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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/25/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification/Drawings
The disclosure and the drawings are objected to because of the following:
The Specification, on PGPub paragraph 0064, mentions a “predetermined advancing direction 101” that should be seen on Figures 1 to 9. The Figures do not show that feature at all.
The Specification, on PGPub paragraph 0070, mentions a “tubular body” that should be seen on Figure 1.
The Specification, on PGPub paragraph 0075, mentions a “actuation group 50” that should be seen on Figures 11a and 11b.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0077 of the PGPub, mentions a “direction of rotation 102”, that can be seen on Figures 1 to 11a, that the Examiner wonders if it also the same “predetermined advancing direction 101” mentioned above; but later Paragraphs 0104 to 0107 mention “a first and a second feeding line 101 and 102”, that according to paragraph 0104 can be seen on Figure 20, but actually are shown on Figure 24.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0077 of the PGPub, mentions an “interfolding machine 100” that is supposed to be seen on Figure 21, but it is actually shown on Figure 25.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0104 to 0106 of the PGPub, a “cutting roll 15” supposed to be seen on Figure 20. Actually, cutting roll 15 is shown on Figure 25.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0065 of the PGPub, mentions a “external surface 17 of the roll 15”; But paragraph 0106 and Figures 1 to 4, 6 and 7 show the external surface of the cutting roll 15 with the numeral 16.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0099 and 0100 of the PGPub, mentions an advancement member 85, that is supposed to be seen on Figure 20, but actually it is shown on Figure 25.
The Specification, on Paragraphs 0104 to 0106 of the PGPub mentions “the alternative embodiment which is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 20, the advancement unit 1 comprises a first and a second transfer roll 20a and 20b”. Actually, the embodiment is shown on Figure 25.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0105 of the PGPub mentions a” predetermined length ΔL”, an “increment ΔL”, a “track L1”, a “path L1” and a “track L2” that are not shown in the Figures, in particular on Figure 24 that is supposed to be showing the embodiment.
The Specification, on Paragraph 0105 of the PGPub mentions a “second predetermined advancement speed v2” for the speed of the sheets on the second feeding line 102, but the same notation is used on paragraph 0068 for the speed of the catching members 35.
Appropriate correction is required.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Regarding Specification and Claims, the Examiner still noted some instances where it seemed that some words on the text had not been translated from apparently Italian to English and other typos were found but are not mentioned, the list of claim objections is exemplary but not really comprehensive. The Applicant should review for incomplete translation and typos.
Claims 16, 17 and 22 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding Claim 16:
The Claim reads “said guiding group comprising: a curvilinear portion coaxially arranged to said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory; a rectilinear portion parallel to said straight portion of said movement trajectory” that the Examiner considers should read – said guiding group comprising: a curvilinear portion coaxially arranged to said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory; and a rectilinear portion parallel to said straight portion of said movement trajectory--.
Regarding Claim 17:
The Claim reads “said guiding group coincide con the external surface of a guiding roll”. The Examiner is considering it should read – said guiding group coincide with the external surface of a guiding roll--.
Regarding Claim 22:
The Claim reads “said secondo transfer roll” that the examiner considers should read -- said second transfer roll--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18 and 20 to 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 18:
The Claim recites the limitation “said motion transmission member” in the third line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The limitation “said catching member is adapted to protrude for a predetermined height (L) from a motion transmission member moved along said movement trajectory” is part of Claim 10, and for prosecution it will be considered included on Claim 18.
Regarding Claim 20:
The Claim recites the limitation “downstream of said suction ending point (Pfa)”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, for prosecution the claim will be read as ending in –downstream--.
Regarding Claim 21:
The Claim reads “preferably from 2 times of said length (P) of a panel to 6 times of said length (P) of a panel” and also “preferably less than a quantity equal to one or more lengths (P) of a panel”
the term "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the term are part of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 22:
The Claim includes the limitations “to move said first plurality of sheets of paper (5) in a partly overlapped configuration along a first predetermined advancement trajectory” and “to move said first plurality of sheets of paper (5) in a partly overlapped configuration along a second predetermined advancement trajectory”. The Claim is confusing since according to the specification the overlap is produced by the offset by the sheets on the second path due to the increased length (Paragraph 0107, the sheets 5b which move along the second feeding line 102 cover a path longer than the path covered by the sheets 5 which are fed along the first feeding line 101); but the advancement speed seem to be constant and equal along the feeding lines.
