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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by CN-201301114-Y (hereinafter Shen).
Regarding claim 1, Shen discloses a conveyor belt with a top cover on the carrying side and a bottom cover on the pulley side (Nos. 2 & 4), wherein the layers comprise an elastomeric material and the conveyor belt further comprises a belt body having one or more embedded reinforcement members (pg. 2), wherein the conveyor belt on its top cover has profiling, which is formed substantially perpendicular to the carrying side top cover, wherein the profiling is chevron profiling that has diagonal elements that extend both in the longitudinal direction and in transverse direction of the conveyor belt and which together form a V-shape in pairs (No. 1), wherein the top cover on the carrying side and the chevron profiling is formed from a thermoplastic elastomer (pg. 2).
Regarding claim 2, Shen discloses the belt of claim 1, further wherein the height of the chevron profiling is more than 10 mm and preferably in the range of from 20 to 50 mm (pg. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Shen discloses the belt of claim 1, further wherein the thermoplastic elastomer is selected from a thermoplastic polyurethane and a thermoplastic vulcanisate (pg. 2).
Regarding claim 7, Shen discloses the belt of claim 1, further wherein wherein the chevron profiling covers at least 50 % and preferably from 70 to 95% of the width of the belt (No. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Shen discloses the belt of claim 1, further wherein the top cover on the carrying side and a bottom cover on the pulley side are formed from the same material (pg. 2).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the conveyor belt further has at least one transverse reinforcement (pg. 2).
Regarding claim 10, wherein the chevron profiling is formed as part of the top cover (No. 1).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen in view of US 20210087399 A1 (hereinafter Merzlic). Shen discloses the conveyor belt of claim 3, but does not disclose polyether. Merzlic discloses a conveyor belt wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane is based on a polyether, preferably polytetramethylene glycol, or polyester polyol, preferably an adipate-based polyester polyol or a polycaprolactone- based polyester polyol, as the polyol component (claims 4, 5, and 20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the belt design of Shen with the additives of Merzlic. The motivation would be to improve the mechanical properties of the belt [0002].
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen in view of US 20110092648 A1 (Hereinafter Lu). Shen discloses the conveyor belt of claim 3, but does not disclose an aromatic polyisocyanate. Lu discloses a conveyor belt wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane is based on an aromatic polyisocyanate, preferably selected from toluene diisocyanate or methylene diisocyanate (claims 4 and 15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the belt design of Shen with the additives of Lu. The motivation would be to create antistatic conveyor belts, lowering the likelihood of fires [0064].
Claim 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen in view of US 20190185604 A1 (hereinafter Gopalan). Shen discloses the conveyor belt of claim 3, but does not disclose a dynamically vulcanized mixture. Gopalan discloses a conveyor belt wherein the thermoplastic vulcanisate is based on a dynamically vulcanized mixture comprising ethylene-propylene-diene rubber and polypropylene (claims 5 and 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the belt design of Shen with the additives of Gopalan. The motivation would be to improve the properties of the conveyor belts [0008].
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen. While Shen does not disclose the particular geometry of the 30-90 R32, MPEP 2144.04 indicates that absent persuasive evidence, a change in shape does not render a claim nonobvious.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen in view of CN 103910164 A (hereinafter Cao).
Shen discloses the conveyor belt of claim, 1, but not a method to fabricate it. Cao discloses a method for the production of a conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of: i) providing one or more reinforcement members; ii) embedding the one or more reinforcement members in a belt core; iii) applying a top cover on one side of the belt core; iv) applying a bottom cover on the other side of the belt core; wherein the top cover are prepared with a chevron profiling and at least the top cover or a part of it and the chevron profiling are formed from a thermoplastic elastomer [0018].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the conveyor belt of Shen with the method of Cao. The motivation would be to have a repeatable way to construct conveyor belts with chevrons.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen in view of US 20220017307 A1 (hereinafter Garbagnati).
Shen discloses the conveyor belt of claim 1, but not the hardware on which it operates. Garbagnati discloses at least one drive pulley with a motor (No. 201, claim 1), one deflecting pulley (Fig. 20) and a conveyor belt (Fig. 14, No. 100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the conveyor belt of Shen with the motor and pullies. The motivation would be to provide a way to make the conveyor belt function properly.
Conclusion
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/AMARI J MEDDLING/ Examiner, Art Unit 3651
/GENE O CRAWFORD/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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