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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Amended citations have been entered in response to amended claims.
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, 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatsuno, (US 7,334,700) in view of Kikuchi, (US 2018/0186484).
Regarding claim 1, Hatsuno discloses: A packaging device (Hatsuno - Fig. 2, packaging machine 13) configured to package a medical drug (Hatsuno - Fig. 8, medicine D) loaded from a loading hopper (Hatsuno - Fig. 3, funnel 473),
the packaging device being configured to supply the medical drug into a packaging strip (Hatsuno - Fig. 3, fusable package paper 22) through an opening provided by folding the packaging strip in half and to close the packaging strip by sealing the opening (Col. 6, line 14, “The package paper 22 wound around the roll 21 has a substantially V-shaped section whose upper surface is opened and which is folded (half folded) by the lower end, and the paper is once drawn from the roll 21 obliquely in an upper right direction by the roller 27 or the like, and further drawn obliquely in a lower right direction (as one faces the figure). Thereafter, the surface of the paper is printed by the printer 23 as described later. Next, the medicine discharged from the nozzle 24 is injected into the package paper 22, and the package paper 22 is comparted every pack by the thermal fusion by the thermal seal head 26. The package paper 22 comparted into each pack is next cut by the cutter 29, and conveyed in an upper left direction (as one faces the figure) to the take-out port 32 by the conveyor 31.”).
While Hatsuno does in fact have a packaging feeding system, Hatsuno does not explicitly disclose: the packaging device comprising:
a packaging-strip holder around which the packaging strip is wrapped and held;
a plurality of rollers around which a portion of the packaging strip that is drawn from the packaging-strip holder is wrapped;
a feed roller configured to repeatedly pull out the packaging strip in units of a length for a single package; and
a tension adjustment mechanism provided on a downstream side relative to the packaging-strip holder and on an upstream side relative to the feed roller, the tension adjustment mechanism being configured to keep a tension of the packaging strip that is pulled out by a feed roller constant,
wherein the tension adjustment mechanism includes a mobile roller an urging member, a mobile-roller support supporting the mobile roller, and a movement detector configured to detect a movement of the mobile roller, the mobile roller being supported such that a rotation axis of the mobile roller is allowed to move in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis, the urging member pulling the mobile roller toward a reference position with a predetermined force, wherein the mobile roller is held while being allowed to move in such a direction as to shorten a distance of a movement path for the packaging strip wrapped around the mobile roller,
wherein the mobile roller moves upon detection of the packaging strip receiving a tensile force greater than or equal to the predetermined force in such a direction as to shorten the distance of the movement path, wherein around the rotation axis of the mobile roller, a bent portion formed by bending a part of the mobile-roller support in a radial direction is formed, and wherein the movement detector detects the movement of the mobile roller by detecting a movement of the bent portion, and while the movement detector is detecting the movement of the mobile roller, the packaging-strip holder keeps rotating in such a direction as to feed out the packaging strip..
