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 § 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)(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.
Claims 1 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Gilson Company, Inc. “1/16 Sample Reducer” (hereinafter Gilson).
Regarding claim 1, Gilson discloses a divider pan for receiving and dividing a batch of product into a plurality of lanes of product (1 & 2), comprising: a back wall (3); a plurality of upper dividing walls extending from a front face of the back wall to form diverging channels (5); and a plurality of lower dividing walls extending from the front face of the back wall below the upper dividing walls to form converging channels (4).
Regarding claim 10, Gilson discloses the divider pan of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lower dividing walls comprises a first angled edge wall that slants down and towards the middle of the back wall and a second angled edge wall that slants down and towards the middle of the back wall (7).
Regarding claim 11, Gilson discloses the divider pan of claim 10, wherein the plurality of lower dividing walls further comprise a plurality of angled middle walls that alternate in orientation (8).
Regarding claim 12, Gilson discloses divider pan of claim 11, wherein adjacent angled middle walls converge at top points (9) to form A-frame channel dividers defining sides of the converging channels.
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gilson in view of US Patent 4,405,089 (Hereinafter Taylor). Gilson discloses they divider pan of claim 1, but does not disclose that the back wall extends down from an outfeed of a conveyor. Taylor discloses a conveyor (Fig. 1, Nos. 22 & 35) that leads to a drop spread chute (Fig. 8, No. 111).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the conveyor of Taylor with the divider pan of Gilson. The motivation would be to reduce the amount of repetitive loading of the divider pan, and provide a smooth, continuous flow of product.
Claims 13-15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 8,597,458 B2 (hereinafter Taniguchi).
Regarding claim 13, Gilson discloses the divider pan of claim 1, but does not disclose where in the lower edges of the upper dividing walls extend into the converging channels formed by the lower dividing walls. Taniguchi discloses channels that extend into each other formed by walls (Fig. 4A, No. 36).
Regarding claim 15, Gilson discloses a divider pan for receiving and dividing a batch of product into a plurality of lanes of product (1 & 2), comprising: a back wall (3); a plurality of diverging channels (10) formed on an upper portion of the back wall; and a plurality converging channels (11) formed on a lower portion of the back wall. However, Gilson does not disclose wherein lower edges of the diverging channels extending into the converging channels.
Taniguchi discloses channels that extend into each other formed by walls (Fig. 4A, No. 36). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the divider pan of Gilson with the extending walls of Gilson. The motivation would be to reduce the risk of conveyed material falling into undesired places, as the extended walls would provide extra guidance for the conveyed material.
Regarding claims 14 and 20 Dimpling, quilting, and other embossing/embossment patterns in sheet metal are well‑known and routine sheet‑metal forming techniques used to increase panel stiffness, reduce vibration, improve appearance, and control other mechanical properties. Such techniques are taught in the ordinary sheet‑metal fabrication and mechanical design arts.
A person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the application would have been motivated to form the back wall with dimples or quilting as a design choice yielding predictable results.
The substitution of a flat sheet‑metal back wall with a dimpled or quilted sheet‑metal back wall involves routine, conventional design and fabrication steps and would have been made with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gilson in in view of US Patent 4,662,522 (Hereinafter Kokubun). Gilson discloses the divider pan of claim 1, but does not disclose herein the back wall extends at an angle of between about 10° and about 20° from vertical. Kokubun discloses a dividing surface inclined at a “predetermined inclination angle” (column 1, line 68 to column 2, line 1). The range “between about 10° and about 20°” appears to be routine experimentation absent a showing of criticality of the broad range. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the application to incline at a predetermined inclination angle as taught by Kokubun to allow for controlled dissent of conveyed items.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gilson in in view of Taniguchi in further view of Kokubun. Gilson and Taniguchi disclose the divider pan of claim 15, but does not disclose herein the back wall extends at an angle of between about 10° and about 20° from vertical. Kokubun discloses a dividing surface inclined at a “predetermined inclination angle” (column 1, line 68 to column 2, line 1). The range “between about 10° and about 20°” fits the definition of “predetermined inclination angle”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the divider pans of Gilson alone, or of Gilson and Taniguchi with the predetermined incline angle of Kokubun. The motivation would be to have an adaptable divider pan that can accommodate the space requirements of each particular production facility, as well as provide slower conveyance in the case of a shallow angle or faster conveyance in the case of a steeper angle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 13 and 17-19 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMARI JADAN MEDDLING whose telephone number is (571)272-8178. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/AMARI J MEDDLING/ Examiner, Art Unit 3651
/GENE O CRAWFORD/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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