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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: it appears that the limitations of claim 16 are already in it’s parent claim, claim 8. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 8-9, 16-17, 19-20 and 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2021/045335 to Cho (Cho).
Concerning claim 8, Cho discloses a can seaming system configured to form a seam between a can body and a closure to create a seamed can, the system including:
a spindle assembly including a seaming chuck (310) mounted on a seaming spindle, the spindle assembly (300) including a first reference surface; and
a seaming roller assembly (330) including:
one or more seaming rollers (331, 333) configured to cooperate with the seaming chuck (310) to form a seam between a can body and a can end, the one or more seaming rollers (331, 333) each configured to move through a range of motion from a disengaged position to an end position;
a second reference surface; and
one or more actuators (331a, 333a) configured to move each of the one or more seaming rollers through its range of motion;
a calibration sensor (¶60) configured to sense a relative position between the first reference surface of the spindle assembly and the second reference surface of the seaming roller assembly; and
a controller (inherently disclosed) configured to control the one or more actuators based at least in part on the sensed relative position.
Concerning claim 9, Cho discloses the calibration sensor includes one or more of: an electric connection sensor; a load sensor; and an optical sensor (¶61).
Concerning claim 16, Cho discloses the one or more seaming rollers (331, 333) are each configured to move through a range of motion from a disengaged position to an end position; the system including one or more actuators (331a, 333a) configured to move each of the one or more seaming rollers through its range of motion.
Concerning claim 17, Cho discloses a single actuator (213) configured to rotate a cam (230) that acts to move each of the one or more seaming rollers through its range of motion.
Concerning claim 19, Cho discloses including two or more seaming rollers (331, 333).
Concerning claim 20, Cho discloses wherein the two or more seaming rollers (331, 333) are arranged for double seaming.
Concerning claim 22, Cho discloses a feed arrangement (350) configured to move filled can bodies and closures into a seaming position.
Concerning claim 23, Cho discloses configured for relative vertical movement between the can and seaming chuck, to bring the can closure into or out of contact with the seaming chuck (via 350).
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) 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of JP 60170543 to Arizono et al (Arizono).
Concerning claim 11, Cho does not explicitly discloses two or more interchangeable seaming chucks.
Cho does discloses the system is configured to seam two or more types or sizes of can, the spindle assembly of the system including: a seaming spindle (E1 in the figure reproduced below) having a rotational axis.
Arizono discloses a can seaming system wherein the system is configured to seam two or more types or sizes of can, the spindle assembly of the system including: a seaming spindle (3) having a rotational axis; and two or more interchangeable seaming chucks (5), wherein: each of the two or more seaming chucks (5) is configured for use with a different can type; and each of the two or more seaming chucks (5) is configured for mounting to the seaming spindle (3); wherein the one or more seaming rollers of the seaming roller assembly are configured to cooperate with the mounted seaming chuck to form a seam between the can body and the closure.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to make the a can seaming system of Cho such that the seaming chucks are interchangeable because, as disclosed by Arizono, this allows for use with different specifications of cans (see Abstract).
Concerning claim 12, Cho in view of Arizono discloses the seaming spindle (E1) incorporates a machine taper (E2 in the figure reproduced below).
Concerning claim 13, Cho in view of Arizono discloses a seaming chuck holder (E3 in the figure reproduced below) configured to mount to the machine taper (E2), each seaming chuck being configured to mount to the seaming chuck holder.
Concerning claim 14, Cho in view of Arizono discloses configured to align an axis of a mounted seaming chuck with the rotational axis of the spindle.
Concerning claim 15, Cho in view of Arizono discloses each of the two or more seaming chucks includes a registration surface (E4 in the figure reproduced below) configured to bear against a cooperating registration surface (E5 in the figure reproduced below) of the seaming spindle, to register a position of that seaming chuck along the rotational axis of the seaming spindle.
Claim(s) 24-25 and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of U.S. Patent No. 12,214,409 to Henda et al (Henda).
Concerning claim 24, Cho does not disclose a can conveyor (although inherently there must be something that conveys the can to the device).
Henda discloses a can seaming system further including a can conveyor (100), the can conveyor including: a plurality of can bearers (P), each being configured to bear a single can along the conveyor path, wherein each of the plurality of can bearers (P) is configured for use with cans of different sizes within a range of acceptable can sizes, each can bearer configured to align a center or axis of any such can with the same conveyor path.
Because both these references are concerned with a similar problem, i.e. can seeming systems, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the can conveyor of Henda to the can seaming system of Cho. In KSR (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)) the courts held that combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. Accordingly a simple addition of the can conveyor of Henda to the can seaming system of Cho will obtain predictable results and is therefore obvious and proper combination of the references is made. The predictable results being supply of cans and closures to the seaming device.
Concerning claim 25, Henda, as applied to Cho, discloses each can bearer (P) is configured to contact a can at two points, one on each side of the conveyor path.
Concerning claim 27, Henda, as applied to Cho, discloses a can conveyor (100), the can conveyor including: one or more bearer carriers (101, 107) and a plurality of can bearers (P), wherein the one or more bearer carriers are configured to move the plurality of can bearers such that, in use, one or more cans are moved along a conveyor path, wherein: each of the plurality of can bearers (P) is configured to bear a single can along the conveyor path; and each of the plurality of can bearers (P) is mounted for rotational movement relative to its respective bearer carrier, for entry and/or exit of a can to/from the can conveyor.
Concerning claim 28, Henda, as applied to Cho, discloses a guide rail (102, 108 or 313) and each can bearer including a guide element that rides along the guide rail to cause the rotational movement.
Claim(s) 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0065168 to Obata et al (Obata).
Concerning claim 36, Cho does not disclose a can closure system as claimed.
Obata discloses a can closure system, including: a can feed arrangement (102) configured to move filled cans into a closure application position; a closure head (106) arranged to apply a closure (F) to a filled can (C) in the closure application position; and a closure feeder (105) arranged to feed closures to the closure head, the closure feeder including an intermediate closure holder and a bulk closure holder (¶85), wherein the intermediate closure holder is configured to hold one or more closures, to receive closures from the bulk closure holder and feed closures to the closure head (¶85).
Because both these references are concerned with a similar problem, i.e. can seeming systems, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the can closure system of Obata to the can seaming system of Cho. In KSR (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)) the courts held that combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. Accordingly a simple addition of the can closure system of Obata to the can seaming system of Cho will obtain predictable results and is therefore obvious and proper combination of the references is made. The predictable results being supply of cans and closures to the seaming device.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 18 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: For claim 10, the prior art does not disclose “the calibration sensor being configured to sense a second relative position between the third reference surface and the fourth reference surface”. Instead, as seen in Cho, the sensor is placed above the roller and spindle assembly and thus can only detect a single set of reference surfaces. For claim 18, the prior art does not disclose “the single actuator is a servo motor”. Instead as seen in Cho the actuator is a gear and pulley system.
Conclusion
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/Matthew Katcoff/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
09/03/2026
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