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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 6/11/2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 4-15 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim 3. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims have not been further treated on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the transport plate" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blythin (US-20170206725-A1) in view of Enomoto (US-20070287373-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Blythin teaches
A coin hopper for dispensing coins, the coin hopper comprising:
a container (17) for holding a plurality of coins;
an exit channel (22) for outputting a target number of coins from the plurality of coins; and
a dispensing unit (3), the dispensing unit including a rotatable transport plate (5) located between the container and the exit channel, wherein the transport plate comprises a plurality of coin pockets (7a, 7b), each coin pocket for receiving a dispense coin from the container, such that rotation of the transport plate causes the dispense coin to be transported from the container to the exit channel;
the plurality of coin pockets includes a first coin pocket (7a) configured to receive a dispense coin of a first size and a second coin pocket (7b) configured to receive a dispense coin of a second size, and
Regarding claim 1, Blythin does not expressly teach, however Enomoto teaches
the dispensing unit further comprises a cover (124) adjustably connected (126) to the transport plate for selectively covering a portion of the transport plate,
wherein the cover is movable between: a first configuration (left-most 124, Figure 9.) in which the first coin pocket is exposed to the container and the second coin pocket is blocked from the container by the cover, and a second configuration (right-most 124, Figure 9) in which the first coin pocket is blocked from the container by the cover and the second coin pocket is exposed to the container, thereby permitting selective configuration of the coin hopper for dispensing the target number of coins of the first size in the first configuration or the target number of coins of the second size in the second configuration.
Regarding claim 1, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the cover taught by Enomoto with the coin hopper taught by Blythin. One of ordinary skill in the art would identify that selectively blocking the differently sized coin pockets would allow an operator to only dispense coins of a specific denomination, allowing for more discretion in the sorting process.
Regarding claim 2, Blythin teaches
The coin hopper according to claim 1 wherein
the plurality of coin pockets comprises: a plurality of first coin pockets (7a) each configured to receive a dispense coin the first size, and a plurality of second coin pockets (7b) each configured to receive a dispense coin the second size, such that:
Regarding claim 2, Blythin does not expressly teach, however Enomoto teaches
in the first configuration, the first coin pockets are exposed to the container by the cover (124) and the remaining coin pockets are blocked from the container by the cover, and
in the second configuration, the second coin pockets are exposed to the container by the cover (124) and the remaining coin pockets are blocked from the container by the cover.
Regarding claim 2, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the cover taught by Enomoto with the coin hopper taught by Blythin. One of ordinary skill in the art would identify that covering the plurality of desired coin pockets of the transport plate would prevent dispensing of coins of a desired denomination. This would allow for more discretion in the dispensing and sorting process.
Regarding claim 3, Blythin teaches
The coin hopper according to claims 1 or 2 wherein:
the plurality of coin pockets comprises a third coin pocket (Paragraph 79, lines 2) configured to receive a dispense coin of a third size,
Regarding claim 3, Blythin does not expressly teach, however Enomoto teaches
when the cover (124) is in the first or second configurations, the third coin pocket is blocked from the container by the cover, and
the cover is movable to a third configuration (Cover is fastened to transport plate in third configuration according to orange arrows, annotated figure 1 below) in which the third coin pocket is exposed to the container, and the first and second coin pockets are blocked from the container by the cover.
PNG
media_image1.png
538
621
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 3, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the cover taught by Enomoto with the coin hopper taught by Blythin. One of ordinary skill in the art would identify that the cover could be used to prevent dispensing of a third sized coin by covering the corresponding pocket(s). By moving the location of the cover on the transport plate, one of ordinary skill in the art could selectively cover either the first and second pockets or the third pocket based on the desired configuration.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN R UEBERSCHAER whose telephone number is (571)270-5553. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm.
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, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. 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.
/J.R.U./ Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653
Prosecution Insights