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.
(Namely, the phrase “The invention” should not appear in the abstract.)
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Scheetz (2010/0175596). Scheetz teaches a bag support (Fig. 1) for a bulk bag, wherein the bag support comprises: a pallet (12);a top ring (16); a plurality of support struts (14); and a plurality of support strut receiving formations provided in the pallet (23) and the top ring (48) within which end portions of the support struts are removably receivable to support the top ring and pallet in an erect condition in which a bulk bag is supportable on the bag support and to transmit loads from the top ring to the pallet; and a support strut retaining arrangement (46) provided on the top ring for releasably retaining the support struts in position on the top ring when the bag support is in a collapsed condition (see abstract). The support strut retaining arrangement comprises a plurality of support strut retaining formations (frame of 46). The pallet comprises an upper bag support surface which is substantially flat (Fig. 1). The support strut receiving formations are in the form of complementary aligned pairs of holes in the pallet and the top ring.
Claims 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Perkins (7,819,269). Perkins teaches a bag support (Fig. 2) for a bulk bag, wherein the bag support comprises: a pallet (20);a top ring (34); a plurality of support struts (32); a plurality of support strut receiving formations (30,44) provided in the pallet and the top ring within which end portions of the support struts are removably receivable to support the top ring and pallet in an erect condition in which a bulk bag (12) is supportable on the bag support and to transmit loads from the top ring to the pallet; and a load transmission arrangement (36,46) whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between the ends of the support struts and the pallet and top ring is increased. Wherein the pallet comprises an upper bag support surface (28) which is substantially flat. Wherein the support strut receiving formations are in the form of complementary aligned pairs of holes in the pallet and the top ring. Wherein the load transmission arrangement comprises an intermediate member of a relatively hard material (steel); column 3, starting line 62), which, when the bag support is in its erect condition is positioned between an end of a support strut and a bottom of the hole in which the end of the support strut is received thereby ensuring the transmission of a load between the end of the support strut and the pallet or top ring is transmitted over the entire area of the intermediate member (Fig. 3). Wherein each support strut comprises an elongate tubular support element, and the intermediate member is a disk (38) which has a diameter which is greater than an inner diameter of the associated support element.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thorpe (WO03045817) in view of Neal (4,011,821). Thorpe teaches a bag support (Fig. 1) for a bulk bag, wherein the bag support comprises: a pallet (12); a top ring (16); a plurality of support struts (14); and a plurality of support strut receiving formations provided in the pallet (34,36) and the top ring (40,42) within which end portions of the support struts are removably receivable to support the top ring and pallet in an erect condition in which a bulk bag is supportable on the bag support and to transmit loads from the top ring to the pallet. For claim 1, Thorpe fails to teach a support strut retaining arrangement provided on the top ring for releasably retaining the support struts in position on the top ring when the bag support is in a collapsed condition. Neal teaches a support strut retaining arrangement (46) provided on a structure for releasably retaining the support struts in position on the structure when support struts (16) are in a collapsed condition. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the support of Thorpe by adding the retaining arrangement of Neal on the top ring thereof, to provide a location on the top ring for storing the struts when not in use.
For claim 2, Thorpe in view of Neal further teaches that the support strut retaining arrangement comprises a plurality of support strut retaining formations (Fig. 5 of Neal).
For claim 3, Thorpe in view of Neal further teaches that the pallet comprises an upper bag support surface which is substantially flat (Fig. 1 of Thorpe).
For claim 4, Thorpe in view of Neal further teaches that the support strut receiving formations are in the form of complementary aligned pairs of holes in the pallet and the top ring.
Claims 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thorpe (WO03045817) in view of Neal (4,011,821) as applied to claims 1-4 above, and further in view of Sosna et al (PL233699). As stated above, Thorpe in view of Neal teaches the limitations of claim 1, including support struts inserted between and within the pallet and top ring forming a bag support. For claim 5, Thorpe in view of Neal fails to teach that the bag support comprises a load transmission arrangement whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between the ends of the support struts and the pallet and top ring is increased. Sosna teaches a pallet having a load transmission arrangement (29; Fig. 11) whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between an end of a support strut (26) and the pallet (11) is increased. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the support of Thorpe in view of Neal by adding a load transmission arrangement between the strut and the pallet/top ring, for the advantage stated above.