Additionally; the claim is also unclear since it makes reference to a first transfer roll and a second transfer roll, a first feeding line and a second feeding line, a first displacement group and a second displacement group and some other components that are already mentioned on Claim 1, so it seems that the new elements mentioned are additional to the ones already claimed on Claim 1. On this respect the claim will be considered a new independent claim.
In reference to the method Claims it is being considered that:
If a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device will perform the claimed process. Thus, the method, as claimed, would necessarily result from the normal operation of the apparatus. See MPEP 2112.02.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 16 to 20, 24 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by De Matteis (US 2007/0197365).
Regarding Claims 1 and 25:
De Matteis discloses an advancement unit (Figure 1, interfolding machine not numbered) configured to cause a plurality of sheets (Abstract, Figure 1, sheets 4a,4b,4c, 4d,4e,4f,4g) of paper, of a predetermined length, to move along a predetermined advancing direction in a machine for paper converting (Figure 1, Sheet 2 enters and becomes interfolded sheets 1 in the advancing direction given by the rollers of the interfolding machine), each sheet of said plurality having a head edge and a tail edge (Not numbered, in the direction of flow, the head end will be considered the leading end of the sheet and the trailing end will be considered the tail end), said advancement unit comprising:
a cutting group (Figure 1, cutting roller 3 and opposite roller not numbered) configured to divide a web (Figure 1, web 2) made of paper, into said plurality of sheets;
a transfer roll (Figure 1, first roller 5) positioned downstream of said cutting group and having an external surface (not numbered), said transfer roll being configured to rotate at a first predetermined angular velocity (Paragraph 0032 first roller 5 that rotates at a first speed) about a longitudinal rotation axis and to hold, alternately, on a first and on a second predetermined portion of said external surface respectively said head edge and said tail edge of said plurality of sheets coming from said cutting group (Figure 1, in the figure first roller 5 just held the leading edge of sheet 4c on one section of the surface and the trailing end of 4d on another), in such a way to cause said sheets to be transferred at a first predetermined tangential speed (Paragraph 0032, Figure 1, the cut sheets 4a, 4b proceed on a first roller 5 that rotates at a first speed, then they pass on a second roller 6, called "overlapping" roller, which rotates at a second speed less than the first, the tangential speed is equal to the speed of belts 11);
wherein said advancement unit provides:
a displacement group positioned downstream of said transfer roll and configured to move a plurality of catching members along a movement trajectory (paragraph 0036, Figures 1, and 2, a plurality of belts 11 are driven around rollers 16,17 and overlapping roller 6, will be considered a displacement group; teeth 14 will be considered the catching members and the trajectory would be from the end of roller 5 to interfolding means 8,9) comprising at least one curvilinear portion (Around roller 6) and at least one straight portion (Vertical along guide 12), each catching member being configured to hold a respective head edge of a sheet during the movement of the same along said predetermined movement trajectory (Figures 1 and 2, paragraphs 0038 and 0039, the teeth 14 press the overlapped portion 7 against the corresponding guides 12, the overlapped portions include a leading end of a sheet and the trailing end of another), in such a way to move said plurality of sheets in a partly overlapped configuration along a predetermined advancement trajectory (See Figure 2).
Regarding Claim 2:
De Matteis discloses that said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory is positioned upstream of said straight portion (Figures 1 and 2, curvilinear portion around roller 6 is upstream of straight portion vertical along guide 12), and wherein said plurality of catching members are moved along said curvilinear portion at a second tangential speed less than or equal to said first tangential speed (paragraph 0032, first roller 5 that rotates at a first speed, then they pass on a second roller 6, called "overlapping" roller, which rotates at a second speed less than the first, the teeth 14 move at the same speed as the second roller 6).
Regarding Claim 16:
De Matteis discloses that displacement group comprises a guiding group configured to guide said sheets which are held by said catching members, said guiding group comprising: a curvilinear portion coaxially arranged to said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory (Paragraph 0041, Figures 1 and 2, surface of roll 6 between the plurality of grooves 18 made on roller 6 will be considered a curvilinear portion coaxially arranged to said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory); a rectilinear portion parallel to said straight portion of said movement trajectory (paragraph 0036, Figures 1 and 2, the plurality of fixed guides 12 will be considered a rectilinear portion parallel to said straight portion).
