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 § 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 1, 4, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hordis US PAT 5227145 in view of Blackmore US PAT 2866985 and Stoberl US PAT 3840926
As for claim 1, Hordis discloses a boat manufacturing arrangement, wherein the boat manufacturing arrangement comprises at least one outer mold (17) and at least one inner mold (15) according to the model of the boat being manufactured to form a double-shell structure (see Figures 1-6), the molds (15, 17) comprising shapes for forming side floats (see fig. 3) as empty spaces; holes (31) to fill the empty spaces with closed-cell polyurethane and to remove air from the empty spaces (col 1 lines 57-col 2 ln 26), and as said empty spaces side floats (19) on the sides of the boat to stiffen the hull of the boat with said closed-cell polyurethane, and the boat manufacturing arrangement comprises application means for making a wet surface, means for connecting said at least one outer mold (17) and at least one inner mold (15) to each other with a wet joint, a high-pressure sprayer for filling the empty spaces after drying with closed-cell polyurethane through the first hole (31) and for removing air from the empty spaces through the second hole (31), and installation means for installing a keel part (115) containing heavy material as a keel weight. Hordis is silent to teaching benches and a rounded design of the stern of the boat, a shape of the bottom so that the bottom is widest at the front of the boat (109) to reduce water resistance, and a keel part containing heavy material as a keel weight; the examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known for boats to have these features. Blackmore teaches a bench (44) and the shape of the bottom (fig. 1-4) and Stoberl teaches a boat with a keel and installation means for installing the keel part (see fig. 1a; see also keel fitting and installation means discussed in col 6 ln 9-40). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to the teachings of Blackmore and Hordis and utilize the benches and round design and Keel in with the device of Hordis to achieve a boat configuration with well-known desirable features commonly found in many boat designs.
As for claim 4, Hordis discloses a boat with improved water movement properties, wherein the boat comprises at least one outer mold (17) and at least one inner mold (15) according to the model of the boat to form a double-shell structure (see Fig 1-6), the molds (15, 17) comprising a first hole (31) through which closed-cell polyurethane has been sprayed with a high-pressure sprayer to fill the side floats (see fig. 3); empty spaces inside the molds (15, 17), and a second hole (31) through which air has been removed from the empty spaces during said spraying; and the boat comprises a rounded design of the stern of the boat (107), a shape of the bottom so that the bottom is widest at the front of the boat (109) to reduce water resistance, and as said spaces filled with closed-cell polyurethane the side floats (105) on the sides of the boat to stiffen the hull of the boat with said closed-cell polyurethane (col 1 lines 57-col 2 ln 26). Hordis is silent to teaching benches and a rounded design of the stern of the boat, a shape of the bottom so that the bottom is widest at the front of the boat (109) to reduce water resistance, and a keel part containing heavy material as a keel weight; the examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known for boats to have these features. Blackmore teaches a bench (44) and the shape of the bottom (fig. 1-4) and Stoberl teaches a boat with a keel and installation means for installing the keel part (see fig. 1a; see also keel fitting and installation means discussed in col 6 ln 9-40). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to the teachings of Blackmore and Hordis and utilize the benches and round design and Keel in with the device of Hordis to achieve a boat configuration with well-known desirable features commonly found in many boat designs.
As for claim 9, Hordis teaches a boat manufacturing method in that a double- shell structure (see Fig 1-6) is formed with at least one outer mold (17) and at least one inner mold (15) according to the model of the boat being manufactured, the molds (15, 17) comprising shapes for forming side floats (see Fig 3) as empty spaces, wet surfaces are formed, said at least one outer mold (17) and at least one inner mold (15 )are connected to each other with a wet joint, the empty spaces are filled after drying by high-pressure spraying of closed-cell polyurethane through the first hole (31) and during filling, air is removed from the empty spaces through the second hole (31), the hull of the boat is stiffened during the filling of said closed-cell polyurethane by filling the side floats (105)as empty spaces on the sides of the boat with said closed ceIl polyurethane (col 1 lines 57-col 2 ln 26). Hordis is silent to teaching benches and a rounded design of the stern of the boat, a shape of the bottom so that the bottom is widest at the front of the boat (109) to reduce water resistance, and a keel part containing heavy material as a keel weight; the examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known for boats to have these features. Blackmore teaches a bench (44) and the shape of the bottom (fig. 1-4) and Stoberl teaches a boat with a keel and installation means for installing the keel part (see fig. 1a; see also keel fitting and installation means discussed in col 6 ln 9-40). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to the teachings of Blackmore and Hordis and utilize the benches and round design and Keel in with the device of Hordis to achieve a boat configuration with well-known desirable features commonly found in many boat designs.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hordis US PAT 5227145 in view of Blackmore US PAT 2866985 and Stoberl US PAT 3840926, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xu CN 106585873.
As for claim 2, Hordis as modified above teaches the device of claim 1, but is silent to further teaching the boat manufacturing arrangement comprises grinding means for grinding the surfaces of at least one outer mold and at least one inner mold to enhance their adhesion to each other. The examiner takes Official Notice that grinding two surfaces is a well-known means for enhancing adhesion of two components. Xu is provided as evidence (see page 7). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to Xu and what is well-known in the art and grind the two mold bodies before adhesion as a means of improving adhesion of the two molds.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hordis US PAT 5227145 in view of Blackmore US PAT 2866985 and Stoberl US PAT 3840926, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sellpack US 2002/0109251.
As for claim 3, Hordis as modified above teaches the device of claim 1, but is silent to further teaching a pressing means comprise a pneumatic press for connecting said at least one outer mold (100) and at least one inner mold (102) to each other with a wet joint. The examiner takes Official Notice that using a pneumatic press for connecting said at least one member to another member is well known. Sellpack is provided as evidence (see paragraph 0053). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to Sellpack and what is well-known in the art and utilize a pneumatic press for connecting the molds to each other with a wet joint in the device of Hordis to provide an efficient, alternate means of drawing the hull body into a desired shape (see paragraph 0053 Sellpack).
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hordis US PAT 5227145 in view of Blackmore US PAT 2866985 and Stoberl US PAT 3840926, as applied to clam 4 above, and further in view of Wang CN 102963493.
As for claims 5-8, Hordis as modified above teaches the device of claim 4, but is silent to further teaching the boat comprising: a flat central portion at the bottom in order to increase the maximum permitted side weight (claim 5), the boat comprises a recess located in the bow to form the center of gravity also was possible when getting a shored (claim 6), a shaped profile in the stern of the boat to prevent the outboard motor from falling into the water (claim 7), semi-elliptical boat edges to guide the waves away from the boat (claim 8). The examiner takes Official Notice that the features in claims 5-8 are well-known shapes and configurations commonly found in many boats. Wang is provided as documentary evidence and teaches a flat central portion at the bottom in order to increase the maximum permitted side weight, the boat comprises a recess located in the bow to form the center of gravity also was possible when getting a shored, a shaped profile in the stern of the boat to prevent the outboard motor from falling into the water, semi-elliptical boat edges to guide the waves away from the boat (see Figures 1 and 2). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to the teachings of Wang and utilize these well-known features with the boat of Hordis to achieve an alternately shaped boat.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. SEAMAN US’585 and ROBERTS US’358 are also cited as methods of making boat hulls that are similar to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Evan P Dzierzynski whose telephone number is (571)272-2336. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm PST.
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/EVAN P DZIERZYNSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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