Kikuchi teaches: the packaging device comprising:
a packaging-strip holder (Kikuchi, Fig. 1, packaging sheet holder 11) around which the packaging strip is wrapped and held;
a plurality of rollers (Kikuchi, Fig. 1, fixed roller 112, dance roller 114) around which a portion of the packaging strip that is drawn from the packaging-strip holder is wrapped;
a feed roller (Kikuchi, Fig. 1, sheet feeder 12) configured to repeatedly pull out the packaging strip in units of a length for a single package;and
a tension adjustment mechanism (Kikuchi, Figs. 1-4, tension applying unit 11X) provided on a downstream side relative to the packaging-strip holder and on an upstream side relative to the feed roller, the tension adjustment mechanism being configured to keep a tension of the packaging strip that is pulled out by a feed roller constant,
wherein the tension adjustment mechanism includes a mobile roller (Kikuchi, Figs. 1-4, dance roller 114) and an urging member (Kikuchi, Figs. 1-4, arm 116, further [0051], “The dancer roller 114 may be configured to press the packaging sheet 3 by a spring bias.”), a mobile-roller support (Kikuchi, Figs. 1-4, holding shaft 112) supporting the mobile roller, and a movement detector configured to detect a movement of the mobile roller (Kikuchi, Fig. 3, a lower end sensor 118a, an origin sensor 118b as an origin detector, and an upper end sensor 118c), the mobile roller being supported such that a rotation axis of the mobile roller is allowed to move in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis, the urging member pulling the mobile roller toward a reference position with a predetermined force (see Figs. 2-4 and [0051]), wherein the mobile roller is held while being allowed to move in such a direction as to shorten a distance of a movement path for the packaging strip wrapped around the mobile roller (see Fig. 4),
and
wherein the mobile roller moves upon detection of the packaging strip receiving a tensile force greater than or equal to the predetermined force ([0046-0062] describes this feature of the tension applying unit 11X), in such a direction as to shorten the distance of the movement path, wherein around the rotation axis of the mobile roller, a bent portion (Kikuchi, Fig. 3, dog 116a) formed by bending a part of the mobile-roller support in a radial direction is formed, and wherein the movement detector detects the movement of the mobile roller by detecting a movement of the bent portion, and while the movement detector is detecting the movement of the mobile roller ([0052] “As shown in FIG. 3, a lower end sensor 118a, an origin sensor 118b as an origin detector, and an upper end sensor 118c are provided along the curved elongated hole 117 on the rear side of the base part 111. The lower end sensor 118a, the origin sensor 118b, and the upper end sensor 118c are fixed to a mounting base, which is not shown. The lower end sensor 118a is provided corresponding to the limit position on the loose side of the dancer roller 114. The upper end sensor 118c is provided corresponding to the limit position on the tension side of the dancer roller 114. The origin sensor 118b is provided at the original position. The original position is set within the range between the limit position on the loose side and the limit position on the tension side, excluding both ends. In this embodiment, the initial position of the dancer roller 114 is set to the original position, and the original position is a reference position for unwinding the packaging sheet 3, which will be described below. The origin sensor 118b detects whether or not the dancer roller 114 is located at the original position. The respective sensors 118a to 118c detect a dog 116a provided on the rear surface of the arm 116.”), the packaging-strip holder keeps rotating in such a direction as to feed out the packaging strip (Kikuchi, [0052-0053]). ..
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to utilize the feed system as taught by Kikuchi in combination with the device of Hatsuno, thereby combining prior art elements to achieve a predictable result. The benefit of this alteration is that it allows for the packaging material to consistently feed as needed, while maintaining a constant tension on the paper in order to ensure the packaging remains consistent. The Examiner would note that it is both possible and likely that a similar such system exists in the Hatsuno device, however the patented feature described in the patent does not relate to the feed system, and so lacks detail.
Regarding claim 4, the modified Hatsuno further discloses: when the tension applied to the packaging strip becomes smaller than or equal to the predetermined force, the urging member returns the mobile roller to the reference position (Kikuchi, [0046-0062] describes this feature of the tension applying unit 11X).
Regarding claim 5, the modified Hatsuno further discloses: if the movement detector detects the mobile roller having returned to the reference position, the packaging-strip holder stops feeding out the packaging strip (Kikuchi, [0052-0053] describe the use of the sensors to determine the location of the rollers –“[0053] It is determined from the detection by the lower end sensor 118a that the packaging sheet 3 has been fully unwound from the rolled body 3a and has been run out, or that the packaging sheet 3 has been cut (in such a case, the dancer roller 114 falls to the lower end (the limit position on the loose side) of the curved elongated hole 117 due to the self-weight).”. Further description, including Figs. 5-8 describe the use of the conveyance control unit 10X which controls the unrolling and stoppage of the packaging strip ).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL JEREMY LEEDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2095. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs, 0730-1730.
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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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/DANIEL JEREMY LEEDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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