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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 18 to 24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/28/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/06/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings/Specification
The drawings and specification are objected to because according to the Specification Page 16, lines 15 to 18 (Paragraph 0056 of PGPub) Figure 7 should show “a second orientation of the container 19, in which the opening 20 is oriented vertically upwards”. But Figure 7 does not show the opening 20 and the Figure shows only a section of container 19, namely the bottom 41 and a section of the walls of the container 19. The drawing should be corrected or the specification amended to correspond with the drawing.
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 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.
Claims 1 to 17 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 regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 1:
On the first line the Claim discloses an “open container” but later on the claims a “container” is disclosed. This in confusing since the parts are apparently the same but are identified with a different name. For prosecution the open container and the container will be considered the same.
Regarding Claim 6:
The claim reads: “the turning mechanism has a second section, which is formed in the shape of a circle and which is disposed in a rotationally fixed manner at an axial end of the first section”. The claim is indefinite since it is unclear in reference to what the second section is rotationally fixed. For prosecution it will be considered that the second section is rotationally fixed to the housing of the turning mechanism.
Regarding Claim 8:
The Claim on the third line reads “said edge delimiting the opening”. this is indefinite since no edge has been defined on the claim. For prosecution it will be considered an edge of the container.
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 to 10, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Scherz (US 2019/0216097).
Regarding Claim 1:
Scherz discloses a turning unit for turning an open container with a portion of flat products received in the container (Figures 1 and 12, inversion portion 501 of the system 10 will be considered the turning unit, packaged stack 21 of tortillas 20 will be considered the open container), the turning unit comprising at least one turning device, which is set up to turn the container by transferring the container from a first orientation of the container, in which an opening of the container is oriented in a first direction, to a second orientation of the container, in which the opening is oriented in a second direction, by a rotation of the container about an axis of the container (Paragraph 0048, 12 shows a turning unit comprising at least a not numbered conveyor supporting product guides 210 where stacks of tortillas 20 sit, seen on Fig 2, driven by a roller, with supports for packaged stacks 21 and an inversion conveyor 510 that turn packaged stacks 21 from having the opening downwards to have it upwards, after rotation, the packaged stacks 21 will be considered as rotated about an axis of the container parallel to the roller of the conveyor).
Regarding Claim 2:
Scherz discloses that in the first orientation, the opening is oriented vertically downwards and, in the second orientation, the opening is oriented vertically upwards or a bottom of the container is oriented vertically downwards (Figures 10 and 12 show sleeve 22 applied with open end 24 downwards and removed with open end 24 upwards).
Regarding Claim 3:
Scherz discloses that the container is turnable while the products remain in the container (Figure 12 shows that the tortillas 20 stay in the stack 21 after being turned).
Regarding Claim 4:
Scherz discloses that the turning device has a turning mechanism to which the container may be removably connected, the turning mechanism being formed to be rotatable for the rotation of the container to be performed (On Figures 11 and 12, the section of the device that includes inversion conveyor 510 and roller 511 will be considered the turning mechanism, and packaged stacks 21 are removably connected to it as can be seen on Figure 12).
Regarding Claim 5:
Scherz discloses that the turning mechanism has a first section, which is formed in the shape of a segment of a cylinder and which may be rotated about a longitudinal axis of the cylinder, the container being removably connectable to an inside of the first section (Figures 11 and 12, the section of the belt of inversion conveyor 510 that contacts the packaged stacks 21 is formed in the shape of a segment of a cylinder and while in contact with the packaged stacks it is being rotated about a longitudinal axis of the cylinder that shapes the section, short of any additional limitations, the flat bottom of product guide 210, that supports the tortillas 20 can be considered the inside and the packaged stacks 21 are removably connectable to it as can be seen on Figure 12).
Regarding Claim 6:
Scherz discloses that the turning mechanism has a second section, which is formed in the shape of a circle and which is disposed in a rotationally fixed manner at an axial end of the first section in such a way that a center of the circle lies at least approximately on the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, the second section having a passage, which is formed to guide the container through it (Figures 11 to 13 show two not numbered arch shaped rails, the rails have surfaces that are formed on the shape of a circle, as they are attached to the support of the conveyor 510 they are disposed in a rotationally fixed manner at both
sides of the belt of conveyor 510, short of any additional limitation the sides of the belt will be considered as axial ends of the first section; the rails form a passage to guide the packaged stacks 21 through it; the
center of the circle that defines the second section and the cylinder that defines the first section are coaxial as can be seen on Figure 13).
Regarding Claim 7:
Scherz discloses that the container is removably connectable to the inside in such a way that the opening is at least partially coverable by the inside by orienting the opening towards the inside (Figure 12 shows the open end 24 of sleeves 22 being covered by the flat bottom of product guide 210 and how the turned packaged stacks 21 are released).
Regarding Claim 8:
Scherz discloses that the turning mechanism has a receptacle, which is formed to receive the container at least in sections, said edge delimiting the opening, so as to removably connect the container to the turning mechanism (Figures 2 and 10, product guide 210 had vertical supports 211, that will be considered as a receptacle for the tortillas, and are formed to receive sleeve 22, the sleeve has an edge defining the opening and the product guides 211 removably connect the packaged stacks 21 to the turning mechanism).