For claim 6, Thorpe in view of Neal and Sosna further teaches that the load transmission arrangement comprises an intermediate member (29 of Sosna) of a relatively hard material (metal; see cross-section in Fig. 11), which, when the bag support is in its erect condition is positioned between an end of a support strut and a bottom of the hole in which the end of the support strut is received thereby ensuring the transmission of a load between the end of the support strut and the pallet or top ring is transmitted over the entire area of the intermediate member.
For claim 7, Thorpe in view of Neal and Sosna further teaches that each support strut comprises an elongate tubular support element, and the intermediate member is a disk which has a diameter which is greater than an inner diameter of the associated support element.
For claim 8, Thorpe in view of Neal and Sosna further teaches that the disk has a diameter which is approximately equal to an outer diameter of the associated support element.
For claim 9, Thorpe in view of Neal and Sosna further teaches that the bag support comprises a locating arrangement (28 of Sosna) for locating the disk in alignment with an end of the support element.
Claims 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scheetz (2010/0175596) in view of Sosna et al (PL233699). As stated above, Scheetz teaches the limitations of claim 1, including support struts inserted between and within the pallet and top ring forming a bag support. For claim 5, Scheetz fails to teach that the bag support comprises a load transmission arrangement whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between the ends of the support struts and the pallet and top ring is increased. Sosna teaches a pallet having a load transmission arrangement (29; Fig. 11) whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between an end of a support strut (26) and the pallet (11) is increased. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the support of Scheetz by adding a load transmission arrangement between the strut and the pallet and top ring, for the advantage stated above.
For claim 6, Scheetz in view of Sosna further teaches that the load transmission arrangement comprises an intermediate member (29 of Sosna) of a relatively hard material (metal; see cross-section in Fig. 11), which, when the bag support is in its erect condition is positioned between an end of a support strut and a bottom of the hole in which the end of the support strut is received thereby ensuring the transmission of a load between the end of the support strut and the pallet or top ring is transmitted over the entire area of the intermediate member.
For claim 7, Scheetz in view of Sosna further teaches that each support strut comprises an elongate tubular support element, and the intermediate member is a disk which has a diameter which is greater than an inner diameter of the associated support element.
For claim 8, Scheetz in view of Sosna further teaches that the disk has a diameter which is approximately equal to an outer diameter of the associated support element.
For claim 9, Scheetz in view of Sosna further teaches that the bag support comprises a locating arrangement (28 of Sosna) for locating the disk in alignment with an end of the support element.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-14 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.
Claim 28 is allowed. The prior art fails to teach a bag support system having a pallet, top ring and support struts/tubular support elements. There are a plurality of support strut receiving formations provided in the pallet and the top ring within which end portions of the support struts are removably receivable and a support strut retaining arrangement provided on the top ring for releasably retaining the support struts in position on the top ring when the bag support is in a collapsed condition. Wherein the bag support comprises a load transmission arrangement whereby the area over which a load is transmitted between the ends of the support struts and the pallet and top ring is increased, wherein the load transmission arrangement comprises an intermediate member/disk of a relatively hard material, which, when the bag support is in its erect condition is positioned between an end of a support strut and a bottom of a strut receiving formation, in the form of a hole, in which the end of the support strut is received thereby ensuring the transmission of a load between the end of the support strut and the pallet or top ring is transmitted over the entire area of the intermediate member. The disk which has a diameter which is greater than an inner diameter of the associated support element, wherein the bag support comprises a locating arrangement for locating the disk in alignment with an end of the support element, and wherein the locating arrangement comprises a cap which is mountable over the end of the support element and which holds the disk captive in alignment with and in abutment against the end of the support element; and at least one bag which is supportable on the bag support when the bag support is in an erect condition.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANET M WILKENS whose telephone number is 571-272-6869. The examiner can normally be reached Mon thru Thurs 7am-5:30pm EST.
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Wilkens
July 22, 2026
/JANET M WILKENS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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