DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
The use of the term “Yarntronics ™” and “Infinity IIE ™” in subparagraphs 7 & 32 and
“ Quick Thread ™, Enhanced Graphics ™ ” in subparagraph 32, which is a trade name or a
mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by
the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized in its entirety wherever it
appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™,
SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine
grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or
improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible
harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where
the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not
patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either
anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg,
140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d
2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van
Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619
(CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used
to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided
the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined
application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a
joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the
first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et
seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the
AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the
NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1.
For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action,
see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c)
may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-10 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being
unpatentable over claims 1-12 of U.S. Patent No.12,146,251. Although the claims at issue
are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because as follows:
Instant Application ‘506
1. A tufting machine, comprising: at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted therealong; at least one yarn feed mechanism feeding yarns to the needles; a gauge part assembly comprising: a plurality of gauge parts configured to pick-up yarns from the needles are received; wherein the gauge parts are reciprocated toward and away from the needles as the needles are reciprocated into a backing material; a plurality of actuators coupled to the gauge parts and configured to move the gauge parts between a retracted position adapted to substantially avoid pick-up of non-selected yarns from the needles, and one or more extended positions to enable the gauge parts to pick-up yarns from the needles to form tufts of selected yarns in the backing material according to a pattern being formed; and a control system including programming for controlling the at least one yarn feed mechanism to control feeding of the yarns to the needles in coordination with control of movement of the gauge parts between the retracted position and the one or more extended positions.
2. The tufting machine of claim 1, further comprising a shift mechanism coupled to the at least one needle bar and configured to shift the at least one needle bar transversely across the backing material.
3. The tufting machine of claim 2, wherein the control system further comprises programming configured to coordinate shifting of the at least one needle bar by the shift mechanism with movement of the gauge parts between their retracted and extended positions, and control of the at least one yarn feed mechanism feeding the yarns to the needles as the needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material; wherein a series of yarns are presented to one or more stitch locations along the backing material and non-selected yarns presented at the one or more stitch locations are pulled low or out of the backing material when the non-selected yarns are not picked-up by the gauge parts.
4. The tufting machine of claim 3, wherein the control system further comprises programming configured to control of the feeding of the backing material through the tufting machine at an effective stitch rate that is greater than a pattern stitch rate for the pattern being formed to provide a number of retained tufts per inch of selected yarns in the backing material that is approximately equivalent to the pattern stitch rate.
5. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the gauge parts comprise level cut loop loopers, loop pile loopers, or cut pile hooks.
6. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the gauge part assembly further comprises a plurality of modules, each configured to receive a series of the gauge parts therein; and wherein the gauge parts are moveable though the modules.
7. A method, comprising: threading a plurality of needles of a tufting machine with a plurality of different color or type yarns in a selected thread-up sequence; feeding a backing material through the tufting machine; feeding the different color or type yarns to the needles as the needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material; reciprocating a series of gauge parts toward the needles as the needles are reciprocated into the backing material; moving one or more gauge parts to a no-sew position to substantially to avoid pick-up of non-selected color or type yarns from the needles, and controlling the feeding of the non-selected color or type yarns so as to retract the non-selected color or type yarns when not picked-up by the one or more gauge parts; and moving one or more other gauge parts to an extended position adapted to enable pick-up of selected color or type yarns from the needles, and controlling the feeding of the selected color or type yarns so as to form tufts of the selected color or type yarns at a stitch location.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising shifting at least some of the needles transversely across the backing material and presenting more than one of the different color or type yarns to each of a plurality of stitch locations of a pattern being formed.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein controlling the feeding of the non-selected color or type yarns so as to retract the non-selected color or type yarns comprises pulling the non-selected color or type yarns out of the backing material or to an extent to enable the non-selected color or type yarns to be held in the backing material without appearing at the stitch location.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising cutting at least some of the tufts of the selected color or type yarns.
US Patent 12,146,251
1. A tufting machine, comprising: at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted therealong; wherein the at least one needle bar is moved in a reciprocating motion so as to move the needles along a path of travel into and out of a backing material through the tufting machine; at least one yarn feed mechanism feeding yarns to the needles; a gauge part assembly below the backing material, the gauge part assembly comprising: a plurality of gauge parts, each including a body with an upper portion having a throat along which loops of yarns picked-up from the needles are received; wherein the gauge parts are moved in a direction toward and away from the needles as the needles are reciprocated into the backing material for pick-up of the loops of yarns from the needles; a plurality of actuators, each actuator coupled to at least one of the gauge parts and configured to direct movement of the gauge parts coupled thereto in an additional direction with respect to the path of travel of the needles; and a control system including programming for controlling the at least one yarn feed mechanism to control feeding of the yarns to the needles in coordination with control of the actuators coupled to the gauge parts; wherein the actuators are controlled by the control system such that the throats of the gauge parts coupled thereto are moved in the additional direction between a position out of the path of travel of the needles sufficient to substantially avoid pick-up of non-selected yarns from the needles, and one or more positions adapted to enable pick-up loops of yarns from the needles by the gauge parts for forming tufts of yarns in the backing material according to a pattern being formed.
2. The tufting machine of claim 1, further comprising a shift mechanism coupled to the at least one needle bar and configured to shift the at least one needle bar transversely across the backing material.
