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 action is in response to the documents received on March 21, 2025.
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 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WALZ et al. (US 6,041,577).
In reference to claims 1 and 4, WALZ et al. discloses discloses a filling system comprising: a chute 24 configured to receive and transfer an article 12 to a cutting subassembly (figure 4); the cutting subassembly 14, 16 including a cutting blade 38, 42 and a body 36 configured to receive the article 12, the cutting subassembly body 36 rotable (column 4 lines 1-5) between a first position in alignment with the chute 24 to receive the article 12 and a second position in alignment with the cutting blade 38 and a plunger 40 to cut the article 12; the plunger 40 moveable between a retracted positioned outside of the cutting subassembly (figure 4) and an extended position within the body 36 of the cutting subassembly to push the article 12 into engagement with the cutting blade 38, 42 (column 4 lines 5-9); and a container holder 50, 52 that receives and positions a container 20 to receive the cut article 12 from the cutting subassembly (column 4 lines 40-47).
Regarding claims 2, figure 4 of WALZ et al. further discloses the cutting subassembly at a first angle (e.g. 180°) relative to a horizontal plane in the first position and at a second angle (e.g. approximately 150°) relative to the horizontal plane (see Diagram I of figure 4 below) at a second position.
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Diagram I
With respect to claim 3, figure 1 of WALZ et al. discloses the cutting subassembly 14, 16 rotable about a horizontal axis.
In reference to claims 5 and 6, figure 4 of WALZ et al. further discloses the plunger 40 oriented at an angle (e.g. approximately 30°) relative to a horizontal plane in alignment with the cutting subassembly in the second position; and wherein the container holder 50, 52 holds the container in a vertical position (column 4 lines 31-34) and rotates the container 20 into an angle (45°; column 4 lines 28-40; see Diagram II of figure 4 below) greater than the angle of the plunger 40.
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Diagram II
Regarding claims 7-9, WALZ et al. further discloses first and second holder receptacles 48 (see Diagram III below of figure 3) configured to laterally move a container 20 to a first position adjacent the cutting subassembly 14 and a second position adjacent the cutting assembly 16 (column 4 lines 31-49); wherein a filled container is ejected from a holder receptacle while a container at the second position is within the holder receptacle (column 4 lines 59-67).
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Diagram III
With respect to claims 10 and 11, WALZ et al. further discloses a container lift/lift and ejection mechanism rotable in a first lifted/vertical direction to lift a container 20 into an angled position and rotable in a second lowered direction to push the container 20 out from the container holder (column 4 lines 28-67).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is 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.
Claims 13-25 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Upon examination, the art considered as a whole, alone or in combination, neither anticipated nor renders obvious the claimed filling system comprising a vertically movable transfer subassembly including a horizontally movable transfer sled; a container holder configured to receive a container from the transfer subassembly and position the container to receive product from a cutting assembly configured as claimed; wherein the container transfer sled picks up the container from a first location and transfers the container from a first location and horizontally transfer the container from the first location to container holder for the purpose of improving the efficiency of a container filling system.
Closely related prior art, such as PAGANI (US 8,656,687), discloses a container transfer and lift assembly that vertically and horizontally moves a container but does not disclose a container sled configured to pick-up and horizontally transfer the container to a container holder as claimed. Thus, it is Examiner’s opinion that it would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to combine or modify the prior art in order to arrive at Applicant's invention as claimed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to the attached PTO-892 for a notice of references cited and recommended for consideration based on their disclosure of limitations related to the claimed invention.
In particular, BORKIEWICZ et al. (US 6,079,191). discloses a cutting and filling system comprising: a cutting subassembly including a cutting blade 56 and a body 62, 64 configured to receive an article C, the cutting assembly rotable between a first position to receive the article and a second position to cut the received article (column 6 lines 24-46); a plunger 52 movable between a retracted position outside of the cutting subassembly body and an extended position within the cutting subassembly body to push the article into contact with the cutting blade and out of the cutting subassembly body.
Similarly, BERGER et al. (US 11,383,867) discloses a filling system comprising: a chute 182 configured to receive and transfer an article to a cutting subassembly 104; the cutting subassembly 104 including (column 8 lines 58-60) a cutting blade 192 and a body configured to receive an article 108, the cutting subassembly body 104 rotable (column 7 lines 45-57 and column 8 lines 41-66) between a first position in alignment with the chute 182 to receive the article 108 and a second position in alignment with a plunger to cut the article 108; the plunger 196 moveable between a retracted positioned outside of the cutting subassembly and an extended position within the body 104 of the cutting subassembly to push the article 108 into engagement with the cutting blade 192 (figures 1 & 3; column 8 line 66- column 9 line 23); and a container holder 112 that receives and positions a container 114 to receive the cut article 1116 from the cutting subassembly (column 7 lines 12-18).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GLORIA R WEEKS whose telephone number is (571)272-4473. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-2pm & 5pm-7pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelley Self can be reached at 571-272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GLORIA R WEEKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
September 29, 2026
