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 Group l, corresponding to claims 1-5, in the reply filed on 12/31/25 is acknowledged.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over C.E. Sorensen et al. (US 2,383,225) in view of Anderson et al. (US 11,807,397).
Regarding to claim 1, C.E. Sorensen et al. discloses a manufacturing method comprising: a component (wing sections 16, as can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.) to be attached to a body (fuselage section 24, as can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.) of a flight vehicle (completed plane 32, as can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.) on a carrier (conveyor 12, 14, 21, 23 and step of transporting and delivering stock to conveyors 12, 14, 21, 23, as described on page 4 column 2 lines 11-18 and can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.) to a place where an installation height of the body (24) and an installation height of the component (16) loaded on the carrier (conveyor 12, 14, 21, 23 and step of transporting and delivering stock to conveyors 12, 14, 21, 23) match each other in an assembling line of the factory [as described on page 4 column 2 lines 11- page 5 column 1 line 50 and can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.]; and attaching the component (16) directly to the body (24) from the carrier (conveyor 11, 12, 14, 21, 23 and step of transporting and delivering stock to conveyors 11, 12, 14, 21, 23) at the place.
However, C.E. Sorensen et al. does not explicitly disclose a step of moving a vehicle transported from an outside of a factory while loading a component. Anderson et al., however, discloses a step of moving a vehicle (shipping containers 200, shipping fixtures 230, conveying mechanism 500, as can be seen from Figures 1-9 in Anderson et al.) from outside a factory while loading a component (aircraft component 300, as can be seen from Figures 1-9 in Anderson et al.). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by C.E. Sorensen et al. to include a preliminary step of moving a vehicle transported from an outside of a factory, as taught by Anderson et al., as a known technique used to transport parts, which would yield predictable results.
6. Regarding to claim 2, C.E. Sorensen et al. modified by Anderson et al. discloses the manufacturing method according to claim 1, further comprising transporting the body (24) to the place by a conveyor (a second conveyor of 11, 12, 14) of the assembling line [Figure 1], wherein the conveyor at the place is at a height at which the installation height of the body (24) matches the installation height of the component loaded on the carrier [as described on page 4 column 2 lines 11-page 5 column 1 line 50 and can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.] .
7. Regarding to claim 3, C.E. Sorensen et al. modified by Anderson et al. discloses the manufacturing method according to claim 1, further comprising causing the body (24) to perform self-driving to the place (self-driving via automatic conveyor), wherein a floor (floor surface of assembly line, as can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.) of the assembling line at the place is at a height at which the installation height of the body (24) matches the installation height of the component (16) loaded on the carrier 11, 12, 14, 21, 23 [Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.]
8. Regarding to claim 4, C.E. Sorensen et al. modified by Anderson et al. manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein: the place is provided with a pit for the vehicle to stop [Figure 1 in C. E. Sorensen]; and a depth of the pit is a depth at which the installation height of the body matches the installation height of the component loaded on the carrier (11, 12, 14, 21, 23) [as can be seen from Figure 1 in C.E. Sorensen et al.].
9. Regarding to claim 5, C.E. Sorensen et al. modified by Anderson et al. manufacturing method according to claim 1, having a vehicle. However, the combination of C.E. Sorensen et al. and Anderson et al. does not explicitly disclose a step of stopping the vehicle while the vehicle is passing through the assembling line in a direction orthogonal to the assembling line. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to stop a vehicle in an orthogonal direction, as a known technique used to deliver parts, which would yield predictable results.
Conclusion
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/NIRVANA DEONAUTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726