Regarding Claim 17:
De Matteis discloses that said curvilinear portion of said guiding group coincide con the external surface of a guiding roll (Paragraph 0041, Figures 1 and 2, surface of roll 6, that will be considered a guiding roll, between the plurality of grooves 18 will be considered the curvilinear portion) configured to rotate about a longitudinal rotation axis parallel to said longitudinal rotation axis of said transfer roll (Figure 1, rotation axes are parallel but not numbered).
Regarding Claim 18:
De Matteis discloses that said guide roll is provided with at least a circumferential groove at which a first displacement member is adapted to be positioned, said motion transmission member being configured to engage on said first displacement member in such a way to be moved along a respective movement trajectory (Figures 2 and 3, Roll 6 include a plurality of grooves 18, with a bottom surface not numbered that will be considered a first displacement member where belts 11, considered the motion transmission member are engaged for rotation).
Regarding Claim 19:
De Matteis discloses that an auxiliary roll is, furthermore, provided adapted to rotate about a respective longitudinal rotation axis at a predetermined angular velocity such to have a tangential speed substantially equal to said advancement speed of said catching members at least along said straight portion of said movement trajectory (Figure 1, top roller 15 or small roller 20 could be considered auxiliary rolls and both have a tangential speed equal to the speed of belt 11).
Regarding Claim 20 (See rejection 112):
De Matteis discloses that an advancement member is, furthermore, provided configured to cooperate with said guiding group in such a way to cause said plurality of sheets of paper to move forward also downstream of said suction ending point (Figure 2, conveying rollers 15 will be considered an advancement member moving the sheets away of the suction of roll 6).
Regarding Claim 24:
De Matteis discloses a couple of folding rolls positioned downstream of said displacement group and adapted to fold or interfold said plurality of sheets of paper at least partly overlapped to each other forming a stack of folded or interfolded sheets (Figure 1, interfolding rollers 8 and 9).
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 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Matteis (US 2007/0197365).
Regarding Claim 22 (See rejection 112):
As already discussed for Claim 1 above De Matteis discloses that the advancement unit comprises a transfer roll as claimed, that will be considered a first transfer roll, positioned downstream of a cutting group providing a plurality of sheets of paper, considered a first plurality of sheets of paper, and a displacement group as claimed, that will be considered a first displacement group.
De Matteis does not disclose a second transfer roll positioned downstream of said cutting group and a second displacement group positioned downstream of said second transfer roll.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add a second set of cutting rollers to the cutting group to provide a second plurality of sheets of paper to a second transfer roll positioned downstream of said cutting group and a second displacement group positioned downstream of said second transfer roll since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 4 to 6, 8 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Matteis (US 2007/0197365) in view of De Matteis (US 2009/0289407that will be called De Matteis2).
Regarding Claim 4:
As discussed for Claim 1 above, De Matteis discloses the invention as claimed.
De Matteis does not disclose details about the structure of the transfer roll.
De Matteis2 teaches a transfer roll for an advancement unit wherein said transfer roll comprises:
a tubular body provided with said external lateral surface and with an internal lateral surface (Figures 2A and 2B, Transfer roller 3, with an external surface not numbered contacting the sheets 11 and an internal where a vacuum can be applied) pneumatically connected with each other through a plurality of suction holes organized according to a plurality of suction groups (Figure2 b, paragraph 0095, holes 29 and first series of rows of suction holes 27a-27d and a second series of rows of suction holes 27'a-27'c) each of which comprising a first longitudinal row of suction holes adapted to suck said head edge of a sheet (Paragraph 0098, each suction hole 27 is capable of gripping the head 11' of sheet 11) and at least a second longitudinal row of suction holes adapted to suck a tail edge of a previous sheet of said plurality (Figures 2A to 3, holes 29 hold the tail of the proceeding sheet 11 providing an overlap when the sheets are transferred, paragraph 0099 when the hole 29' that grips by suction the sheet tail has overtaken the angular field 50, it releases sheet 11d that falls partially on sheet 11c obtaining a partially overlapping of the two sheets);
an actuation group configured to cause said first and second longitudinal rows of suction holes to suck said sheets and to cause the same to adhere at corresponding portions of said external lateral surface of said transfer roll, only at predetermined respective angular positions of said tubular body (Figure 2B, suction holes 27a-27d and 27'a-27'c are provided suction when vacuum is applied to corresponding cavities 28 and 28’ only in the dashed line area, while holes 29 are actuated by vacuum on angular field 50, the vacuums systems will be considered an actuation group).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to De Matteis the teachings of De Matteis2 and provide a transfer roll with suction groups as described by De Matteis2 to transfer the plurality of sheets from the cutting group to the advancement unit providing an overlap of the sheets.
