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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: The first paragraph of the specification should be updated to show the parent application is now a patent.
Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1, 6, 10, 17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crandlemire (US 3,812,982) in view of Morioka (JP 62-74854).
Crandlemire shows an object orienting mechanism having a pivot assembly 38, first pivoting extension 20, 22 coupled to the pivot assembly, a second pivot extension 44, 46 coupled to the pivot assembly, each pivot assembly has fingers, the first pivoting extension is moved into planar alignment with a surface 28 and the first and second pivoting assemblies are operable to rotate so the fingers lift and move an abject into a second orientation. Not shown is a shifting mechanism which feed the fingers. However, shown by Morioka is such a shifting mechanism 14 which feeds rotating fingers which change the orientation of an object. To include a shifting mechanism on Crandlemire would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as it would provide an automatic feed and removal of objects which would speed production.
Re claim 6, shown by Morioka is the use of belts and rollers for the shifting mechanism.
Re claim 10, the first and second pivoting extensions rotate about a common axis so as to move the fingers.
Re claim 17, the pivoting extensions are moved into planar alignment with a receiving surface so as to lift and re-orientate an object.
Re claim 20, the fingers 20, 22 and 44, 46 are rotatable into a common plane in an alternating sequence.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 7-9, 11-16, 18 and 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R BIDWELL whose telephone number is (571)272-6910. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 to 4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES R BIDWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651 03/18/2026