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 § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 10 recites the limitation " the accommodating member " in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jin CN 209721332.
Claim 1, Jin teaches an automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 for a passenger conveyor Fig. 3, wherein a step chain 11 is in transmission connection with a drive chain 6 in the passenger conveyor 12 to receive power from a drive portion for driving steps to operate Abstract, the automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 comprising: a base of Fig. 3, arranged adjacent to a step 5 that is in a flipped state during operation; a rotating shaft 31, mounted on the base of Fig. 3 and arranged in the drive chain 6 to be driven to rotate synchronously with the step chain 11; and a first cleaning member 2, mounted on the rotating shaft 31 and configured to perform a cleaning operation on the steps 5 currently passing through the rotating shaft 31 in the flipped state when the rotating shaft 31 is driven to rotate.
Claim 2, Jin teaches the rotating shaft 31 is perpendicular to a running direction of the steps 5, and the first cleaning member 2 comprises a cleaning roller sleeved on the rotating shaft 31 and having one or more sets of bristles extending outwardly along a peripheral direction Fig. 2.
Claim 3, Jin teaches the first cleaning member 2 is configured such that the bristles perform the cleaning operation currently on only one step 5 Fig. 1, or on two adjacent steps simultaneously.
Claim 4, Jin teaches the automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 further comprises: an accommodating member 12, configured to accommodate cleaned debris generated by the cleaning operation of first cleaning member on the steps 5;
Claim 8, Jin teaches the drive chain 6 is configured as a circular chain, and the rotating shaft 31 is provided with a sprocket 5 for meshing with the circular chain to drive the rotating shaft to rotate, a rotation direction of the rotating shaft 31 being opposite to a rotation direction of the step chain 11.
Claim 9, Jin teaches the automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 further comprises a shielding member 13 arranged between the drive portion of Fig. 3 and the rotating shaft 31 for at least partially shielding the first cleaning member 2 Fig. 2.
Claim 10, Jin teaches the shielding member 13 is configured in the shape of a plate Fig. 2 and connected to the accommodating member 12 and/or a truss 15 of the passenger conveyor Fig. 3, and the accommodating member 12 is configured to accommodate the cleaned debris generated by the cleaning operation of the first cleaning member on the steps 5.
Claim 11, Jin teaches the base of Fig. 3 comprises a bracket of Fig. 3 (known to be used in conveyor assemblies) mounted on the truss 16 of the passenger conveyor Fig. 3, and a bearing seat 32 connected to the bracket of Fig. 3 for supporting the rotating shaft 31.
Claim 12, Fig. 3 the drive portion of Fig. 3 is arranged near at least one turn-around area of the step chain 11, the drive portion including an electric motor (known to be used in conveyor assemblies).
Claim 13, Jin teaches a passenger conveyor Fig. 3, comprising: a truss 16, installed fixedly on site Fig. 2; a guide rail (known to be used in conveyor assemblies of Fig. 3) and a step chain 11 having a plurality of steps 5, wherein the guide rail is connected to the truss 16, and the step chain 11 travels along the guide rail for carrying passengers Abstract; and the automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 according to claim 1, arranged in the passenger conveyor for performing a cleaning operation on the steps Abstract.
Claim 14, Jin the passenger conveyor Fig. 3 includes an escalator and a moving walk, and the automatic step cleaning device Fig. 2 is arranged adjacent to one or more turn-around areas of the step chain 11 Abstract.
Claim 15, Jin teaches the automatic step cleaning device Fig., 2 is arranged in a machine space of an upper landing and/or a lower landing of the escalator Fig. 3.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN 209721332 in view of Guo CN 218023862.
Claim 7, Jin does not teach as Guo teaches a second cleaning member 3, the second cleaning member 3 is detachably connected to the accommodating member 42 through one or more brackets of 42 (as known to be used in conveyor assemblies), and the second cleaning member 3 to be used as Jin teaches with the steps 5 are respectively located on two sides of the rotating shaft 31. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Jin with the second cleaning member taught in Guo with a reasonable expectation of success because
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 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
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/KAVEL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
KS
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