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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, Species B, encompassing claims 13-19 and 25-28, in the reply filed on 07-15-2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-12 and 20-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07-15-2026.
Claim Interpretation
The phrase “extending in a direction of gravity”, or “extending in the direction of gravity”, is interpreted in view of ¶ [0055] of the specification, which states: “…extends in the direction 214 of gravity (e.g., coincident with the direction of gravity)”.
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) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Danner ‘856 (US 1,674,856).
Regarding claims 13 and 15, Danner ‘856 teaches:
contacting a first roller (roll 10) with a stream of molten material (glass stream of sheet b, Figs. 1, 4, 5) from a forming device (slab 5; p. 2, left column, lines 13-30, 50-52)
the stream of molten material traveling along a first axis extending in a direction of gravity from the forming device to the first roller (vertical axis of sheet b above roll 10, Figs. 1, 4, 5)
directing the stream of molten material with the first roller to flow off one side of the first roller and travel along a second axis extending in the direction of gravity (vertical axis of sheet be coming off of roll 10, Figs. 1, 4, 5; p. 2, left column, lines 50-54)
a first distance between the first axis and the second axis is within 20% of a radius of the first roller (the first axis appears to be in line with the center of roll 10, and the second axis is tangent to roll 10, thus the first distance is approximately equal to the radius of roll 10, Figs. 1, 4)
cooling the stream of molten material with a guide member (annealing chamber 11 with surface 13 and/or 24, Figs. 1, 4, 5; p. 3, left column, lines 5-11; p. 2, left column, lines 55-58 - wherein annealing is understood in the art to include cooling).
Danner ‘856 is silent regarding a first viscosity of the stream of molten material when the stream of molten material leaves the forming device. However, Danner ‘856 suggests that the stream of molten material must be “quite soft at its point of contact with” roll 10 in order to achieve the desired forming (p. 2, right column, lines 100-109). Thus the viscosity of the stream is a result effective variable because it may be altered in order to arrive at the first roller with sufficient formability. It has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Danner ‘856 by optimizing a first viscosity of the stream of molten material when the stream of molten material leaves the forming device for the benefit of providing a viscosity at the first roller with sufficient formability, as suggested by Danner ‘856. 4a
Regarding claim 14, Danner ‘856 further teaches directing the stream of molten material comprises directing the entire stream of molten material to travel off the one side of the first roller (Figs. 1, 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-19 and 25-28 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 16, the prior art does not fairly teach or suggest passing the stream of molten material between a pair of driven pull rollers to form a ribbon of molten material after cooling the stream of molten material with the guide member. Danner ‘856 teaches the annealing lehr as the guide member, and there is no suggestion to pass the stream, as molten material, between pull rollers to form a ribbon of molten material because the annealing would result in a non-molten glass ribbon. US 2011/0236631 A1 (Bisson ‘631) suggests a first roller (250) and pull rollers (264a/b), but lacks a guide member as claimed. US 2010/0281921 A1 (Bisson ‘921) suggests a first roller (4a/b), a guide member (guide means 5 or rollers 17, 18) and pull rollers (wheels 7, rollers 8), but the stream of molten material does not travel along a second axis extending in the direction of gravity after flowing off one side of the first roller (Figs. 1-3, 6-11) because the intent is to guide the stream back to a central point to join an opposing stream of molten material.
Regarding claim 18, the prior art does not fairly teach or suggest maintaining the guide member at a temperature of about 200°C or less during the cooling. Danner ‘856 teaches the annealing lehr as the guide member, and it is known in the art that annealing temperatures for glass are generally significantly above 200°C, such as in US 3,251,671 (Gardon) which describes annealing temperatures for a glass ribbon of well above 400°C. Exposing the glass to a temperature of about 200°C or less during the annealing would inhibit the relieving of stresses in the glass.
Regarding claim 19, there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to move the first roller out of contact with the stream of molten glass as claimed. In Danner ‘856, the first roller is an impression roller, and moving the roller out of contact would result in a flat ribbon of glass, which destroys the function of the method of Danner ‘856.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. These references include various rollers and guide members, but the stream of molten material does not contact a first roller and flow off such that a first axis and second axis both extend the direction of gravity, and/or a distance between the first axis and the second axis is not within 20% of a radius of the first roller.
US 1,697,227 (Danner)
US 2015/0099618 A1 (Bisson)
US 2005/0178159 A1 (Shiraishi)
DE 19732462 A1 (Klepsch)
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/ERIN SNELTING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1741
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