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 .
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The Abstract contains the legal phraseology “means”.
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) 1-6, 8-11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Phillip (WO 2017/080812).
Phillip shows a buffer belt 1 which conveys products from one facility to another. Shown are at least two vertically arranged buffer belts each of which has a vertically pivotable belt deflector 2 and 5 and the buffer belts are arranged on a horizontal stationary section 4.
Re claim 2, shown is an inlet belt 7 and an outlet belt 8 arranged in series.
Re claim 3, deflectors 2 and 5 are controlled independently of one another.
Re claim 4, shown are at least two deflectors 2 and 5 which are coupled to one another.
Re claim 5, inlet belt 7 and outlet belt 8 are arranged on one level.
Re claim 6, the outlet belt is autonomous.
Re claim 8, the inlet deflectors 2 can be pivoted over the inlet belt 7. See Figure 4.
Re claim 9, see Figure 3.
Re claims 10 and 11, the belt buffer 1 is for storing products between production facilities.
Re claim 13, inlet and outlet of products can be from different buffer belts arranged vertically above one another.
Re claim 14, inlet into the buffer 1 and outlet therefrom are in the same direction.
Re claim 15, storing and removing are done independently of one another.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 12 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sandberg et al. (US 5,810,149) and Stumpf (US 3,734,264) each show vertically stacked buffer sections having at least two buffer belts which are fed by two belt deflectors and input and output conveyors. These references each read at least on claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R BIDWELL whose telephone number is (571)272-6910. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 to 4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford, can be reached at telephone number (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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Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/JAMES R BIDWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651 07/02/2026
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