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
In light of the added new claims on 05/06/2026 with some linking claims (claims 17 & 18), the previously filed restriction requirements are withdrawn. All filed claims have been examined as set forth below.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lancaster et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0353220).
Regarding claims 1 & 9: Lancaster discloses a method of controlling a load wrapping apparatus of the type configured to wrap a load on a load support with packaging material dispensed from a packaging material dispenser through relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load support, the method comprising:
prior to initiating a wrap cycle, determining a number of layers of packaging material to be applied to the load during the wrap cycle (abstract; “determine numbers of layers of packaging material”);
initiating the wrap cycle to begin to wrap the load with packaging material dispensed from the packaging material dispenser during relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load support (Figs. 2-3; via “the control performing a wrap cycle to wrap a baseline or test load… using the sensing assembly”);
after initiating the wrap cycle, dynamically modifying the determined number of layers of packaging material to be applied to the load during the wrap cycle; and completing the wrap cycle by wrapping the load with the modified number of layers of packaging material, (paragraph 0057; “The control system 36 may determine the containment force…relative rotation value and adjusting it” also claim 12; “initiating a wrap cycle to apply packaging material”).
Regarding claims 2 & 10: further comprising determining a desired load containment force requirement to be used when wrapping the load with packaging material, wherein determining the number of layers includes determining the number of layers to meet the desired load containment force requirement when wrapping the load with packaging material, and wherein dynamically modifying the determined number of layers substantially maintains the desired load containment force requirement, see for example (paragraph 0014; “determining a value indicative of a containment force exerted on the load…the load meets a predetermined minimum required containment force standard for the load”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 11-18 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.
The prior art of record fails to disclose the combination of the claimed method and apparatus of controlling a load wrapping apparatus as suggested and disclosed by claims 3 and 11. In particular, the prior art of record fails to disclose among other features controlling of the dispenses rate of the packaging material dispenser during the wrap cycle to be based on the comparison between the monitored wrap force and the containment force parameter, see for example (the filed application; paragraph 0017 & 00216).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMEH TAWFIK whose telephone number is (571)272-4470. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
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/SAMEH TAWFIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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