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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senn U.S. Patent No. 9,233,800 in view of Kojima JP 20011341703.
Claims 1 and 8, Senn teaches a linear motor conveyance system 1 Fig. 6 comprising: a first transfer set 34 and a second transfer set 34 each of the first transfer set 34 and the second transfer set 34 including at least one carrier 30 and a linear motor unit C5 L35-45 that transports the at least one carrier 30 of each of the first transfer set 34 and the second transfer set 34 along a transport track 31 Fig. 2, wherein the transport track 31 includes only a curved track or curved tracks throughout and wherein the at least one carrier 30 of each of the first transfer set 34 and the second transfer set 34 is transported by a magnetic force via 32 from the linear motor unit C8 L25-40, but does not teach as Kojima teaches : a first transfer set 8 and a second transfer set 8 forming a pair configured to respectively hold both side portions of a bag 7 used for container processing Abstract, each of the first transfer set 8 and the second transfer set 8 including at least one carrier that supports the bag 7 Fig. 17. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Senn with the carrier configuration taught in Kojima with a reasonable expectation of success because
Claim 3, Senn teaches the transport track 31 includes both positive curvature and negative curvature Fig. 2.
Claim 4, Senn teaches the transport track 31 is an endless track Fig. 6.
Claim 5, Senn teaches the transport track 31 has one or more ends Fig. 6.
Claim 6, Senn teaches the transport track 31 includes a plurality of endless track sections Fig. 5, each of the plurality of endless track sections Fig. 2 being configured as an endless track of 31, and wherein the linear motor unit transports the at least one carrier 30 in such a manner that the at least one carrier 30 moves from one endless track section to another endless track section while the at least one carrier 30 moves along a curved track C8 L25-45.
Claim 7, Senn teaches a plurality of processing devices 10,20 that perform the container processing and include a first processing device 10 and a second processing device 20 C8 L40-65, wherein the transport track 31 includes: a first curved track section having one of positive curvature and negative curvature Fig. 2; and a second curved track section having the other of positive curvature and negative curvature Fig. 5, wherein the first processing device 10 is positioned, along the first curved track section, inside the transport track and performs the container processing via 10,20 on a bag 2 supported by a carrier 30 being transported in the first curved track section of 31 Fig. 2, and wherein the second processing device 20 is positioned, along the second curved track section of 31 Fig. 2, outside of the transport track 31 and performs the container processing via 10,20 on the object 2 supported by a carrier 30 being transported in the second curved track section of 31 Fig. 2.
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senn U.S. Patent No. 9,233,800 in view of Kojima JP 20011341703 in view of Mueller U.S. Patent No. 6,209,710.
Claim 2, Senn teaches the transport track 31, but does not teach as Mueller teaches includes only one of positive curvature and negative curvature Fig. 1. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Senn with the curvature configuration taught in Mueller with a reasonable expectation of success because
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEL SINGH whose telephone number is (571)272-2362. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached at (571) 272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAVEL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
KS
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