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 .
This is the first action on the merits of application 19/056,998. Claims 1-7 are currently pending.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “22” has been used to designate both linear motion guide and wheel detection sensor. Also, reference character “24” has been used to designate both screw member and marker detection sensor. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 2, 3, and 4. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 23, figure 7. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 209065343 U (Gao).
Regarding claim 1, Gao discloses:
A posture correction apparatus comprising:
a plurality of correction units (2, 3) corresponding to a plurality of wheels of a vehicle (front wheels and back wheels, respectively); and
a control apparatus (12) that controls the correction units,
wherein the correction units includes:
a conveyor (21) that moves a corresponding wheel in a left-right direction of the vehicle, and
a lifter (26) that moves the conveyor in an up-down direction, and
wherein the control apparatus independently controls at least an operation of the lifter of each correction unit (page 4, second paragraph, lines 5-6 of the attached machine translation, “front wheel locating device (2) and back wheel locating device 3 are separately controlled by the controller 12”).
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 209065343 U (Gao) in view of CN 114105032 A (Zhao).
Regarding claim 2, Gao teaches:
The posture correction apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the conveyor includes:
a plurality of rollers (21 is comprised of rollers) that rotate in the left-right direction of the vehicle (figure 4), and
a pushing member (22) that moves on an upper side of the plurality of rollers (figure 4).
Gao teaches a hydraulic cylinder to operate the pushing member rather than a first motor.
However, Zhao teaches:
A posture correction apparatus with a conveyor (404) and a pushing member (321),
and
a first motor (326) that moves the pushing member in a direction in which the rollers rotate.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a motor to move the pushing member as taught by Zhao rather than a hydraulic cylinder in the apparatus of Gao for the known benefits of energy efficiency and greater precision and control with a motor.
Regarding claim 3, Gao further teaches:
wherein the lifter includes a second lifting device (26) for lifting the conveyor, and
wherein the control apparatus individually controls the first motor and the second motor (12, Gao, controls the pushing members and lifters, figure 2 and pages 4-5 of the machine translation).
Gao et al. does not teach that the second lifting device is a motor.
However, Zhao teaches:
wherein the lifter includes a second motor (202) for lifting the conveyor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a motor as taught by Zhao instead of a hydraulic cylinder in the lifter of Gao for the previously mentioned benefits of energy efficiency, precision, and control.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 209065343 U (Gao) in view of CN 114105032 A (Zhao) and further in view of CN 116227015 A (Zhang et al.).
Regarding claim 4, Gao and Zhao teach:
The posture correction apparatus according to claim 3.
Gao and Zhao are silent to a detection apparatus that detects placement of the wheel on the conveyor.
However, Zhang et al. teach:
A posture correction apparatus with a conveyor, and
further comprising a first detection apparatus (weight obtaining device 201) that detects placement of the wheel on the conveyor,
wherein when the first detection apparatus detects that all of the plurality of wheels are placed on the conveyor of the plurality of correction units (“the weight obtaining device 201 is used for obtaining the full vehicle load parameter of the target vehicle” page 15 of the attached machine translation, embodiment 2, second paragraph), the control apparatus controls the first motor of the conveyor to start movement of the pushing member (paragraph 6 under embodiment 2, page 15 describes the operation of the control apparatus in response to the weight obtaining device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a detection apparatus to identify when the wheels of the vehicle are placed on the conveyors of the apparatus of Gao and Zhao, as taught by Zhang et al., to identify when the vehicle is in position on the lift and ready for adjustment by the pushing members.
Regarding claim 5, Zhang et al. further teach:
further comprising a second detection apparatus (page 14, paragraph 8, line 3 “wheel distance adjusting position detecting device…pressure sensor”) that detects a load applied to the first motor (pressure exerted by driving device 800 through pushing members 610, 710 on the wheels),
wherein when the second detection apparatus detects that the load applied to all of the first motors in the plurality of correction units is equal to or greater than a threshold after movement of the pushing member is started, the control apparatus controls the first motor to stop the movement of the pushing member (steps 114-117, page 14 of the machine translation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide pressure sensors as taught by Zhang et al. to the apparatus of Gao and Zhao to stop the motor when the ideal pressure is exceeded in order to prevent damage to either the wheels or the motor. Page 13, lines 25-27 of Zhang et al., “In order to avoid the first pushing member 610 and the second pushing member 710 pushing excessive to cause the wheel, damage 112, after obtaining the first rotating value of the rotating member further comprises the following steps:”. The control system of Zhang et al. teaches using a measurement of the angular rotation of the rotating member that controls the pushing members and/or pressure sensors to evaluate the forces being exerted by the driving device onto the wheels of the vehicle to stop movement when a threshold is reached to prevent damage.
Regarding claim 6, Gao further teaches:
wherein the control apparatus (12) starts control of the lifter after stopping the movement of the pushing members of all of the conveyors of the plurality of correction units (page 4 of the machine translation of Gao, steps 2-3 describe how the controller controls the wheel positioning devices in step 2 before operating the lifting cylinders in step 3).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 209065343 U (Gao) in view of CN 114105032 A (Zhao) in view of CN 116227015 A (Zhang et al.) and further in view of CN 112456383 A (Wu et al.).
Regarding claim 7, Gao, Zhao, and Zhang et al. teach:
The posture correction apparatus according to claim 6.
Gao discusses maintaining a horizontal position of the vehicle; however, Gao, Zhao, and Zhang et al. are silent to a particular detection apparatus for detecting the inclination of the vehicle.
However, Wu et al. teach:
A lifting device comprising a conveyor, and
further comprising a third detection apparatus (inclination angle sensor, not shown, claim 4) that detects an inclination of the vehicle,
And the combination of Gao, Zhao, Zhang et al., and Wu et al. teaches:
wherein the control apparatus (12, Gao) controls each of the lifters of the plurality of correction units in accordance with the inclination (as detected by the inclination angle sensor, Wu et al.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use an inclination angle sensor as taught by Wu et al. in the apparatus of Gao, Zhao, and Zhang et al. to precisely determine the tilt angle of the vehicle and prevent unintentional slipping or movement of the vehicle during lifting and maintenance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-20210395057-A1, US-11332352-B2, US-12421088-B2, JP-H05861-U, JP-H0768799-B2, CN-111017801-A, CN-111469705-A, WO-2022048635-A1, and CN-219134114-U are cited to show the current state of the art of vehicle lifting devices comprising roller conveyors to adjust vehicle positioning.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE M MUDWILDER whose telephone number is (571)272-6068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11:00 am - 7:30 pm.
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, VICTORIA AUGUSTINE can be reached at (313)446-4858. 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.
/M.M.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/Minh Truong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654