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 .
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) 1-4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Neville U.S. Patent No. 9,884,727 in view of Ding CN 205675753.
Claim 1, Neville teaches a conveyor Figs. 1A-C comprising: a carryway (the frame as shown in Fig. 5A); a conveyor belt 50 suitable for advancing along the carryway in a direction of belt travel 60, the conveyor belt 50 comprising: a series of belt rows of one or more belt modules 10 hingedly joined end to end at hinge joints, wherein each of the belt rows of 10 extends in width from a first side to a second side and in thickness from a top to a bottom Fig. 4A and at least some of the belt rows of 10 comprise: a belt module 10 that extends in width from a left side to a right side and includes: a slot 12,13 extending through the thickness of the belt module 10 along the width of the belt module 10; a carrier 14 having: a follower 18,20,22 extending through the slot 12,13 and past the bottom of the belt module 10 and having a bearing surface Figs.,2B,4B; a diverter switch Fig. 5A in the carryway under the conveyor belt 50 and including: a guide portion 64,65 having a first exit channel of 64 and a second exit channel oblique to the first exit channel Fig. 5B; but does not teach as Ding teaches a slat 3 attached to the follower P0020 at the top of the belt module 2 to slide along the width of the belt row with the follower and having an upper article-supporting surface 301 and a bottom side Fig. 1 P0019; wherein the slat 3 extends along the width of the row Fig. 1; an actuator 403-1; a shuttle 403 defining at least a portion of an entry channel 401-1 that leads to the first and second exit channels 402 and having a gap Fig. 3; wherein the actuator 403-1 is coupled to the shuttle 403 to translate the shuttle 403 from a first position in which the gap is positioned to define a first path for the carrier's follower through the entry channel 401-1, the gap, and the first exit channel 402 and in which shuttle structure blocks the second exit channel 402 to a second position in which the gap is positioned to define a second path for the carrier's follower through the entry channel 401-1, the gap, and the second exit channel 402 and in which shuttle structure blocks the first exit channel 402 Page 2 (see claim 2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Neville with the transmission configuration taught in Ding with a reasonable expectation of success because
Claim 2, Neville does not teach as Ding teaches the diverter switch Fig. 3 includes a fixed entry portion defining a portion of the entry channel 402, wherein the shuttle 403 is between the entry portion 401-1 and the guide portion 402 P0020. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Neville with the transmission configuration taught in Ding with a reasonable expectation of success because
Claim 3, Neville does not teach as Ding teaches the shuttle 403 defines the entire entry channel 402 Fig. 3. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the transport disclosed in Neville with the transmission configuration taught in Ding with a reasonable expectation of success because
Claim 4, Neville teaches the first exit channel 68 is an inline exit channel 68 parallel to the direction of belt 50 travel and wherein the second exit channel 68 is a divert exit channel oblique to the direction of belt travel Fig. 5B.
Claim 10, Neville teaches the entry channel 66 is bounded by two opposing walls that converge from a wide mouth to a narrower throat in the direction of belt travel 60 Figs. 5A,B.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-17 are allowed.
Claims 5-9 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.
Conclusion
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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/KAVEL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
KS
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