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 § 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 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reeves et al. (US 20090178887), hereinafter Reeves, in view of Ma (CN 215107536).
Regarding claim 1, Reeves teaches of a fall protection device (abstract, safety device should the worker fall), comprising:
a housing (fig. 1, housing 16), wherein a receiving room (interior of housing 16) is provided in the housing (16) (seen in fig. 1); a side of the housing has an outlet (fig. 3, ¶0038, lower end of housing 16 where the cable 12 exits); the outlet communicates with the receiving room (seen in fig. 3);
a fall protection device body comprising a main shaft (axle 38), a rotating hub (spool 14), a spiral spring (power spring assembly 48), a rope (fig. 1, cable 12), and a braking assembly (fig. 2, ¶0039, braking assembly), wherein the main shaft (38) is fixed in the receiving room (fig. 1, ¶0035, main shaft 38 is fixed in receiving room of the housing 16 by pin 44); the rotating hub (14) rotatably fits around the main shaft (fig. 1, ¶0033, rotatable spool fits around the main shaft 38); a side of the rotating hub has an installation portion (sides of rotating hub 14 allows for installation of components); the spiral spring (48) has two ends (end by axle hook 52 and opposite end), wherein the two ends of the spiral spring are respectively combined with the main shaft (38) and the rotating hub (14) (seen in fig. 1); one of two ends of the rope (12) is combined with the rotating hub (14) (seen in fig. 1) and is wound around the rotating hub to have a plurality of turns (seen in fig. 1); the other end of the rope passes through the outlet (seen in fig. 3); the braking assembly is combined with the installation portion (¶0041, braking assembly attaches to the side of the spool drum 80);
a deceleration device (sprocket 108) fixed in the receiving room (¶0040, secured in the receiving room by pressure plate 112, and pressure plate screws 114) and configured to engage with the braking assembly (seen in fig. 7).
Reeves does not appear to teach of a brush for cleaning a rope;
a brush unit comprising a brush base and a plurality of bristles, wherein the brush base is annular and is fixed in the outlet; the plurality of bristles are arranged in a radial manner; a plurality of outer ends of the plurality of bristles is fixed on the bristle base; the rope passes through an inner side of the brush base; a plurality of inner ends of the plurality of bristles is in contact with a part of the rope passing through the outlet.
Ma teaches of a brush for cleaning a rope (figs. 1-2, cleaning ring 4 with cleaning brush 40 for cleaning a rope 3);
a brush unit (cleaning ring 4) comprising a brush base (ring) and a plurality of bristles (bristles of the cleaning brush 40), wherein the brush base is annular (seen in fig. 2) and is fixed in the outlet (fig. 1, fixed in the outlet for rope 3); the plurality of bristles are arranged in a radial manner (seen in fig. 2); a plurality of outer ends of the plurality of bristles is fixed on the bristle base (seen in fig. 2); the rope passes through an inner side of the brush base (fig. 1, rope 3 passes through an inner side of the brush base of cleaning ring 4); a plurality of inner ends of the plurality of bristles is in contact with a part of the rope passing through the outlet (figs. 1-2, the rope 3 passes through the inner side of the cleaning ring 4 such that a plurality of inner ends of the plurality of bristles of the cleaning brush 40 is in contact with a part of the rope 3 passing through the outlet).
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 Reeves to incorporate the teachings of Ma of brush for cleaning a rope; a brush unit comprising a brush base and a plurality of bristles, wherein the brush base is annular and is fixed in the outlet; the plurality of bristles are arranged in a radial manner; a plurality of outer ends of the plurality of bristles is fixed on the bristle base; the rope passes through an inner side of the brush base; a plurality of inner ends of the plurality of bristles is in contact with a part of the rope passing through the outlet in order to sweep away foreign matters adhered on the outer surface of the rope as motivated by Ma in the abstract.
Regarding claim 6, Reeves as modified teaches of claim 1, and (fig. 1) wherein the housing (16) comprises two half housings (complimentary halves 18, 20); the two half housings are detachably connected to each other (¶0033, halves 18, 20 are removably joined together); each of the two half housings has a side wall and a peripheral wall connected to the side wall (seen in fig. 1); a recess is formed on an edge of each of the two peripheral walls (edges of the halves 18, 20 have a recess for attaching the halves together); the two recesses of the two half housings are combined to form the outlet (combined to form the outlet for rope 12).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 7-10 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.
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