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(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonnefoy et al. (USP 12187590) in view of Nam (KR 101550545 B1).
Independent claims-
Regarding claim 1, Bonnefoy et al. discloses a method for loading an aerial lift onto a trailer or a flatbed truck, the aerial lift including
a chassis (24) provided with members (wheels 4) for movement on the ground defining a plane on which the chassis rests on the ground when the chassis is positioned on a horizontal flat surface (seen in fig.14),
a working platform (fig.14, 10) including a floor (seen in fig.14) and a guard rail (seen in fig.14),
a lifting structure (fig.14, 26),
a remote control unit (col.14, lines 35-44 describe an embodiment of a remote control in the form of a smart phone and app thereof), and
an operating unit (on-board electronics) configured to make at least the lifting structure and the working platform move according to at least data supplied by the remote control unit,
the lifting structure including at least
a lifting boom(fig.5, 24 or 26), and a pendulum arm (fig.5, 30) having a first end and a second end, the first end being coupled to the lifting boom (8) and the second end being coupled to the working platform (seen in fig.5), said lifting boom being a boom that can pivot between a topmost position and a bottommost position (seen throughout figures), the bottommost position corresponding to one or both of a position in which the lifting boom is lowered all the way down or a position in which at least part of the working platform makes contact with the ground (the position shown in fig.5 could read on this since the platform makes contact with the ground and that will be considered the bottommost position),
wherein the aerial lift has a working position; and a compact folded transportation position in which the pendulum arm is folded underneath the lifting boom and the lifting boom is in the bottommost position (seen in fig.5),
and the aerial lift having an intermediate folded position in which the pendulum arm is folded underneath the lifting boom and the lifting boom is not in the bottommost position,
the method comprising, in order to load the aerial lift onto a trailer or the flatbed truck;
a step of making the lifting structure and the working platform move up to the intermediate folded positions (intermediate position seen in fig.14) and
Bonnefoy et al. further discloses the intermediate folded position being utilized when the lift is on the trailer PR.
Bonnefoy et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the operating unit is configured to make the members for movement on the ground move according to at least data supplied by the remote control unit and a step of using the remote control unit to make the members for movement of the chassis on the ground move in order to position the aerial lift.
Nam teaches within the same field of endeavor of lifts, the concept of utilizing a remote control unit to fully control the lift including its movement on the ground and in particular wherein the operating unit is configured to make the members for movement on the ground move according to at least data supplied by the remote control unit and a step of using the remote control unit to make the members for movement of the chassis on the ground move in order to position the aerial lift (see translation: “The remote control unit 210 may be connected to the main body control unit 130 by wire or wireless so that the user can operate the orbiting drive unit 123 and the boom units 160, 180. That is, the remote control unit 210 controls the operation of the trajectory driving unit 123 that moves left, right, rotate, forward, and backward of the elevation working apparatus 100 and controls the elevation and rotation of the boom units 160 and 180, respectively.”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lift and remote control utilized in Bonnevoy to add the functionality as taught/suggested in Nam in order to provide the predictable result of providing further control of the lift during placement of the lift onto the truck bed thereby increasing safety while loading and unloading the lift from the truck bed. One having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the lift could easily be loaded while in the intermediate positon already disclosed by Bonnevoy in fig.15 since this position is specifically associated with obstacle avoidance during loading and thus would naturally be the position that provides enough clearance during loading/unloading while maintaining balance of the lift. In addition, the sequence of operations is a matter of obvious to try different sequences of events since the predictable result is simply facilitating the loading of the lift onto the vehicle. In other words, it would have been obvious to try different sequences of operation in Bonnevoy since there is only a finite number of solutions or configurations and Bonnevoy already discloses the capability of structurally achieving said configurations, thus one having ordinary skill in the art would have no difficulty in trying different sequences in order to yield the same predictable result of efficiently and safely loading the lift onto a load truck
Regarding claim 9, the same rationale as utilized above for claim 1 applies and the rejection will not be repeated. That is Bonnevoy discloses all of the lift structure and positions minus the ability to move the lift wheels with a remote control which was taught by Nam as done above.
Regarding claim 16, again all these limitations have been addressed in claim 1.
