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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in Application No. 18843049, filed on 8/30/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/30/2024 was filed on the filing date of the application on 8/30/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-6 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claims 2-6, “A machine” should be “The food portioning machine” to avoid lack of antecedent basis issues.
Regarding claim 8, “A method” should be “The method” to avoid lack of antecedent basis issues.
Appropriate correction is 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 1-2 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Volkl (US 2018037005 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Volkl teaches a food portioning machine comprising:
a machine base (machine base of 1);
a feeder (assembly of 17 and 13) for feeding a food product in a feed direction (10’, see Figure 1A);
a cutter (3) for cutting portions from a leading end of a food product fed towards the cutter by the feeder (see Figure 1A-D); and
a portion thickness control assembly (paragraph 0038) comprising:
a carriage (17, see Figure 1A) carried by the machine base and able to move relative to the machine base in order to adjust the thickness of each portion to be cut from the food product (paragraph 0118); a carriage drive assembly (drive for 17) coupled to the carriage to move the carriage relative to the machine base (drive for movement of 10’, paragraph 0095);
a product stop (13) carried by the carriage and able to move relative to the carriage between advanced and retracted positions (see Figures 1A-D, paragraph 0088); and
a product stop drive assembly (assembly for moving 13) coupled to the product stop to move the product stop between the advanced and retracted positions (paragraph 0088),
such that, before the cutter starts to cut a next portion from the leading end of the food product, the carriage drive assembly is operable to move the carriage to a position relative to the machine base with reference to the thickness of the next portion to be cut, and the product stop drive assembly is operable to move the product stop from its retracted position to its advanced position for engagement by the leading end of the food product (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090).
Regarding claim 2, Volkl teaches the carriage is able to move relative to the machine base in a direction parallel to the feed direction in order to adjust the thickness of each portion to be cut from the food product (See Figure 1A-D).
Regarding claim 7, Volkl teaches the steps of: a) moving the carriage relative to the support with the carriage drive assembly to adjust the thickness of a next portion to be cut from a food product (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090); b) moving the product stop to the advanced position with the product stop drive assembly (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090); and c) feeding the food product in the feed direction with the feeder until its leading end engages the product stop (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090).
Regarding claim 8, Volkl teaches the steps of: d) after step c), starting to cut the next portion from the leading end of the food product (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090); and e) after step d), moving the product stop towards its retracted position with the product stop drive assembly before the next portion has been completely cut from the leading end of the food product (paragraph 0010, 0046 and 0090).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
Regarding claim 3, Volkl teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 1 stated above.
Volkl fails to teach the product stop drive assembly includes a rotary actuator and a mechanical coupling arranged to couple the rotary actuator to the product stop so that the rotary actuator is operable to move the product stop between the advanced and retracted positions.
While Volkl provided the product stop drive assembly for controlling the cutting thickness, Volkl fails to teach details of a rotary actuator and a mechanical coupling arranged to couple the rotary actuator to the product stop so that the rotary actuator is operable to move the product stop between the advanced and retracted positions.
Furthermore, no additional prior art could be found to teach the claimed limitations either alone nor in combination to further modify the device of Volkl. Thus claim 3 is allowable, claim 4 is allowable by virtue of its dependency on claim 3.
Regarding claim 5, Volkl teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 1 stated above.
Volkl fails to teach the product stop is mechanically coupled to the carriage by a pair of rigid arms, with a carriage end of each rigid arm being rotatably coupled to the carriage and a stop end of each rigid arm being rotatably coupled to the product stop, the carriage ends of the rigid arms are rotatable relative to the carriage about respective first and second pivotal axes, the stop ends of the rigid arms are rotatable relative to the product stop about respective third and fourth pivotal axes, the first to fourth pivotal axes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the feed direction.
While Volkl provided the product stop drive assembly for controlling the cutting thickness, Volkl fails to teach details of the product stop is mechanically coupled to the carriage by a pair of rigid arms, with a carriage end of each rigid arm being rotatably coupled to the carriage and a stop end of each rigid arm being rotatably coupled to the product stop, the carriage ends of the rigid arms are rotatable relative to the carriage about respective first and second pivotal axes, the stop ends of the rigid arms are rotatable relative to the product stop about respective third and fourth pivotal axes, the first to fourth pivotal axes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the feed direction.
Furthermore, no additional prior art could be found to teach the claimed limitations either alone nor in combination to further modify the device of Volkl. Thus claim 5 is allowable, claim 6 is allowable by virtue of its dependency on claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIANG DONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0479. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 AM-6 PM.
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/LIANG DONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3724 3/17/2026