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 Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, the phrase “a production line, comprising” should be changed to “a production line, including”.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase “and an industrial computer (IPC), configured to control the production line, and comprising” should be changed to “and an industrial computer (IPC), configured to control the production line, the IPC including”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1 and 9-10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Jian (TWM593294U attached NPL, English Machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Jian discloses an asymmetric steel formation device, comprising:
a production line, comprising:
a base (fig.1: (11)), extending along a first direction (fig.1: (x));
a first sidewall (figs.1 and 3: (22)) and a second sidewall (figs.1 and 3: (32)), mounted on the base; wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall are able to move toward each other or move away from each other on the base (fig.6);
a first sidewall driver unit (fig.3: (211)), connected to the first sidewall;
a second sidewall driver unit (fig.3: (311)), connected to the second sidewall;
a plurality of steel formation units (figs.1 and 3: (24) and (34)), respectively mounted on the base along the first direction and respectively connected to the first sidewall and the second sidewall;
wherein a formation space between the first sidewall and the second sidewall (fig.1: the space between elements (24) and (34)) is created by the steel formation units along the first direction (fig.1: (x)), and the formation space is configured to allow a steel sheet to press through along the first direction for steel formation; and
an industrial computer (IPC), configured to control the production line, and comprising: a memory, storing a control parameter table (paragraphs 0076: implicitly computer)); wherein the control parameter table comprises a plurality of first sidewall parameters and a plurality of second sidewall parameters (paragraphs 0076, 0079 and 0081); and
a processor (fig.4: (5)), electrically connected to the memory, and communicatively connected to the first sidewall driver unit (fig.4: (211)) and the second sidewall driver unit (fig.4: (311)); wherein the processor drives the first sidewall driver (fig.4: (211)) unit to move according to the first sidewall parameters and drives the second sidewall driver unit to move according to the second sidewall parameters, thus adjusting the formation space configured for the steel sheet to press through (paragraph 0078).
Regarding claim 9, Jian discloses wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall each comprise at least one slide base; wherein each of the at least one slide base is movably mounted on a rail of the base for moving along the rail of the base, thus allowing the first sidewall and the second sidewall to be movably mounted on the base (paragraph 0074; fig.3: (213) and (313)).
Regarding claim 10, Jian discloses wherein the first sidewall driver unit and the second sidewall driver unit each comprise a screw mount, a screw, a retainer, and a transmission device; wherein the screw is rotatably mounted on the screw mount; the retainer is screwed to the screw, and the retainer is able to move along the screw; the transmission device is connected to the screw, and the transmission device drives the screw to rotate; wherein the retainer of the first sidewall driver unit is mounted on the first sidewall as a first retainer, and the retainer of the second sidewall driver unit is mounted on the second sidewall as a second retainer (paragraphs 0074-0075; fig.3: (212) and (312)).
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.
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jian (TWM593294U attached NPL, English Machine translation).
Regarding claims 2-8, Jian does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claims 2-8;
However, having the limitations of claims 2-8 are obvious features when using a computer controller for controlling an industrial device; thus the limitations of claims 2-8 would have resulted from routine engineering practices and it therefore not patentable and would be obvious because there is no unexpected result;
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have the limitations of claims 2-8 in order to control the industrial device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED S ALAWADI whose telephone number is (571)272-2224. The examiner can normally be reached 08:00 am- 05:00 pm.
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/MOHAMMED S. ALAWADI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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