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 2nd First Office Action on the merits of Application No. 19/100989, filed on 02/04/2025. Claims 14-26 are still pending in the application.
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.
Claim(s) 14-16, 18, 22-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 0842888 to Salmon et al (henceforth referred to as Salmon).
Regarding claims 14-16, 18, 22-24, Salmon discloses a passenger transport system (i.e. Fig. 15) for transporting a passenger outside a building (i.e. Fig. 15, ref. 288), the passenger transport system comprising:
a cabin (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 286) adapted to accommodate the passenger;
a transport vehicle (i.e. Column 14, lines 47-49: “the cab 286 will be transferred longitudinally from a bogey on the tracks 285 into an elevator car frame within the hoistway of the elevator 288” and Abstract: “carriages (107) or bogeys”) adapted to transport the cabin outside the building;
a first coupling (i.e. Fig. 5, ref, 112, 115) selectively coupling the cabin to the transport vehicle and decoupling the cabin from the transport vehicle;
a movement device (i.e. Column 15, lines 45-48: “the car frame 343 is disposed in a hoistway 345 for vertical motion.. by means of a typical elevator traction machine” and Fig. 5, ref. 122) connected to the building and adapted to move the cabin relative to the building on a main movement path (i.e. Fig. 15, vertically along ref. 288 or vertically along hoistway of Fig. 14, ref. L1 and Fig. 14, laterally between ref. L1 and H1) and on a secondary movement path (i.e. Fig. 14, vertically along hoistway of ref. H1) that branches off from the main movement path;
a second coupling (i.e. Fig. 5, ref. 111, 116) selectively coupling the cabin to the movement device and decoupling the cabin from the movement device; and
wherein the secondary moment path accommodates the cabin decoupled from the movement device enabling another cabin to be moved relative to the building on the main movement path (i.e. Fig. 14, when cabin, ref. A, is in hoistway of H1, another cabin can be used in hoistway of L1).
Wherein the main movement path includes a first main movement path (i.e. Fig. 15, along ref. 288 or Fig. 14, along hoistway of ref. L1) and a second main movement path (i.e. Fig. 14 shows cabin, ref. A, moving laterally between ref. L1 and H1) on which the cabin is moved, wherein the first and second main movement paths have different cabin movement directions (i.e. vertical and lateral directions, respectively) and the secondary movement path (i.e. Fig. 14, vertically along hoistway of ref. H1 branches off from the second main movement path.
Wherein the movement device has a first drive (i.e. Column 15, lines 45-48: “the car frame 343 is disposed in a hoistway 345 for vertical motion.. by means of a typical elevator traction machine”) and a second drive (i.e. Column 4, line57-Column 5, line 3: “there are a total of four motorized pinons on each platform 104 of the elevator car frame… an auxiliary motorized pinion 111”), the second coupling has a first device side coupling component (i.e. Fig. 5, ref. 111) and a second device side coupling component (i.e. Fig. 6, not shown but a second ref. 111 would line up with the second ref. 112), the first drive moves the first device side coupling component on the first main movement path (i.e. a traction machine would move the entire elevator frame in Fig. 5 including ref. 111 vertically along the hoistway), the second drive moves the second device side coupling component on the second main movement path (i.e. the motorized pinion would move the cabin laterally), the first device side coupling component couples to and decouples from a first cabin side coupling component of the cabin (i.e. Fig. 5, ref. 102), and the second device side coupling component couples to and decouples from a second cabin side coupling component of the cabin (i.e. Fig. 6, ref. 103).
Wherein the movement device includes a trolley (i.e. Fig. 5, ref. 107 and Abstract: “carriages (107) or bogeys) adapted to support the cabin and move on the second main movement path in a horizontal direction.
Including an elevator (i.e. Fig. 14) connected to the building and adapted to move the transport vehicle from a delivery level to a storage level of the building (i.e. intended use, elevator in Fig. 14 is capable of moving from a storage level to a delivery level and vice versa).
Wherein the main movement path includes a first main movement path (i.e. Fig. 14, vertically along hoistway of ref. L1) and the elevator has an elevator shaft in which an elevator platform (i.e. Fig. 5, ref. 105) adapted to carry the transport vehicle moves vertically along the first main movement path.
Including a first coupling station (i.e. Fig. 14, ref. 26a) at which the cabin is decoupled from a first type of the transport vehicle and coupled to the movement device and is decoupled form the movement device and coupled to the first type of transport vehicle, and a second coupling station at which the cabin is decoupled from a second type of transport vehicle and coupled to the movement device and is decoupled from the movement device and coupled to the second type of the transport vehicle (i.e. Fig. 5 and 14, at ref. 26a, the cabin, ref. A, is decoupled from frame in hoistway L1 and coupled to frame in hoistway H1).
Regarding claims 25-26, Salmon discloses a method for transporting a person in a cabin (i.e. Fig. 15, ref. 286), the method comprising steps of:
coupling the cabin to a transport vehicle (i.e. Column 14, lines 47-49: “the cab 286 will be transferred longitudinally from a bogey on the tracks 285 into an elevator car frame within the hoistway of the elevator 288” and Abstract: “carriages (107) or bogeys”) and transporting by the transport vehicle the cabin with the person to a building (i.e. Fig. 15, ref. 288);
decoupling the cabin with the person from the transport vehicle, coupling the cabin to a movement device (i.e. Column 15, lines 45-48: “the car frame 343 is disposed in a hoistway 345 for vertical motion.. by means of a typical elevator traction machine” and Fig. 5, ref. 122) connected to the building and moving the cabin by the movement device relative to the building on a main movement path (i.e. Fig. 15, vertically along ref. 288 or Fig. 14, vertically along hoistway L1 and Fig. 14, laterally between ref. L1 and H1);
moving the cabin into a secondary movement path (i.e. Fig. 14, vertically along hoistway of ref. H1) wherein the main movement path, from which the secondary movement path branches, remains usable by other cabins;
the passenger leaves the cabin; and
the cabin remains in the secondary movement path until a next use to transport the passenger or another passenger.
Including bringing the transport vehicle to a storage level (i.e. Fig. 14, ref. 26a) of the building after being decoupled from the cabin where the transport vehicle remains until a next use to transport the cabin or another cabin.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 19-21 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 14-26 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIEM M TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7825. The examiner can normally be reached M 9-5, W-F 10-2.
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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