3. The tufting machine of claim 2, wherein the control system further comprises programming configured to coordinate shifting of the at least one needle bar by the shift mechanism, control of the actuators coupled to the gauge parts, control of the at least one yarn feed mechanism feeding the yarns to the needles as the needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material, and control of the feeding of the backing material, so as to present a series of yarns to one or more stitch locations along the backing material and pull the non-selected yarns low or out of the backing material when the non-selected yarns are not picked-up by the gauge parts, and with the backing material being moved through the tufting machine at an operative stitch rate that is greater than a pattern stitch rate for the pattern being formed to provide a number of tufts per inch of selected yarns in the backing material approximately equivalent to the pattern stitch rate.
4. The tufting machine of claim 1,wherein the gauge parts comprise level cut loop loopers, loop pile loopers, or cut pile hooks.
5. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the actuators comprise hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders.
6. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the gauge parts are configured to move in a substantially vertical direction along a path of travel oriented at an angle of approximately 0° to approximately 10° with respect to the path of travel of the needles.
7. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the gauge part assembly further comprises a plurality of modules, each configured to slideably receive a series of the gauge parts therein.
8. The tufting machine of claim 1, wherein the at least one needle bar comprises a pair of needle bars each having a series of needles mounted in spaced series therealong.
9. A method, comprising: threading a plurality of needles of a tufting machine with different color or type yarns in a selected thread-up sequence for forming a pattern of tufts in a backing material; feeding the backing material through the tufting machine; reciprocating the needles along a path of travel into and out of the backing material; feeding the different color or type yarns to the needles as the needles are reciprocated; shifting at least some of the needles transversely across the backing material and presenting more than one of the different color or type yarns to each of a plurality of stitch locations of the pattern; reciprocating a series of gauge parts toward the needles so as to pick-up loops of the different color or type yarns from the needles; when a loop of at least one of the different color or type yarns presented at a stitch location is not selected to be picked-up from a corresponding needle by a gauge part, moving a throat of the gauge part to a position located out of the path of travel of the corresponding needle so as to substantially to avoid pick-up of a loop of a non-selected color or type yarn from the corresponding needle, and controlling the feeding of the non-selected yarn so as to pull back the non-selected color or type yarn; and when a loop of a selected color or type yarn presented at the stitch location is to be picked-up by the gauge part, moving the throat of the gauge part to a position adapted to enable pick-up of the loop of the selected color or type yarn from the corresponding needle, and controlling the feeding of the selected color or type yarn so as to form a tuft of the selected color or type yarn at the stitch location.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein moving the throat of the gauge part to a position adapted to enable pick-up of the loop of the selected color or type yarn from the corresponding needle comprises raising or lowering the gauge part with the loop of the selected color or type yarn captured therealong to adjust a length of the loop of the selected color or type yarn to form the tuft the selected color or type yarn at a selected pile height.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling the feeding of the non-selected yarns so as to pull back the non-selected yarns comprises pulling the non-selected color or type yarn out of the backing or sufficiently low to an extent to enable the non-selected color or type yarn to be held in the backing.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein moving the backing along its path of travel comprises feeding the backing at an operative stitch rate determined by multiplying desired fabric stitch rate for the pattern approximately by a number of the different color or type yarns in the selected thread-up sequence.
Conflicting claim 1 of pending application ‘506 and US Patent ‘251 each substantially discloses
a tufting machine including at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted
therealong; at least one yarn feed mechanism feeding yarns to the needles; a gauge part assembly
comprising: a plurality of gauge parts configured to pick-up yarns from the needles are received;
wherein the gauge parts are reciprocated toward and away from the needles as the needles are
reciprocated into a backing material; a plurality of actuators coupled to the gauge parts and
configured to move the gauge parts between a retracted position adapted to substantially avoid
pick-up of non-selected yarns from the needles, and one or more extended positions to enable the
gauge parts to pick-up yarns from the needles to form tufts of selected yarns in the backing
material according to a pattern being formed; and a control system including programming for
controlling the at least one yarn feed mechanism to control feeding of the yarns to the needles in
coordination with control of movement of the gauge parts. Furthermore, it is inherent that the
control system including programming for controlling the at least one yarn feed mechanism to
control feeding of the yarns to the needles in coordination with control of movement of the gauge
parts with actuators moves between retracted and one or more extended positions as the gauge
parts are moved in a direction toward and away from the needles as the needles are reciprocated
into the backing material for pick-up of the loops of yarns from the needles.
Additionally, conflicting claim 7 of pending application ‘251 and claim 9 of US Patent
‘506, each substantially discloses a method of threading a plurality of needles of a tufting
machine with a plurality of different color or type yarns in a selected thread-up sequence;
feeding a backing material through the tufting machine; feeding the different color or type yarns
to the needles as the needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material; reciprocating a
series of gauge parts toward the needles as the needles are reciprocated into the backing material;
moving one or more gauge parts to a no-sew position to substantially to avoid pick-up of non-
selected color or type yarns from the needles, and controlling the feeding of the non-selected
color or type yarns so as to retract the non-selected color or type yarns when not picked-up by
the one or more gauge parts; adapted to enable pick-up of selected different color or type yarns
from the needles, and controlling the feeding of the selected color or type yarns so as to form
tufts of the selected color or type yarns at a stitch location. Also, it is inherent that the
reciprocating a series of gauge parts toward the needle are in an extending position so as pick up
loops/tufts of different color or type of yarns from the needles
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the nonstatutory
double patenting rejection as set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure. Prior art cited on PTO-892 discloses a tufting machine having each actuators
selectively feeding yarns to needles that are coupled to gauge parts to form patterns on a
backing material.
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January 8, 2026 /TAJASH D PATEL/ Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3732