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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-10 are pending and the subject of this NON-FINAL Office Action. This is the first action on the merits.
Claim Interpretations
In claim 6, Applicants use intended uses of the claimed assembly product which fail to distinguish the assembly product over the prior art. Specifically, the following clauses are intended uses:
“advancing the material into an oven for heating the material”;
“removing the heated material from the oven and advancing in position over a lower die forming tool”;
“displaced into contact with the lower die forming tool to form a part from the material”; and
“for forming a reverse embossment pattern of a barcode integrated into the plate upon each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material.”
What is left is an assembly comprising:
First conveyor;
Second conveyor;
Upper die; and
Plate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112- Indefiniteness
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 2-5 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
In claims 2-4, it is unclear if the barcode is A QR code, “matric data code”; and the thermo-formable material is non-woven, a polyethylene terephthalate or thermoplastic polymer resin, or a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other
polypropylene based material. Specifically, claim 2, for example, reads “said step of incorporating an embossed arrangement of the barcode further comprising forming any of a QR code or a matrix data code.” The “further comprising” introduces confusion as to whether the “QR code or a matrix data code” are barcodes, or added to the barcode in claim 1. Similarly, in claim 3, “said step of providing the thermo-formable material further comprising providing a non-woven material.” Is the thermo-formable material a non-woven, or is this an additional material?
In claims 2 and 10, “matrix data code” is confusing because this is not a common phrase in the art. Instead, “data matrix code” is the common phrase. It is not clear if this common phrase is meant.
In claim 5, “other polypropylene based material” is unclear because no other polypropylene based material is recited. In other words, this lack of antecedent basis causes confusion as to the scope of the “other” polypropylene based material.
In claims 8-10, the referent for “the material” is not clear. “The material” is repeatedly recited, yet there are two materials: “thermo-formable material”; and “non-woven material.” It is unclear which material is referenced.
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) A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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; or
(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 1-3, 5-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LJUNDBERG (WO2023242402).
As to claim 1, LJUNDBERG teaches a process for die forming a barcode into a formed part, comprising the steps of:
providing a thermo-formable material (cellulose; Abstract);
heating the material in an oven (pg. 25);
advancing the heated material to a die press having first and second opposing surfaces (Fig. 1, showing compression mold with top die plate and bottom die);
providing a die plate incorporating an embossed arrangement of the barcode into any of the first or second opposing die surfaces (Figs. 1 & 5, pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25- “In one embodiment, the embossing pattern and/or the mould embossing pattern is configured as a logotype, a barcode, a QR code, or other identification code”);
compressing the heated material between the die surfaces in order to form a reverse embossment pattern of the barcode into each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material (Fig. 1, pgs. 24-25); and
utilizing a scanner device capable of reading the code from either of the first and second surfaces (any barcode, QR code, etc. will be scanned; pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25).
As to claim 2, LJUNDBERG teaches a QR code or a matrix data code (pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25).
As to claim 3, LJUNDBERG teaches the thermo-formable material further comprising providing a non-woven material (cellulose; Abstract).
As to claim 5, LJUNDBERG teaches the thermo-formable material further comprising providing any of a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other polypropylene based material (cellulose is a natural fiber).
As to claim 6, LJUNDBERG teaches assembly for forming a barcode within a thermo-formable material, comprising:
a first conveyor (Fig. 1, pg. 12 – “The cellulose blank structure 2 is fed to the pressing module PM with suitable non-illustrated transportation means, such as forming wires, vacuum belt feeders, or conveyor belts”);
a second conveyor (id.);
an upper die forming tool 3a (Fig. 1); and
a plate 1 incorporated into either of the upper or lower die forming tools (Fig. 1). The plate 1 include a barcode (pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25).
As to claim 7, LJUNDBERG teaches the barcode further comprising any of a QR code or a matrix data code (pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25).
As to claim 8, LJUNDBERG teaches thermo-formable material incorporating a barcode, comprising:
a non-woven material (cellulose; Abstract); and
a reverse embossment pattern of a barcode (Figs. 4, 5, 6 & 7; pgs. 3, 5, 7 & 24-25).
As to claim 10, LJUNDBERG teaches a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other polypropylene based material (cellulose).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WATERMAN (US20210253318).
As to claim 8, WATERMAN teaches thermo-formable material incorporating a barcode, comprising:
a non-woven material (para. 0065); and
a reverse embossment pattern of a barcode associated with a die forming operation being formed into each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material (Fig. 1).
