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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments regarding the 102 rejection of claim 1 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the cited cover does not contain certain features. However, the Examiner notes that the portion containing these features was overlooked by the Applicant, which includes item 70, the cover. As described in the Loeschen reference, [0043], “the cover 70 is in the form of a flap, such that a portion 74 of cover 70 is integrally connected to the bag 50”. The Examiner has further clarified the below rejection accordingly (no new matter has been added to the rejection, merely clarification).
Applicant’s arguments regarding the 112 rejections of claims 35-36, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection has been withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
Claims 11-19, and 31-36 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowance/allowable subject matter: the use of the pallet sealing assembly, with the use of a cover that is resiliently biased into the open configuration by a flexible cover support rod renders the claim allowable over the prior art.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Loeschen, US2014/0044378
Regarding Claim 1, Loeschen discloses: a pallet sealing assembly (20 - "liner", figs. 1 A-9; para [0032]) configured for use adjacent a pallet receiving area (See figs. 1 A-9; para [0032], [0057]; see interior of shipping container 2 that receives pallets 930a-c) sized to receive a pallet assembly (930a-c - "pallets", fig. 7), the pallet receiving area served by a fan that is positioned to move air from inside the pallet receiving area to outside the pallet receiving area (905 - "vacuum device", figs. 1A-9; vacuum device 905 has a fan of some sort and is used to draw from interior of bag 50 as seen in figs. 8-9), the assembly comprising:
a cover (50 - "bag", figs. 1A-9) made of a flexible sheet of material (See figs. 8-9; para [0032], [0035]) and having an upper portion, a left portion extending from a lower left free end to an upper left juncture with the upper portion, a right portion opposite the left portion and extending from a lower right free end to an upper right juncture with the upper portion, (see Figs. 3-9, further, the bag 50 includes the cover 70, as described in [0043] In this illustrated example embodiment, the liner 20 includes a cover 70 configured to seal the bag opening 65 after the cargo has been loaded into the bag. Cover 70 has an edge 72. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, the cover 70 is in the form of a flap, such that a portion 74 of cover 70 is integrally connected to the bag 50. In this embodiment, the top of the cover 70 remains attached to the bag during loading so that cover 70 lifts upward to enable cargo to be loaded into the bag 50. The cover 70 can be rolled up and stored so that it does not block the opening 65 of the bag 50. For example, the cover 70 can be stored in a rolled position on top of the shipping container 200, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A. [0044] In this illustrated embodiment, the cover 70 has a notch 75 that corresponds to the location of the skirt outlet opening 110 to enable a user to access the opening 110 with a vacuum device when the cover 70 is opened and rolled on top of the container. [0045] The cover 70 is configured to be closed and sealed to the bag after cargo has been loaded into the bag 50 inside of the container 200, as generally shown in FIG. 2B. The cover 70 is sealed to the bag by a cover attacher such as a zipper. The details of one such example zipper are described below, with respect to FIG. 16.)).
the material supported in an open configuration (See fig. 1 B; bag 50 supported by skirt 100) in which the cover defines an opening around the pallet receiving area (See fig. 18; see opening in skirt 100 and bag 50 for receiving pallets 930a-c), the opening sized to receive the pallet assembly (See figs. 7-9; para [0057]), the cover being deflectable from the open configuration into a collapsed configuration (See fig. 9; para [00591) in which the cover is drawn downwardly (See fig. 9; para [0059]), such that the cover can substantially sealingly engage a pallet received within the opening (See figs. 8-9; para [0032], [0058]).
Regarding Claim 2, Loeschen further discloses: the pallet sealing assembly of claim 1, further comprising a flexible cover support (100 - "skirt", fig. 1 B; para [00611) engaged with and supporting at least a portion of the cover (See fig. 1 B; para [0039], [0061]).
Regarding Claim 3, Loeschen further discloses: the cover is resiliently biased into the open configuration by the flexible cover support (100 - "skirt", fig. 1 B; para [00611) engaged with and supporting at least a portion of the cover (See fig. 1 B; para [0039], [0061]).
Regarding Claim 6, Loeschen further discloses: the cover is drawn downwardly by operation of the fan (see Figs. 8-9)
Regarding Claim 10, Loeschen further discloses: the pallet receiving area is formed as a part of a racking assembly defining an array of the pallet receiving areas (it is commonly known that shipping containers are utilized in stacks and rows, thus meeting the definition of an array).
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 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loeschen in view of Paupardin, US 20210161312.
Regarding Claim 7, Loeschen discloses the device of claim 1.
Loeschen does not explicitly disclose: a controller programmed to:
receive an electronic activation signal; and upon receiving the electronic activation signal, activating a sealing configuration of the pallet sealing assembly by automatically deflecting the cover from the open configuration to the collapsed configuration ([0096]).
Paupardin teaches: a controller ([0096] “The storage cell 1 also comprises electronic means for automatic cell control, which electronic means are capable of automatically controlling the ventilation means 4 and the actuating means 7 of the second sealing elements 52, 62. These electronic means for automatic cell control are, for example, implemented in the form of a programmable logic controller, which is capable of automatically executing a program stored in a memory.”) programmed to:
receive an electronic activation signal; and upon receiving the electronic activation signal, activating a sealing configuration of the pallet sealing assembly by automatically deflecting the cover from the open configuration to the collapsed configuration ([0096]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to utilize the controller as taught by Paupardin in combination with the pallet cover system of Loeschen, thereby combining prior art elements to achieve a predictable result. The use of a controller in order to control electronic components allows for the benefit that a human does not have to manually activate the device, thereby increasing the safety and efficiency of the device.
Regarding Claim 8, the modified Loeschen further discloses: the controller is further programmed to: receive an electronic de-activation signal; and
upon receiving the electronic de-activation signal, de-activating the sealing configuration of the pallet sealing assembly by automatically repositioning the cover from the collapsed configuration to the open configuration ([0096]).
Regarding Claim 9, the modified Loeschen further discloses: the controller is programed to provide electrical power to the fan when activating the sealing configuration; and the controller is programed to prohibit electrical power to the fan when de-activating the sealing configuration ([0096]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL JEREMY LEEDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2095. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs, 0730-1730.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at 571-270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL JEREMY LEEDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731