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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 15-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/08/2026.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 recites, “wherein a first roller, which is vertically adjustable,
contacts a first surface of the glass and a second roller, which is vertically fixed,
contacts a second surface of the glass.
”
Claim 1 is a method and method claims are supposed to recite a series of active steps. For the purpose of this examination this is interpreted as:
Contacting a first surface of the glass with a vertically adjustable first roller and
Contacting a second surface of the glass with a vertically fixed second roller
Claim Objections
The claims use the terms “the glass” “the glass strip” “strip of glass” interchangeably These should be amended to be consistent and refer back to the same glass strip.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-6, 8-11, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchigata (JP 2001157997) and further in view of Brown (US 1660323).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Uchigata discloses a method of manufacturing a glass blade with a cutting
edge, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a strip of glass with a leading end (Fig 1 front of arrow) and a trailing end (Fig 1 end of arrow);
feeding a predetermined length of the glass strip along a longitudinal path between a pair of opposing rollers (5, 14),
Uchigata discloses a vertically adjustable first roller (14)contacting a first surface of the glass
and contacting a second surface of the glass with a vertically fixed second roller (5), at a location closer to the leading end of the glass strip than the first roller (Fig 1);
Uchigata discloses scoring the first surface at least partially across the width of the glass strip
to form a score line located downstream of the rollers but upstream of the leading end of
the strip (Fig 1-2, [0029]-[0030]); and
applying a breaking force via roller (15) to the first surface of the glass strip at an impact
site located between the score line and the leading end such that the glass strip pivots a small amount about the second vertically fixed roller (Fig 2)
The glass breaks along the score line and a horizontal component of the breaking force is directed away from the rollers via conveyor (20),
Uchigata discloses a breaking force imparted on the glass by component (15) however fails to disclose the breaking force is applied by the head of a pivotably mounted hammer.
In an analogous art of scoring and breaking glass Brown discloses applying force to break the scored portions with a hammer (9) that revolves, or pivots to tap the glass (Page 1; lines 38-55, 100-106) similar to how a hammer is used manually.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Uchigata with a hammer to apply force to the scored glass to break it apart.
Regarding claims 4 and 6, Brown discloses the material to put force on the glass should be rubber it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to use rubber as motivated that Brown indicates it is a suitable material to contact glass.
Regarding claim 5, at least one of the rollers has a width that is equal to or greater than the width of the glass strip (See Fig 2).
Regarding claim 8, the first surface is scored across the entire width of the glass strip to form separate glass substrate (1).
Regarding claim 9, making a sheet of glass using the float method or overflow downdraw are well known in the art.
Regarding claim 10, the glass being having a patterned/textured surface would be obvious to a skilled artisan as motivated to obtain the desired glass substrate.
Regarding claim 11, It would be obvious to one skilled in the art to optimize the score line formed at distances as motivated to achieve the desired sized cut substrates.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JODI COHEN FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3966. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 am-4 pm.
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, Alison Hindelang can be reached at (571) 270-7001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
JODI COHEN FRANKLIN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1741
/JODI C FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1741
Prosecution Insights