Regarding Claim 9:
Scherz discloses that the receptacle is formed as a receiving track, in which the edge is receivable and guidable in a longitudinally movable manner (Figure 12 shows product guides 211 guiding the edge defining the opening of sleeve 22 in a longitudinally movable manner).
Regarding Claim 10:
Scherz discloses that the turning device has a drive mechanism for driving the turning mechanism (Paragraph 0051, Figure 12, inversion conveyer 510 is driven by a not numbered motor).
Regarding Claim 14:
Scherz discloses that the turning device has a conveying mechanism for conveying away the container after turning (Figures 11 and 12, Paragraph 0053, output portion 530 includes a discharge line and a discharge conveyor 531. The packaged stack 21 falls onto or is otherwise received by the discharge line 530).
Regarding Claim 15:
Scherz discloses that the conveying mechanism is disposed adjacent to the turning mechanism in such a way that a bottom of the container can be brought to mesh with a conveying means of the conveying mechanism by transferring the container to the second orientation, so that the container is removable from the turning mechanism by a force effect of the conveying means on the bottom (Figures 13 and 14, output portion 530 is adjacent to inversion conveyer 510, so a bottom of the packaged stack 21 mesh with the surface of output portion 530 and pushed by discharge conveyor 531 so that the container is removable from the turning mechanism by a force effect of the conveying means on the bottom).
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.
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scherz (US 2019/0216097) as applied to Claim 10 above, and in view of Straub (US 2001/0025470).
Regarding Claims 11 and 12:
As discussed for Claim 10 above, Scherz discloses the invention as claimed, including the drive mechanism being an electric motor.
Scherz does not disclose how the electric motor drives the driving shaft of inversion conveyor 510, considered the turning mechanism, and in particular a transmission mechanism meshing with the drive mechanism and the turning mechanism or the transmission mechanism being a gear transmission having a first gear wheel coupled to the drive mechanism and a second gear wheel coupled to the turning mechanism and meshing with the first gear wheel.
Straub teaches rotating a rotary platform being rotated by an electric motor (Figure 14, electric motor 52) and a transmission mechanism meshing with the motor and the rotary platform, the transmission mechanism being a gear transmission having a first gear wheel (Figure 14, gear 51) coupled to the electric motor and a second gear wheel (Figure 14, gear 48) coupled to the rotary platform and meshing with the first gear wheel.
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 Scherz the teachings of Straub and use a transmission mechanism having a first gear wheel coupled to the drive mechanism and a second gear wheel coupled to the turning mechanism and meshing with the first gear wheel since the use of such gear transmissions is well-known in the art, most commonly used to operate rotating shafts at a speed reduced from the speed of the electric motor.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scherz (US 2019/0216097) as applied to Claim 4 above.
Regarding Claim 13:
As discussed for Claim 10 above, Scherz discloses the invention as claimed.
Scherz does not specifically disclose if the turning device has a sensor mechanism set up to monitor a removal of the container from the turning mechanism after the container has been turned.
Scherz on Paragraph 0038 teaches using sensors configured to count the number of stacks of tortillas 20 that have entered the cutting system 10. By automatically counting the number of stacks of tortillas 20 that have entered the machine, the total number of tortilla chips produced by the system 10 is easily computed.
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 Scherz the teachings of Scherz on the embodiment of paragraph 0038 and include a sensor mechanism set up to monitor a removal of the container from the turning mechanism after the container has been turned to determine the total number of completed packaged stacks 21 produced by the turning unit.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scherz (US 2019/0216097) as applied to Claim 1 above, and in view of Hart (US 6322316).
Regarding Claims 16 and 17:
As discussed for Claim 10 above, Scherz discloses the invention as claimed.
Scherz does not specifically disclose the turning unit comprises a plurality of turning devices disposed parallel and next to each other; or if the turning unit has a merging device, which is disposed downstream of the turning devices and which is set up to merge containers turned by the turning devices into one lane.
Hart teaches a packaging line for flat products including a plurality of parallel turning units (Figures 1 and 2, stack former F and stack transfer mechanism T can be considered turning devices of a turning unit), each turning device having a production capacity, all the turning units discharge into a single Matrix former M and from there to a single Case rollover mechanism R, both can be considered as forming a single lane.
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 Scherz the teachings of Hart and have a plurality of turning devices disposed parallel and next to each other and a merging device, disposed downstream of the turning devices and which is set up to merge containers turned by the turning devices into one lane to obtain a multiplying effect of increase of production by the use of multiple turning devices.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In particular, proper rejections of at least the independent claim could have been done by Hardage (US 4736570), Fluck (US 6578344), Mahood (US 6182424), Monsees (US 5155972), Neer (US 2869297), Hilton (US 4052838), Gottfreid (US 5379571 or Molison (US 5255493) and Cianci (US 2023/0115039) teach rotating a turning unit using an electric motor and a transmission comprising first and second gear.
The Examiner notes that very relevant limitations are indicated just in the preamble of the independent claim, and that as written the claim could be rejected with a container that has a cover in the claimed opening.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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
/ROBERT F LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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