DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 22, 2026. It is noted that Claims 9-19 have been canceled within the reply.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS’s) submitted on May 21, 2025 & August 06, 20205 were in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 109826508. CN`508 teaches of a hinge system (fig. 4) for supporting a plurality of doors (30), comprising: a bracket (21) that is configured to be fixed to a housing {100}, the bracket aligned to receive complimentary features {31} from one or more doors {30} that hang from the bracket; the bracket comprises a panel (can be viewed as either (50) or (22) for instance) that is configured to be rigidly mounted to the housing, a plurality of offset supports (shown as the horizontal support portions as depicted in fig. 3 located above each door) that extend from the panel in a cantilevered manner (shown); and a plurality of support walls (can be viewed as the vertical walls (214) for example) that extend from respective offset supports and extend substantially perpendicular to a plane through the respective offset supports (fig. 3), the bracket extends from a first end portion (viewed as the right end portion - fig. 6) to an opposite second end portion (viewed as the left end portion - fig. 4), a first offset support (rightmost offset support) of the plurality of offset supports that is aligned at the first end portion further comprises a first tab (viewed as the upper horizontal tab portion – fig. 6) that extends from the support wall that extends from the first offset support, wherein the first tab extends substantially in parallel to and above the respective first offset support to establish a space therebetween (note fig. 6), and a second offset support (can be viewed as a spaced apart offset support from the rightmost offset support) of the plurality of offset supports that is aligned at the second end portion (other end portion) further comprises a tab (viewed as the upper horizontal tab portion – fig. 6) that extends from the support wall that extends from the second offset support, wherein the tab extends substantially in parallel to and above the respective second offset support to establish a second space therebetween (fig. 6). As to Claim 2, a third offset support (any one of the offset supports between the first and second offset supports) of the plurality of offset supports that is adjacent to and inboard of the first offset support comprises a tab (upper horizontal tab portion – fig. 6) that extends from the support wall that extends from the third offset support, wherein the tab extends substantially in parallel to and above the respective third offset support to establish a third space therebetween (fig. 6), and a fourth offset support (any one of the offset supports between the first and second offset supports which is not the third offset support – note fig. 4 showing multiple offset supports) of the plurality of offset supports that is adjacent to and inboard of the second offset support comprises a tab (upper horizontal tab portion – fig. 6) that extends from the support wall that extends from the fourth offset support, wherein the tab extends substantially in parallel to and above the respective the fourth offset support to establish a fourth space therebetween (fig. 6). As to Claim 3, the plurality of offset supports and their corresponding pluralities of support walls are each aligned to establish a space (such as along (31) for instance) between edges of adjacent offset supports and corresponding support walls. As to Claim 4, the system further comprising a plurality of doors (30) that are configured to be supported by the bracket, wherein each of the plurality of doors has two spaced supports (31) which are the complementary features, wherein when the respective door of the plurality of doors is aligned with the bracket, the two spaced supports each rest upon two adjacent offset supports of the plurality of offset supports (shown – figs. 3-4). As to Claim 5, a first door (right side door – fig. 2) of the plurality of doors that is supported by the bracket and positioned proximate to the first end of the bracket, the first door is supported by the bracket such that one of the two spaced supports is disposed under the first tab (as shown in fig. 3 where the tab is located above the top of the door as mapped), and a second door (left side door – fig. 2) of the plurality of doors that is supported by the bracket and positioned proximate to the second end of the bracket, the second door is supported by the bracket such that one of the two spaced supports is disposed under the second tab (as shown in fig. 3 where the tab is located above the top of the door as mapped).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure – see the attached Form PTO-892 showing various hinge systems for doors along a housing.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES O HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6866. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 am - 4:30 pm.
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JOH
June 25, 2026
/James O Hansen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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