DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims.
Therefore, the following claimed limitations (see below) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The claimed limitations not shown are:
“apertures” (see claim 4 line 3)
“a motor” (see claim 7 lines 1-2)
No new matter should be entered.
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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao (CN 214828361 U) in view of Vanderwalker et al. (US Publication 2018/0313329 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhao discloses a lifting appliance (see figures 1-15) comprising:
A tool (see below), the tool comprising:
a rail (20, see figure 6) having a first end (considered the end closest to plate 9, see figure 1) and a second end (considered the end opposite to plate 1, see figure 1),
a counterweight (4, 41, and 42, see figures 1 and 6) movably mounted on the rail to permit moving the
counterweight longitudinally along the rail (see paragraphs 0038 and 0042); and,
a lug (3, see figure 1) fixedly mounted on the rail (at least indirectly, as shown in figure 1) proximate the first end of the rail, the lug configured to be securable to a lifting device (see figures 12 and 14-15, and see paragraph 0042 of attached machine translation) so that the rail can be suspended from the lifting device, and
the rail configured to be fixedly mounted proximate the first end of a furnace (22, see figures 12-14) to a furnace mounting end (see figures 12-14);
Zhao does not explicitly the rail configured to be fixedly mounted proximate the first end of the rail to the main shaft proximate a rotor hub mounting end of the main shaft.
Vanderwalker et al. (from here on just referred to as Vanderwalker) discloses a system and method for removing a main shaft (see figures 5-6) and teaches that over time a main shaft may become worn and/or damaged to loads and forces from wind acting on a wind turbine components and there is a need for a new system and method for repairing, replacing, and updating a main shaft of a wind turbine (see paragraphs 0004 and 0008).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the tool of Zhao by utilizing the tool of Zhao to lift a main shaft onto or off of a wind turbine, as over time a main shaft may become worn and/or damaged to loads and forces from wind acting on a wind turbine components and there is a need for a new system and method for repairing as taught by Vanderwalker.
The device of Zhao and Vanderwalker would function to control the center of gravity of the combined load and tool, regarding claim 14.
Regarding claim 2, Zhao further shows the claimed carriage (18, see figure 6).
Regarding claim 3, Zhao further shows the claimed retaining plates (considered the L-shaped plates below rollers 19, as shown in figure 6).
Regarding claim 4, Zhao further shows wherein the counterweight comprises a plurality of individual slabs (41 and/or 42) secured between the opposed retaining plates (as the slabs are within the lateral extent of the retaining plates) by at least one pin (17, see figure 6) inserted through aligned apertures (considered the apertures for pins 17) in the retaining plates and the slabs. Also, see paragraph 0040 of attached machine translation.
Regarding claim 5, Zhao further shows the claimed carriage drive (11, 8, 81, and 82, see figures 1-15).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao further shows the claimed threaded rod (82, see figure 6) and bracket (considered the part 18 around the rod 82 in figure 6).
Regarding claim 7, Zhao further shows the claimed a motor mount (12, see paragraph 0041, and figures 1-15) and the claimed motor (8, 82, and 11, as these structures form a hand motor).
Regarding claim 8, Zhao further shows the claimed abutment plate (9, see figure 1), the claimed fastener (23, see figure 13).
Regarding claim 9, Zhao further shows the claimed faces of the tool and the load to be supported (see figure 13).
Regarding claim 10, Neither Zhao nor Vanderwalker explicitly disclose wherein the at least one fastener is two fasteners and the at least one flange aperture is two flange apertures.
Zhao teaches that a locking fastener (23) aligns a hole of a load and a hole (15) of the tool (see last 5 lines of paragraph 0035 of attached machine translation).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the tool of Zhao by adding a second fastener and a second flange aperture, to align the load to lifted and the tool as taught by Zhao, to better align the load to be lifted and the tool by providing two fasteners and two corresponding flange apertures instead of one fastener and one flange aperture, and/or to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 11, Zhao further shows the claimed bolt (23, see figure 13).
Regarding claim 12, Zhao further shows the claimed indexing pin (23, see figure 13).
Regarding claim 13, Zhao further shows the claimed gusset (2, see figure 1).
Regarding claims 15-18, the method of operating the apparatus is well known and no new, non-obvious or improvement claims are described by the method claims since all elements of the Zhao as modified by Vanderwalker apparatus are disclosed in detail above. As Zhao as modified by Vanderwalker is obvious to the claimed structure of at least claim 1, the method steps of these claims are implied by Zhao as modified by Vanderwalker.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN J CAMPOS, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-5229. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.
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, Robert W. Hodge can be reached on phone number (571)272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JJC/
/ROBERT W HODGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3654
Prosecution Insights