [40] (As seen in Fig. 6, the tine assembly is merely attached via a fastener allowing for an operator to remove the tine assembly, therefore the tine assembly is considered “interchangeable”. ), wherein the rotary brush [30] is drivingly connectible to at least one drive wheel (The grooming apparatus is pulled by a vehicle, therefore the wheels of the vehicle are driving the rotary brush [30] is drivingly connected to the drive/vehicle wheels.), wherein at least one of the at least one grooming device [5] is liftable by pivoting about a pivot point (Page 2, section 0034, lines 1-8 disclose a complex height adjustment mechanism capable of individually adjusting components of the grooming device, including the wheels. By lifting either, the front or rear set of wheels [16], the grooming device then pivots around the other respective set of wheels [16], lifting a portion of the grooming device [10]).
Regarding claim 2, Murphy discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, the interchangeable assembly [40] comprises a tine assembly [40].
Regarding claim 8, Murphy discloses the turf grooming system of claim 1, the rotary brush [30] raiseable relative to a surface over which grooming device [5] moved.
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 12-13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murphy (US 2011/0079968) in view of Davis (WO 2009/091452).
Regarding claim 12, Murphy discloses a method for grooming turf, comprising:
providing decompaction of the turf by brushing (via rotary brush [30]);
providing deep grooming of the turf (via tine assembly [40] as disclosed on page 3 section 0045 lines 1-5) or surface cleaning of the turf or both;
by driving a single vehicle (Such as a tractor as disclosed on page 2 section 0032 lines 7-10.).
However, Murphy does not disclose providing an attractive force magnetically over a turf.
Davis discloses a turf grooming apparatus [10], driven by a single vehicle, comprising a brush [18] and a magnet assembly [94] attached at the rear of the frame [12, 64, 66, 68, 72, 95].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Davis’ magnet assembly to rear of Murphy’s frame (Murphy’s frame is capable of receiving a rear attachment as noted by static reducer [50] seen in Fig. 2.) in order to collect and remove ferrous debris from the turf for further cleaning (Davis, page 13, lines 16-28.).
Regarding claim 13, Murphy and Davis disclose the turf grooming method of claim 12, the deep grooming being by lifting the turf beneath a surface of the turf (Page 3 section 0045 lines 1-5 discloses the interchangeable assembly/tine assembly [40] grooms the aerated infill material which would require reaching beyond the surface of the turf.).
Regarding claim 17, Murphy and Davis disclose the turf grooming method of claim 12, further comprising adjusting a height over the turf at which the brushing is performed (Murphy, page 3, section 0038, lines 1-6 disclose mechanism [28] for adjusting the height of the rotary brush [30].).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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 as it discloses the rotary brush rotating opposite to the rotational direction of the drive wheel which would not make sense to modify the rotary brush in the current art to rotate opposite to the drive wheel.
Claim 11 is 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 as it discloses the turf grooming system of claim 10, wherein the shipping pivot point comprises shipping holes configured to receive shipping pins and the operational pivot point comprises operational holes configured to receive operational pins as it would not make sense to modify the pivot points to include the respective pins and holes and for the grooming device to “fold” as necessary for the configuration.
Claim 15 is 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 as it discloses wherein the turf is driven over by the vehicle in the same direction as the brushing of the turf which would require the rotary brush to rotate in the opposite direction which would not make sense to modify given the structure of the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Coffin (US 7337601 B1) discloses a grass groomer with integrated brush for reel cutting unit. Hickenbottom (AU 2009/200670 A1) discloses a multipurpose rear grooming assembly for a vehicle and method of storage of multiple grooming assemblies.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASHLEY A KAERCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-0128. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (7-11 AM).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Rocca can be reached at 571-272-8971. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ASHLEY A KAERCHER/ Examiner, Art Unit 3671 9/17/2026
/JUSTIN C MIKOWSKI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3673
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