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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimizu Corp JP 4374510.
Claim 14, Shimizu Corp teaches a continuous actuator driven material handling system (Figs. 1-2) for raising and lowering bins 1 in a vertical or inclined shaft 2a,b P0009, comprising: a first pair of actuator assemblies 3, each of the first pair of actuator assemblies 3a configured to alternately raise a first bin 1 by an increment, a first actuator assembly of the first pair raising 3a the first bin 1 by the increment before handing the first bin 1 off to a second actuator assembly 3b of the first pair 3, the second actuator assembly 3b of the first pair raising the first bin 1 by the increment before handing the first bin 1 back to the first actuator assembly 3a of the first pair 3 P0011; a second pair of actuators assemblies 3 of 2b, each of the second pair of actuator assemblies3 configured to alternately lower a second bin 1 by the increment, a first actuator assembly 3a of the second pair lowering the second bin 1 by the increment before handing the second bin 1 off to a second actuator assembly 3b of the second pair 3 of 2b, the second actuator assembly 3b of the second pair 3 lowering the second bin 1 by the increment before handing the second bin 1 back to the first actuator assembly 3 of 2a of the second pair 3; a further plurality of first pairs 3 of actuator assemblies 3a mounted on a wall of the shaft 2a,b to thereby successively raise the first bin 1 up the shaft 2a; and, a further plurality of second pairs 3 of actuator assemblies mounted on the wall of the shaft 2b to thereby successively lower the second bin 1 down the shaft 2b P0012-0013.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
The prior art does not fairly teach “A continuous material handling system, comprising: a plurality of bins, each bin having a plurality of bin lugs mounted on a wall of the bin, first and second bin lugs being vertically spaced on the wall of the bin; a first actuator assembly having a first rod, the first actuator operable to move an upper end of the first rod between a first retracted position and a first extended position, a first lifting link being pivotally attached to the upper end of the first rod, the first lifting link configured to engage one of the bin lugs; and, a second actuator assembly having a second rod, the second actuator operable to move an upper end of the second rod between a second retracted position and a second extended position” in combination with the rest of the claim language.
Conclusion
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/KAVEL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
KS