DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16th, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Sheet
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/27/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 3, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, the claim recites the limitations “the first manipulation” and “the second manipulation.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for these terms in the claim itself or in independent claim 1, from which claim 3 directly depends. It appears that the applicant amended claim 3 to depend from claim 1 instead of claim 2, thereby losing the antecedent basis for these manipulation steps.
Regarding claim 9, the claim recites the limitation of “opposing flaps of a packaging”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the term “packaging” in claim 9 or in claim 8, from which claim 9 depends. Claim 8 solely introduces a “product.” It is unclear whether the “packaging” is intended to by synonymous with the “product” recited in base claim 8, or if it introduces a separate, previously unrecited element.
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites the phrase, “for example sequentially folding corresponding flaps of a packaging…” The use of the exemplary language “for example” renders the claim indefinite because it obscures the scope of the claim. It is unclear whether the step of sequentially folding the corresponding flaps is a mandatory limitation that must be performed by the device, or merely an optional features or intended use.
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 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 1-8, 10, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Masaaki (JPS49021475Y).
Regarding claim 1, Masaaki discloses a manipulation device for folding products (Shown in figures 1 and 2) comprising:
an input (Figure 1, left side of conveyor); and
an output (Figure 1, right side of conveyor);
the manipulation device defining a product pathway between the input and the output (Shown in figure 1);
the manipulation device further comprising:
a transportation device (Figure 1, 1) configured to move a product (Figure 1, A) along the product pathway (Product pathway shown on top of conveyor);
a first gas manipulator (Figure 1, 3) associated with the product pathway, configured to output pressurized gas in a first orientation with respect to the product pathway for manipulating a product on the transportation device (Described in specification - "The triangular pieces B hanging down at the front and rear edges of the upper edge are blown upward Q by the air from the lower nozzles 3.5, or are turned inward h by the air from the upper nozzles 2, 4 to overlap each other on the A1 of the bag, so that when the bag is processed toward the shrink chamber, the triangular pieces on the front and rear sides of the upper edge of the bag hang down as in the prior art and become unsightly like a partial fishing wheel, or the triangular pieces are folded upward to prevent overlapping on the peripheral wall surface, thereby increasing the commercial value.");
a second gas manipulator (Figure 1, nozzles 2, 4, or 5) associated with the product pathway, configured to output pressurized gas in a second orientation with respect to the product pathway for manipulating the product on the transportation device, the second orientation being different to the first orientation (Described in specification - "The triangular pieces B hanging down at the front and rear edges of the upper edge are blown upward Q by the air from the lower nozzles 3.5, or are turned inward h by the air from the upper nozzles 2, 4 to overlap each other on the A1 of the bag, so that when the bag is processed toward the shrink chamber, the triangular pieces on the front and rear sides of the upper edge of the bag hang down as in the prior art and become unsightly like a partial fishing wheel, or the triangular pieces are folded upward to prevent overlapping on the peripheral wall surface, thereby increasing the commercial value.").
Regarding claim 2, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first gas manipulator is configured to perform a first manipulation of a product on the transportation device; and the second gas manipulator is configured to perform a second manipulation of the product on the transportation device (Figures 1 and 2 shows that nozzle 3 lifts the left flap from a horizontal position to an approximate vertical position (first manipulation), while nozzle 5 lifts the right flap from an approximate horizontal position to an approximate vertical position (second manipulation)).
Regarding claim 3, Masaaki further discloses wherein the product is a packaging product comprising a first and second flap; wherein the first manipulation is folding the first flap and the second manipulation is folding the second flap (Figure 1 shows that nozzles 3 and 5 act on different flaps).
Regarding claim 4, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first and second gas manipulators are configured to manipulate a product on the transportation device while in transit (Described in specification - "The triangular pieces B hanging down at the front and rear edges of the upper edge are blown upward Q by the air from the lower nozzles 3.5, or are turned inward h by the air from the upper nozzles 2, 4 to overlap each other on the A1 of the bag, so that when the bag is processed toward the shrink chamber, the triangular pieces on the front and rear sides of the upper edge of the bag hang down as in the prior art and become unsightly like a partial fishing wheel, or the triangular pieces are folded upward to prevent overlapping on the peripheral wall surface, thereby increasing the commercial value.").
Regarding claim 5, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first gas manipulator comprises a nozzle of the first gas manipulator configured to output pressurized gas and the second gas manipulator comprises a nozzle of the second gas manipulator configured to output pressurized gas (Figure 1 shows that nozzles 3 and 5 belong to the first and second manipulators respectively).
