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.
Claims 2, and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lanphear (US 20150211234).
Regarding claim 2, Lanphear teaches of (figs. 1A-1B) a universal processing stand for use to support a worker during performance of an industrial processing task (¶0019, height-adjustable platform 100 is used to for users to stand while working on an adjacent assembly line or piece of machinery), the stand (100) comprising:
a working platform having a floor (support surface 115) for sitting or standing upon (seen in figs. 1A-1B);
a support pedestal assembly (height-adjusting 110) extending downwardly from the working platform (115) to provide support to the working platform (115) elevated above the support pedestal assembly (seen in figs. 1A-1B); and
a platform guard panel (platform guards 125) extending along a side of the working platform (115) to guide an article moving adjacent to the working platform along the side of the working platform (¶0019, Platform guards 125, 126 eliminate pinch points to protect the user during adjustment of platform 100. The surface can guide an article moving adjacent to the working platform 115 along the side of the working platform 115).
Regarding claim 5, Lanphear teaches of claim 2, and (figs. 1A-1B) wherein the platform guard panel (125) comprises a central face (seen in figs. 1A-1B) extending along a first direction parallel to the floor of the working platform (extends in a first direction parallel to the floor of the working platform 115) and along a second direction perpendicular to the floor of the working platform (extends in a perpendicular direction to the floor of the working platform 115), and
wherein the central face provides a contact surface for the article moving adjacent to the working platform (115) along the side of the working platform (115) (¶0019, platform 125 has a contact surface on the central face for articles moving adjacent to the working platform 115 along the side of the working platform 115).
Regarding claim 6, Lanphear teaches of claim 5, and wherein the central face extends along the first direction a longer distance and along the second direction a shorter distance (seen in figs. 1A-1B).
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 3, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lanphear in view of Honeycutt et al. (US 20200224427), hereinafter Honeycutt.
Regarding claim 3, Lanphear teaches of claim 2, and (figs. 1A-1B) wherein the support pedestal assembly (110) comprises:
a pedestal leg (legs of height-adjusting mechanism 110);
Lanphear does not appear to teach of a spacer attachable to the pedestal leg between the pedestal leg and the working platform and having a first dimension to space a height of the floor to a desired height; and an adjustable affixment apparatus joining the spacer to the pedestal leg.
Honeycutt teaches of (fig. 12) a spacer (side brackets 308a-b) attachable to the pedestal leg (legs of tower component 302) between the pedestal leg (302) and the working platform (figs. 2 and 12, ¶0038-0039 and 0055, Tower 16 can be replaced with tower unit 300. Side brackets 308a-b of tower unit 300 are attachable between the tower component 302 and elevated platform 14.) and having a first dimension (a dimension of spacer 308a-b) to space a height of the floor (14) to a desired height (fig. 2, ¶0055, tower unit 300 space a height of the floor 14 to a desired height); and an adjustable affixment apparatus (fig.12, top piece 310) joining the spacer (308a-b) to the pedestal leg (top piece 310 joins side brackets 308a-b to the tower component 302).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lanphear to incorporate the teachings of Honeycutt of a spacer attachable to the pedestal leg between the pedestal leg and the working platform and having a first dimension to space a height of the floor to a desired height; and an adjustable affixment apparatus joining the spacer to the pedestal leg in order to control the height of the working platform.
Regarding claim 16, Lanphear teaches of (figs. 1A-1B) a universal processing stand for use to support a worker during performance of an industrial processing task (¶0019, height-adjustable platform 100 is used to for users to stand while working on an adjacent assembly line or piece of machinery), the stand comprising:
a working platform having a floor (support surface 115) for sitting or standing upon (seen in figs. 1A-1B);
a support pedestal assembly (height-adjusting 110) extending downwardly from the working platform (115) to provide support to the working platform (115) elevated above the support pedestal assembly (seen in figs. 1A-1B), the support pedestal assembly comprising:
a pedestal leg (legs of height-adjusting mechanism 110).
Lanphear does not appear to teach of a spacer attachable to the pedestal leg between the pedestal leg and the working platform and having a first dimension to space a height of the floor to a desired height; and an adjustable affixment apparatus joining the spacer to the pedestal leg.
Honeycutt teaches of (fig. 12) a spacer (side brackets 308a-b) attachable to the pedestal leg (legs of tower component 302) between the pedestal leg (302) and the working platform (figs. 2 and 12, ¶0038-0039 and 0055, Tower 16 can be replaced with tower unit 300. Side brackets 308a-b of tower unit 300 are attachable between the tower component 302 and elevated platform 14.) and having a first dimension (a dimension of spacer 308a-b) to space a height of the floor (14) to a desired height (fig. 2, ¶0055, tower unit 300 space a height of the floor 14 to a desired height); and an adjustable affixment apparatus (fig.12, top piece 310) joining the spacer (308a-b) to the pedestal leg (top piece 310 joins side brackets 308a-b to the tower component 302).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lanphear to incorporate the teachings of Honeycutt of a spacer attachable to the pedestal leg between the pedestal leg and the working platform and having a first dimension to space a height of the floor to a desired height; and an adjustable affixment apparatus joining the spacer to the pedestal leg in order to control the height of the working platform.
Regarding claim 20, Lanphear as modified teaches of claim 16, and (figs. 1A-1B) further comprising a stair assembly (adjustable staircase 105) extending from adjacent to the floor of the working platform (115) (seen in figs. 1A-1B) and downwardly, the stair assembly having stairs (fig. 2A, steps 200, 201, 202) and a stair railing (railing 120) to permit the worker to climb to the floor for sitting or standing upon (¶0019, railing 120 prevents the user from accidentally falling off platform 100 in the opposite direction. The steps and railing permit the worker to climb to floor 115 easily and safely).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is allowed.
Claim 4, 7-15, and 17-19 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 cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZOE TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8530. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-6pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kimberly Berona can be reached at 571-272-6909. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647
Prosecution Insights