DETAILED ACTION
This is the second office action for US Application 18,844,959 for a Compact Support and Fixing Device for Furniture Shelves.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7 and 8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 15 April 2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 15 April 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Species II is a part of Species I. Applicant’s argument is persuasive and Species II will be examined with Species I
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4, and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities: Line 23 of claim 1, the word - - of - - should be inserted between “section” and “the”. Line 2 of claim 4, the word - - at - - should be inserted between “and” and “another”. Line 3 of claim 13, the word - - an - - should be inserted between “in” and “axial”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1, 4-6, 12, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2021/254665 to Effegi Brevetti SRL (hereinafter referred to as Effegi). Regarding claim 1, Effegi discloses a compact support and fixing device for furniture shelves arranged between opposite sides. The device comprises a casing (14, 15) which contains a pin (12) pushed at one end by a spring (13) and movable within the spring either freely or in an externally controlled manner to compress the spring. The pin is movable between a position of maximum extraction and a position of maximum retraction inside the casing.
There is a cam (50, 55) for controlling a movement of the pin from the position of maximum extraction to the position of maximum retraction inside the casing. The pin is free to move by action of the spring between the position of maximum extraction and the position of maximum retraction inside the casing when the cam is arranged in the rest position.
The casing comprises a first half-shell (14) and a second half-shell (15) closed one over the other, associated and snap-connected to each other. The first half-shell has a cylindrical shape and a wall (19… see figure 2), of which one end is provided with a through hole (the recess above 19) for receiving a terminal end of the pin that slides internally therein in an axial direction. The pin comprises the free terminal end shaped as a cylindrical end portion of smaller diameter, an intermediate section (32) of larger diameter, in which the cam is arranged, a section of reduced diameter and an end wall (29) providing for centering and abutment of the spring.
The intermediate section of the pin has a flat surface which is contained in the intermediate section of the pin and is provided with a longitudinal slot-shaped recess (37), in which is arranged an eccentric lobed element (55) of said cam which acts on an engagement surface of a through opening of the slot-shaped recess, thus determining the movement of the pin between the position of maximum extraction and the position of maximum retraction inside the casing by rotation of the cam (50).
Regarding claim 4, the cam (50) comprises, at a bottom, a first end shaped as a shaft (51) that has a smaller diameter, which acts as a rotation axis of the cam, and another end a cylindrical head (52) that has a larger diameter of the shaft coaxial therewith, and provided with a shaped seat (53… see figure 2b) having a shaped section for engagement of a wrench. In an intermediate portion of the cam, immediately below the cylindrical head, there is a disc portion (54) that rests of a flat surface of the intermediate section of the pin and, below the disc portion, the eccentric lobed element which protrudes beyond a maximum diameter of the disc portion.
Regarding claim 5, the shaft is arranged in a hole (56) provided on a flat surface obtained on a bottom of a box-shaped containment recess of the half shell (see figure 2). Regarding claim 6, the cylindrical head (52) of the cam is housed in a hole (57) obtained in the second half-shell. Regarding claim 12, the first half-shell has, in cross-section, a U-shape which envelops the pin. Regarding claim 13, the first half-shell (14) has externally a cylindrical shape having a dimension greater than half of a cylinder in an axial direction (see figure 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, and 9-11 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 2, closest prior art to Effegi does not disclose or suggest the features of a pin in the intermediate section provided with a slot that is arranged in a direction axial to the pin and is aligned with a longitudinal slot-shaped recess.
Regarding claim 3, Effegi does not disclose the eccentric lobed element of the cam as sliding in a rounded recess provided within a lateral wall of the first half-shell.
Regarding claim 9, Effegi does not disclose the first half-shell and second half-shell as snap-connected to each other by holes on one side and pegs having a shape complementary to the holes and inserted into the holes on another side.
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Effegi does not disclose the first half-shell as having externally, a lateral portion of the one end provided with the through hole for receiving the terminal end of the pin, a pair of ribs or fins that taper towards another end of the first half-shell.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2023/0248147 to Giovannetti
US 2019/0107132 to Giovannetti
US 2025/0188971 to Cattaneo
US 2023/0404262 to Cattaneo
EP 3111804 to Mariani
WO 2022/097001 to Cattaneo
WO 2022097002 to Cattaneo
The above prior art discloses various fixing devices for furniture shelves.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN M MARSH whose telephone number is (571)272-6819. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 9 am-7:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 571-272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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STEVEN M. MARSH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3632
/STEVEN M MARSH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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