Regarding claim 6, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first orientation is arranged in a plane parallel to the product pathway for folding a first flap of a product and the second orientation is arranged in a plane perpendicular to the product pathway for folding a second flap of the product in a direction perpendicular to that of the first flap (Orientation of flaps during folding is shown in figures 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 7, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first gas manipulator and the second gas manipulator are configured to output gas having different characteristics, the characteristics comprising at least one of: output pressure; output flowrate; output area; position, number of nozzles or outlets, duration of output and output cross-sectional shape (Figure 1 shows that the position of the nozzles is different).
Regarding claim 8, Masaaki further discloses wherein the manipulation device comprises a third gas manipulator and a fourth gas manipulator, wherein the third and fourth gas manipulators are configured to output pressurised gas for manipulating the product on the transportation device (Figure 1 shows that nozzles 2 and 4 can be considered as a third and fourth manipulator).
Regarding claim 10, Masaaki further discloses wherein the device is configured to sequentially operate gas manipulators for sequentially undertaking manipulation events on the product on the transportation device, for example sequentially folding corresponding flaps of a packaging on the transportation device, as the product moves from the input to the output (Figure 1 shows that nozzles 3 and 2 (or 5 and 4) need to be successively operated to fold the flap on top of the article A).
Regarding claim 13, Masaaki further discloses wherein the first and/or second gas manipulators comprise a plurality of nozzles (Shown in figure 1).
Regarding claim 14, Masaaki further discloses wherein the plurality of nozzles within a single gas manipulator have different locations with respect to the product pathway (Shown in figure 1, the nozzles 3 and 5 are considered first manipulators and nozzles 2 and 4 the second manipulators whereby each of them has several nozzles in different locations); and/or have different orientations with respect to the product pathway; and/or, are configured to output gas having different characteristics defined by at least one of: the nozzle type, the output pressure; the output flowrate; the output area; and the output cross- sectional shape.
Regarding claim 15, Masaaki further discloses a method for manipulating a product (Shown in figures 1 and 2) comprising:
moving a product from an input (Figure 1, left side of conveyor) to an output (Figure 1, right side of conveyor) of a manipulation device along a product pathway (Shown in figure 1);
operating a first (Figure 1, 3) and second (Figure 1, nozzles 2, 4, or 5) gas manipulator to output pressurized gas to manipulate the product moving along the product pathway; wherein the first gas manipulator is associated with the product pathway, arranged in a first orientation with respect to the product pathway (Described in specification - "The triangular pieces B hanging down at the front and rear edges of the upper edge are blown upward Q by the air from the lower nozzles 3.5, or are turned inward h by the air from the upper nozzles 2, 4 to overlap each other on the A1 of the bag, so that when the bag is processed toward the shrink chamber, the triangular pieces on the front and rear sides of the upper edge of the bag hang down as in the prior art and become unsightly like a partial fishing wheel, or the triangular pieces are folded upward to prevent overlapping on the peripheral wall surface, thereby increasing the commercial value."); and
the second gas manipulator is associated with the product pathway (Shown in figures 1 and 2), arranged in a second orientation with respect to the product pathway, the second orientation being different to the first orientation (Described in specification - "The triangular pieces B hanging down at the front and rear edges of the upper edge are blown upward Q by the air from the lower nozzles 3.5, or are turned inward h by the air from the upper nozzles 2, 4 to overlap each other on the A1 of the bag, so that when the bag is processed toward the shrink chamber, the triangular pieces on the front and rear sides of the upper edge of the bag hang down as in the prior art and become unsightly like a partial fishing wheel, or the triangular pieces are folded upward to prevent overlapping on the peripheral wall surface, thereby increasing the commercial value.").
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 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masaaki in view of Derderian (US 3,537,361).
Regarding claim 11, Masaaki does not specifically teach wherein the output of pressurized gas is controlled by a valve, wherein the valve is a solenoid valve.
Derderian teaches wherein the output of pressurized gas is controlled by a valve, wherein the valve is a solenoid valve (The controlling of the output of pressurized gas via a solenoid valve is described in col 6, lines 9-24).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Masaaki to incorporate the teachings of Derderian to include a controlled solenoid valve for controlling the pressurized gas valve with the motivation of providing a mechanical control structure for the air nozzles, which would allow for the folding of different sizes/weights of flaps.
Regarding claim 12, Masaaki does not specifically teach wherein the output of pressurized gas is controlled by a valve, wherein the valve is a solenoid valve.
Derderian teaches a controller for controlling the operation of the first and second gas manipulators (The controlling of the output of pressurized gas via a solenoid valve is described in col 6, lines 9-24).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Masaaki to incorporate the teachings of Derderian to include a controlled solenoid valve for controlling the pressurized gas valve with the motivation of providing a mechanical control structure for the air nozzles, which would allow for the folding of different sizes/weights of flaps.
Allowable Subject Matter
If the above rejection under 35 USC 112(b) are overcome, claim 9 would be 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB A SMITH whose telephone number is (571) 272-3974 and email address is Jacob.Smith@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30AM - 5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB A SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
