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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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) 1-4, 6, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asari et al. (US 2015/0239015) in view of Flore et al. (EP 3,656,709).
Asari et al. show a sortation system 10 having a first product path 12 which uses an endless chain conveyor, a second product path 42, a plurality of carriers 11 which carry goods or containers and the system may be driven at a constant speed, accelerated or decelerated via a control system. See paragraphs [0025]-[0031]. Not disclosed is the use of a linear magnetic conveyor in the first product path 12. However, disclosed by Flore et al. is the use of a linear magnetic conveyor 200 which runs alongside of a standard conveyor 300 in a sortation system. To use a linear magnetic conveyor in Asari et al.’s system 10 in path 12 would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as the substitution of one know conveyor system for another is well within the skill of the art.
Re claim 2, shown are infeed and outfeed regions.
Re claim 3, Flore et al. show a closed loop linear magnetic conveyor 200.
Re claim 4, Flore et al. show path 42 starting and ending alongside path 12.
Re claim 6, product paths are shown as being outside of primary paths.
Re claim 11, each reference discloses the use of transfer means as well as very detailed controls of all speed aspects.
Re claim 12, Asari et al. discloses the use of chain conveyors for conveying carriers 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 7-10 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R BIDWELL whose telephone number is (571)272-6910. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 to 4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/JAMES R BIDWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651 01/30/2026
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