Dependent claims-
Regarding claim
Regarding claim 2, Bonnevoy in view of Nam disclose wherein after the step of using the remote control unit to make the members for movement of the chassis on the ground move in order to position the aerial lift, which is in the intermediate folded position, onto the flatbed truck or the trailer, the method further comprises, a step of using the remote control unit to make the lifting structure and the working platform move in order to position the aerial lift in the compact folded transportation position while the aerial lift is positioned on the flatbed truck or the trailer (as noted by the comboination made of claim 1, the teaching in Nam gives the ability to move the lift onto the truck while in an intermediate folded position which is already disclosed as a capability in Bonnevoy fig.14. Subsequently, as seen in figure 14-15 of Bonnevoy, the lift is capable of proceeding to a compact folded position. In addition, as noted in the rejection of claim 1 above, it would have been obvious to try different sequences of operation in Bonnevoy since there is only a finite number of solutions or configurations and Bonnevoy already discloses the capability of structurally achieving said configurations, thus one having ordinary skill in the art would have no difficulty in trying different sequences in order to yield the same predictable result of efficiently and safely loading the lift onto a load truck).
Regarding claim 3, Bonnevoy discloses the loading method of claim 1, in one or both of the compact folded transportation position or the intermediate folded position, an operator is prevented from standing upright on the working platform (as seen in figures 14, 15, the operator can not stand on the platform since the platform is tilted and folded underneath the boom structures).
Regarding claim 4, Bonnevoy discloses the loading method of claim 1, wherein in one or both of the compact folded transportation position or the intermediate folded position, the working platform occupies a position in which the floor of the working platform is inclined with respect to the horizontal flat surface by an angle greater than 5°or the guard rail of the working platform extends at least partially underneath the floor of the working platform (readily seen in figure 14 or figure 15).
Regarding claim 5, Bonnevoy discloses the loading method of claim 1, wherein, in the compact folded transportation position, the working platform can be at least partially interposed between the lifting boom and the pendulum arm (seen in fig.15; the platform is between the boom and the pendulum arm in an analogous manner to Applicants figure 6).
Regarding claim 6, Bonnevoy discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising a step of securing the working platform to the lifting structure before the step of using the remote control unit to make the members for movement of the chassis on the ground move in order to position the aerial lift , which is in the intermediate folded position, onto the flatbed truck or the trailer (given BRI, the platform is secured to lift by being securely fastened thereto. Absent any particular from of securing being claimed, any manner of securing could read on this. In addition, other forms of securing are likely to be well known in the art).
Regarding claim 7, Bonnevoy discloses and/or suggests the method of claim 6, further comprising a step of making one or both of the lifting structure or the working platform lower down to the compact folded transportation position for the step of securing the working platform to the lifting structure and before the step of making the lifting structure and the working platform move up to the intermediate folded position (in light of the step of securing being broad, it follows that the as per the rationale of the rejection of claim 1, that it would have been obvious to try the order of steps as claimed).
Regarding claim 8, Bonnevoy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein in the working position of the aerial lift, the guard rail extends above the floor and the floor extends substantially horizontally (seen in figures like figure 3).
Regarding claim 10, See the rejection of claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 11, Bonnevoy discloses the aerial lift of claim 9, wherein the aerial lift comprises a device for detecting a presence on the working platform and the operating unit is configured to make the lifting structure and the working platform move up to the intermediate folded position according to at least the data supplied by the device for detecting a presence on the working platform, the operating unit being configured to prevent the lifting structure and the working platform from being made to move up to the intermediate folded position when the device detects a presence on the working platform (as described in col.9, lines 4-21).
Regarding claim 12, Bonnevoy discloses the aerial lift of claim 9, wherein the pendulum arm is coupled at the first one end to the lifting boom so as to be able to be lowered and raised with respect to the lifting boom by pivoting (seen in figures).
Regarding claim 13, Bonnevoy discloses the aerial lift of claim 9, wherein in one or both of the intermediate folded position or in the compact folded transportation position, the working platform occupies a position in which the floor of the working platform is inclined with respect to the horizontal flat surface by an angle greater than 5° or the guard rail of the working platform extends at least partially underneath the floor of the working platform (seen in figures in Bonnevoy).
Regarding claim 14, Bonnevoy discloses the loading method of claim 9, wherein, in the compact folded transportation position, the working platform can be at least partially interposed between the lifting boom and the pendulum arm (seen in fig.15; the platform is between the boom and the pendulum arm in an analogous manner to Applicants figure 6).
Regarding claim 15, Bonnevoy discloses wherein in the working position of the aerial lift, the guard rail extends above the floor and the floor extends substantially horizontally (seen in figures like figure 3).
Regarding claim 17, please see the rejection of claim 2 or 10 above.
Regarding claim 18, please see the rejection of claim 11 above.
Regarding claim 19, Bonnevoy discloses the aerial lift of claim 16, wherein pivoting the lifting boom relative to the chassis raises and lowers the pendulum arm (seen in figures).
Regarding claim 20, see the rejection of claim 13 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS C DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5461. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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/THOMAS C DIAZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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