Regarding Claim 5:
De Matteis discloses that the transfer roll comprises a recessed portion at said external surface positioned upstream of each said first longitudinal row of suction holes going in the direction of rotation of said transfer roll about said longitudinal rotation axis (Figure 2B, recesses 48).
Regarding Claim 6:
De Matteis discloses that the transfer roll is configured to suck each head edge and each tail edge of said plurality of sheets of paper coming from said cutting group at a catching point, and to release each head edge of said sheets at a first releasing point and each tail edge of said plurality of sheets at a second releasing point positioned downstream of said first releasing point going in said direction of rotation of said transfer roll about said longitudinal rotation axis (Figure 1, The transfer roll 5 receives the sheets 4 at the point of “contact” of the rollers 3 and 5, Paragraph 0034, the head of the upstream sheet 4c is transferred by the transfer roller 5 to the overlapping roller 6 at the point of “contact” of the roller that will be considered a first releasing point while the tail of the downstream sheet 4d, which is still attached to the transfer roller 5 and released at a second releasing point to provide an overlap).
Regarding Claim 8:
De Matteis discloses that the curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory is tangent to said transfer roll at said first releasing point (Figure 1, the curvilinear portion is tangent to the transfer roll at the point of transfer).
Regarding Claim 14:
De Matteis discloses that the tangential speed of said catching members in said first releasing point is slower than or equal to the tangential speed of said transfer roll (Paragraph 0008, overlap roller 6 rotates at a lower tangential speed than the transfer roll 5 to generate the overlap, belts 11 with catching members 14 run at the same speed as overlap roller 6, so, the tangential speed of the catching members in said first releasing point is slower than the tangential speed of the transfer roll).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Matteis (US 2007/0197365) in view of De Matteis (US 2012/0202670 that will be called De Matteis3).
Regarding Claim 23:
As discussed for Claim 22 above, the modified invention of De Matteis discloses the invention as claimed.
The modified invention of De Matteis does not disclose adding a path adjustment roll between said cutting group and said second transfer roll to increase the path covered by said second plurality of sheets of paper of a stretch of predetermined length with respect to a predetermined path covered by said first plurality of sheets.
De Matteis3 teaches adding a path adjustment roll to the path of a second plurality of sheets of paper between the cutting group and a second transfer roll to increase the length of the path covered by the second plurality of sheets to create an offset between the two plurality of sheets to create the interlocking when folding (Figure 1, first roller 4 of second feed line 102 adds to the length of the second path and shows the offset that is used for interfolding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to the modified invention of De Matteis the teachings of De Matteis3 and add a path adjustment roll to the path of a second plurality of sheets of paper to increase the length of the path covered to create an offset between the two plurality of sheets to create the interlocking when folding.
Claims 3, 10 to 13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Matteis (US 2007/0197365) in view of Veis (US 2018/0305157).
Regarding Claim 3:
As discussed for Claim 1 above, De Matteis discloses the invention as claimed, including that each catching member comprises a main body configured to catch said head edge of a respective sheet of said plurality and to hold on a predetermined advancement trajectory during said movement of said respective catching member (Figure 1 to 3, teeth 14 on belts 11).
De Matteis does not disclose if each catching member comprises a main body provided with at least a catching hole configured to suck said head edge of a respective sheet of said plurality and to hold on a predetermined advancement trajectory during said movement of said respective catching member along said movement trajectory.
Veis teaches using belts including catching members comprising a main body provided with at least a catching hole configured to suck a sheet of material and hold it on a predetermined advancement trajectory during movement of said respective catching member along said movement trajectory (paragraph 0020, Figures 2, 4 and 5, belts 16A to D include suction cups 18 with a port 54 through which air may be evacuated from the suction cup and can be considered a catching hole to transport a sheet material 52 along a predetermined trajectory along the support system 12).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to De Matteis the teachings of Veis and add suction cups with a catching hole to the teeth 14 as an additional way to further catch and retain the head edge of a respective sheet of said plurality and to hold on a predetermined advancement trajectory during said movement of said respective catching member, since the use of suction cups to retain sheet materials on transport belts is well known in the art.
