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 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Multipond (DE 202007004721).
Regarding claim 1, Multipond discloses a conveyance apparatus comprising:
a conveyance unit (paragraph 0032 of the translation; fig 1) configured to convey an article (meat; paragraphs 0017, 0029 of the translation) that is charged from an outside and contains fat on at least a surface of the article, wherein
a hydrophilic coating layer (36, paragraph 0029 of the translation) is formed on a conveyance front surface of the conveyance unit.
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 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishikawa (US Pub 2022/0146301) in view of Multipond.
Regarding claim 1, Kishikawa discloses a conveyance apparatus comprising:
a conveyance unit (the louver processing is carried out on an any surface (flow path surface) on which an article slides down by its own weight, such as the inner side I of the dispersion feeder 2, the radiation feeders 3, the pool hoppers 4 (gates 4a), the weighing hoppers 5 (gates 5a and 5b), the booster hoppers 6 (gates 6a), the sorting chutes 7, or the like; paragraph 0052) configured to convey an article that is charged from an outside and contains fat on at least a surface of the article (capable of conveying an article with fat on the surface).
Regarding claim 2, Kishikawa also discloses the conveyance front surface includes a plurality of protrusions (92).
Regarding claim 3, Kishikawa also discloses an opening (91A) directed from the conveyance front surface to a back surface is formed at a downstream end of each of the plurality of protrusions (fig 4).
Regarding claim 4, Kishikawa also discloses the plurality of protrusions is formed by shutter processing (louver processing; paragraphs 0051-0052; applicant equates shutter processing and louver processing in the instant specification paragraph 0023).
Regarding claim 7, Kishikawa also discloses the conveyance unit includes a chute (9), and when the chute is viewed from a side, an angle formed by the chute and a horizontal direction is in a range of 40 to 60 degrees (fig 1).
Kishikawa does not disclose (claim 1) a hydrophilic coating layer is formed on a conveyance front surface of the conveyance unit.
Regarding claim 1, Multipond teaches a hydrophilic coating layer is formed on a conveyance front surface of a conveyance unit (36, paragraph 0029 of the translation).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the front surface of the conveyance apparatus of Kishikawa to include a hydrophilic coating layer as taught by Multipond in order to better transport meat by minimizing adhesion and friction forces (paragraph 0016-0017 of the translation).
Claims 1, 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagai ’033 (US Patent 11,261,033) in view of Multipond.
Regarding claim 1, Nagai ’033 discloses a conveyance apparatus comprising:
a conveyance unit (col 5, lines 59-64) configured to convey an article that is charged from an outside and contains fat on at least a surface of the article (col 1, lines 61-63).
Regarding claim 2, Nagai ’033 also discloses the conveyance front surface includes a plurality of protrusions (col 5, lines 59-64).
Regarding claim 5, Nagai ’033 also discloses a plurality of protrusions is formed by embossing (col 5, lines 59-64).
Nagai ’033 does not disclose (claim 1) a hydrophilic coating layer is formed on a conveyance front surface of the conveyance unit.
Regarding claim 1, Multipond teaches a hydrophilic coating layer is formed on a conveyance front surface of a conveyance unit (36, paragraph 0029 of the translation).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the front surface of the conveyance apparatus of Nagai ’033 to include a hydrophilic coating layer as taught by Multipond in order to better transport meat by minimizing adhesion and friction forces (paragraph 0016-0017 of the translation).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishikawa in view of Multipond as applied to claim 2 and further in view of Nagai ‘127 (WO 2018/139127).
Regarding claim 6, Kishikawa also discloses a trough (3; stated to be inclined in paragraph 0052).
Kishikawa in view of Multipond disclose all of the limitations of claim 2, but do not explicitly disclose (claim 6) when the trough is viewed from a side, an angle formed by the trough and a horizontal direction is in a range of 9 to 12 degrees.
Regarding claim 6, Nagai ‘127 teaches the conveyance unit includes a trough, and when the trough is viewed from a side, an angle formed by the trough and a horizontal direction is in a range of 9 to 12 degrees (paragraph 0058 of the translation).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the trough of the conveyance apparatus of Kishikawa to have an angle formed by the trough and a horizontal direction is in a range of 9 to 12 degrees in order to balance transport speed and ability to stop conveyed meat (paragraph 0058 of the translation).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/KRC/Examiner, Art Unit 3651 6/22/2026
/GENE O CRAWFORD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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