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
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) 1-5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kurt (CH 709,921).
Kurt shows a belt conveyor device 8 which moves products 1 in a horizontal conveying direction from a first position where are products are received to a second position where products 1 are discharged. Shown is a carriage which mounts conveyor device 8 and which moves back and forth (see Figure 4), a stationary carrier device 9 which arranged below a horizontal conveying plane which movably mounts carrier device 8, a conveyor belt on the carriage which can be held or move relative to the carriage and there is a lower return section which moves counter to a belt conveying direction.
Re claim 2, shown is at least a rear deflection roller and the belt extends from a front end to a rear end of the carriage.
Re claim 3, the ends of the conveyor belt can be considered as being fastened to the carrier device.
Re claim 4, an endless belt having a drive is disclosed.
Re claim 5, when the carriage is moves such as shown in Figure 4 the belt need not necessarily be driven.
Re claim 8, the belt need not be driven as the carriage moves.
Re claim 9, see Figure 4.
Re claim 12, a rounded front nose is shown which fairly approximates the claimed range.
Re claim 13, shown is a product feed belt 3, intermediate storage belt and a discharge belt.
Re claims 15 and 16, product is discharged.
Re claim 19, shown is an endless belt and a drive therefor.
Re claim 20, the belt need not be driven while the carriage translates.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 17 and 18 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.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
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 01/16/2026