Regarding Claim 10:
As discussed for Claim 1 above, De Matteis discloses the invention as claimed, including that each catching member is adapted to protrude for a predetermined height from a motion transmission member moved along said movement trajectory (Figures 2 and 3, a set of parallel teeth 14 actuating simultaneously over a sheet will be considered a catching member, protruding a height over the belts 11 considered the motion transmission member and being a plurality of teeth positioned along a catching direction parallel to said longitudinal rotation axis of said transfer roll).
De Matteis does not disclose each said catching member comprising a plurality of catching holes positioned along a catching direction parallel to said longitudinal rotation axis of said transfer roll.
Veis teaches using belts including suction members adapted to protrude for a predetermined height from a motion transmission member and each provided with at least a catching hole configured to suck a sheet of material and hold it on a predetermined advancement trajectory during movement of said respective catching member along said movement trajectory (paragraph 0020, Figures 2, 4 and 5, belts 16A to D include suction cups 18 with a port 54 through which air may be evacuated from the suction cup and can be considered a catching hole to transport a sheet material 52 along a predetermined trajectory along the support system 12).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to De Matteis the teachings of Veis and add suction cups with a catching hole to the teeth 14, forming a plurality of catching holes positioned along a catching direction parallel to said longitudinal rotation axis of said transfer roll, as an additional way to further catch and retain the head edge of a respective sheet of said plurality and to hold on a predetermined advancement trajectory during said movement of said respective catching member, since the use of suction cups to retain sheet materials on transport belts is well known in the art.
Regarding Claim 11:
De Matteis discloses that the motion transmission member is of flexible type and is adapted to be wound between a first displacement member and at least a second displacement member, and wherein one between said first and second displacement members is operatively connected to a motor (Figure 3, Belts 11 are flexible belt and are wound around the bottom of a groove 18, considered the first displacement member, on roller 6, and rollers 16 and 17; paragraph 0026, driving means, that will be considered as some kind of motor, are provided for the belts).
Regarding Claim 12
De Matteis discloses that said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory is formed at least partly by said first displacement member (Figure 3, the curvilinear portion is partially defined by the bottom of groove 18).
Regarding Claim 13:
As discussed for Claim 1 above, De Matteis discloses the invention as claimed, including that the velocity of rotation of said first displacement member is lower than the velocity of rotation of said transfer roll.
De Matteis does not disclose a range of velocity of rotation of the first displacement member in relation to the velocity of rotation of the transfer roll.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to set the claimed range of velocities since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 21:
De Matteis discloses that sheets have a length equal to an integer multiple of a length of a panel (Figure 1, the sheets are folded on three panels) and the distance between two successive catching members of said plurality on said motion transmission member is less than the length of said sheets (Figures 1 and 2 show the catching members placed on the overlap of consecutive sheets, so the distance is less than the length of the sheets, Paragraph 0023, Advantageously the overlapping fraction is 1/3 of the sheet length, so that a stack of Z interfolded sheets is obtained).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 9 and 15 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.
Regarding Claim 7:
The claim includes the limitation: “said transfer roll and said displacement group are configured in such a way that said transfer of a head edge of a sheet from said transfer roll to said displacement group occurs when said catching members reach said first releasing point positioned along said curvilinear portion of said movement trajectory”.
The most relevant reference on the record would be De Matteis (US 2007/0197365), but the transfer of a head edge of a sheet from said transfer roll to said displacement group occurs before the catching members reach the first releasing point since the sheet is not caught by the head edge but by the overlap.
Regarding Claim 9:
The claim includes the limitation: “said actuation group that comprises:
a first actuation device configured to selectively cause a respective head edge of said plurality of sheets to be sucked by each said first longitudinal row of suction holes of each suction group at least between said catching point and said first releasing point going in the direction of rotation of said transfer roll about said longitudinal rotation axis; and
a second actuation device configured to cause each said second longitudinal row of suction holes of each suction group to suck at least between said catching point and said second releasing point going in the direction of rotation of said transfer roll about said longitudinal rotation axis”.
The most relevant reference on the record would be De Matteis (US 2009/0289407 called De Matteis2) but De Matteis2 teaches a second actuation device to cause each said second longitudinal row of suction holes of each suction group to suck between the first releasing point and the second releasing point.
Claim 15 is dependent of Claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In particular DuFresne (US 4824426) teaches a relevant interfolding advancement unit and Moore (US 2013/0036887) teaches a belt including a plurality of suction grippers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO R FERRERO whose telephone number is (571)272-9946. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-7:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SHELLEY SELF can be reached at 571-272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDUARDO R FERRERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
/STEPHEN F. GERRITY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731 11 December 2025