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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species III in the reply filed on 7/8/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 155c.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brown (GB 2616962).
Regarding claim 1, Brown teaches of a rope actuating device (abstract, fall arrest device 1 for use during rope-climbing activities) comprising:
a chassis (fig. 1, back plate 9, front plate 10) including a chassis rear wall (back plate 9);
a fixed brake (fig. 3, thrust bearing surface 18) coupled with or extending from the chassis (9, 10) (seen in fig. 3), the fixed brake (18) including a first rope engagement surface (fig. 1, p. 7, bearing surface 18 engages with rope 2);
a sheave (fig. 3, brake wheel 11) having a central groove extending between a first sidewall and a second sidewall (seen in fig. 4), wherein at least one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall include teeth (fig. 3, teeth 17), wherein the central groove is engageable with a rope (fig. 1, abstract, rope trappable in the groove between the brake wheel teeth 17 and a rope bearing thrust surface 18), and the sheave (11) is rotatably coupled at least indirectly with the chassis (9, 10) (abstract, sheave 11 is rotatably coupled to the chassis);
a pawl assembly (fig. 2, brake pawl 15) comprising:
a swing arm rotatably coupled with the chassis (9, 10) (p. 4, the pawl assembly has an elongate swing arm); and
a pawl at least indirectly coupled with the swing arm (pawl at the end of the swing arm), wherein the pawl includes a second rope engagement surface (p. 6, pawl assembly 15 has a surface that fixes the device to the rope 2) and a pawl catch for engagement with one or more of the teeth (p. 7, pawl assembly 15 has a catch that is insertable in one of the teeth 17 of the sheave 11); and
a lever assembly (fig. 1, portion of pawl assembly 15 exposed out of front plate 10) rotatably coupled to the chassis (figs 1 and 3, lever assembly rotates in the notch of chassis 9, 10) and at least indirectly coupled to the swing arm and the pawl assembly (seen in fig. 2), wherein actuation of the lever assembly provides selectable rotational movement of the swing arm and the pawl assembly (moving the lever provides selectable rotational movement of the swing arm and the pawl assembly).
Regarding claim 2, Brown teaches of claim 1, and wherein the lever assembly includes a release handle with an engagement portion (figs. 1 and 3, portion of the lever assembly that a user can push to change rotation of the lever assembly), wherein the engagement portion is actuatably coupled with the swing arm such that rotation of the release handle about a handle pivot axis in a first direction causes the swing arm and the pawl to rotate away from the fixed brake (from fig. 3 to fig. 1, rotation of the release handle from the position in fig. 3 to fig. 1 causes the swing arm and the pawl of the pawl assembly 15 to rotate away from the fixed brake 18).
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 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown (GB 2616962) in view of Jones et al. (US 9132301), hereinafter Jones.
Regarding claim 3, Brown teaches of claim 2, but does not appear to teach of wherein the pawl assembly further comprises a pawl support secured to or formed integrally with the swing arm, such that the pawl support rotates coincident with the swing arm.
Jones teaches of (fig. 3) wherein the pawl assembly (pawl 25) further comprises a pawl support (circular support of axis 26) secured to or formed integrally with the swing arm (seen in fig. 3), such that the pawl support rotates coincident with the swing arm (figs. 4-5, pawl support 25 rotate coincidentally with the swing arm).
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 Brown to incorporate the teachings of Jones of wherein the pawl assembly further comprises a pawl support secured to or formed integrally with the swing arm, such that the pawl support rotates coincident with the swing arm in order to provide further stability when the pawl rotates and lock with the sheave.
Regarding claim 4, Brown as modified teaches of claim 3, and Jones further teaches of (fig. 3) wherein the pawl is hingedly coupled with the pawl support (25) via a pawl hinge rod (col. 4 lines 19-28, pawl 25 is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis 26. A rod or a kind of elongate object for the mounting of the axis 26 allows for the hinging) that is one of integrally formed or coupled with the pawl (seen in fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Brown as modified teaches of claim 4, and (fig. 4) further comprising a sheave support having a sheave support central axis (central axle 19) and being secured to or formed integrally with the chassis rear wall (9) (seen in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 6, Brown as modified teaches of claim 5, and (fig. 4) wherein the sheave (11) includes a sheave central axis (axis passing through central axle 19) and is rotatably coupled to the sheave support (p. 8, sheave 11 rotates around sheave support 19).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-20 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.
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.
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/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647
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