As to claim 9, WATERMAN teaches the non-woven material further comprising any of a polyethylene terephthalate or thermoplastic polymer resin (para. 0065).
As to claim 10, WATERMAN teaches a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other polypropylene based material (para. 0065).
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WATERMAN (US20210253318), in view of MITSUNAGA (US 20190160715).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply familiar concrete slurry mixing techniques to familiar concrete printing devices to achieve familiar mixing regulation in 3D printing with a reasonable expectation of success.
As to claim 1, WATERMAN teaches a process for die forming a barcode into a formed part, comprising the steps of:
providing a thermo-formable material (para. 0065);
providing a die plate 22 incorporating an embossed arrangement of the barcode 12 into any of the first or second opposing die surfaces (Fig. 4, paras. 0024-25, 0034-35, 0058);
compressing the heated material between the die surfaces in order to form a reverse embossment pattern of the barcode into each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material (para. 0032- “Illustratively, article 10 is a shallow draw article formed with a rotary thermoforming process, however aspects of the present disclosure may be incorporated in other article forming processes such as, for example . . . compression molding”); and
utilizing a scanner device capable of reading the code from either of the first and second surfaces (para. 0038).
As to claim 2, WATERMAN teaches a QR code or a matrix data code (para. 0058).
As to claim 3, WATERMAN teaches the thermo-formable material further comprising providing a non-woven material (para. 0065).
As to claim 4, WATERMAN teaches non-woven material further comprising providing any of a polyethylene terephthalate or thermoplastic polymer resin (para. 0065).
As to claim 5, WATERMAN teaches the thermo-formable material further comprising providing any of a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other polypropylene based material (para. 0065).
As to claim 6, WATERMAN teaches assembly for forming a barcode within a thermo-formable material, comprising:
an upper die forming tool displaced into contact with the lower die forming tool to form a part from the material (para. 0032- “Illustratively, article 10 is a shallow draw article formed with a rotary thermoforming process, however aspects of the present disclosure may be incorporated in other article forming processes such as, for example . . . compression molding”); and
a plate incorporated into either of the upper or lower die forming tools for forming a reverse embossment pattern of a barcode integrated into the plate upon each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material (Fig. 4).
As to claim 7, WATERMAN teaches the barcode further comprising any of a QR code or a matrix data code (para. 0058).
As to claim 8, WATERMAN teaches thermo-formable material incorporating a barcode, comprising:
a non-woven material (para. 0065); and
a reverse embossment pattern of a barcode associated with a die forming operation being formed into each of opposite first and second surfaces of the material (Fig. 1).
As to claim 9, WATERMAN teaches the non-woven material further comprising any of a polyethylene terephthalate or thermoplastic polymer resin (para. 0065).
As to claim 10, WATERMAN teaches a glass reinforced thermoplastic, natural fiber or other polypropylene based material (para. 0065).
However, WATERMAN does not specifically teach heating the material in an oven before molding, and advancing (e.g. using conveyor) the heated material to a die press having first and second opposing surfaces; or a first conveyor advancing the material into an oven for heating the material and a second conveyor removing the heated material from the oven and advancing in position over a lower die forming tool.
It is well known in the art to use preheating ovens from which blanks are conveyed to a compression mold. For example, MITSUNAGA teaches fiber-reinforced resins press-molded after pre-molding infrared oven heating (Figs. 2-3, paras. 0154-56) to allow for cold pressing (Abstract). “In particular, a cold press molding method has a remarkable short molding cycle and is suitable for efficiently producing a molded article which, includes reinforcing fibers and a thermoplastic resin as a matrix, and has a complicated three-dimensional shape with excellent design” (para. 0003). Thus, a skilled artisan would have been motivated to adapt the cold-press technique of MITSUNAGA to create barcoded molded fiber-reinforced resins with “a remarkable short molding cycle” and “suitable for efficiently producing a molded article which, includes reinforcing fibers and a thermoplastic resin as a matrix, and has a complicated three-dimensional shape with excellent design” such as embossed barcodes of WATERMAN. Barcoded molded items, including fiber-reinforced items, were routine in the art, and a skilled artisan would have been motivated to apply known barcoding techniques (e.g. mold dies or plates with barcode patterns) to familiar fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin products.
Prior Art
The following prior art teaches familiar barcode, QR codes or other codes imprinted via molds into various materials, which is routine in the art: US 20140315153; US20220097436; US 20230301762; US 20070079928; US 20150119238; CN-1070536-A; JP-H1196278-A.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
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/YUNG-SHENG M TSUI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743