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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Belgium on March 6, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the BE2023./5161 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55. An attempt by the Office to electronically retrieve, under the priority document exchange program, the foreign application FAILED on 12/29/25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-7, 9, 12, 13 & 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stemmle (US 6,805,346).
With respect to claim 1-4, 7, 12, 13, & 16, Stemmle discloses a stacking device for stacking substrates comprising:
a frame 103, 104;
an input region (indicated as the position of substrate107 in FIG. 6A); and
an output region 106, 106’;
a pair of conveying elements 101, 102 mounted on a frame to be completely rotatable about an axis of rotation X, a pair of conveying elements having a respective gripping portion (see annotated FIG. 6C below) configured to convey a substrate located in an input region to an output region;
wherein a pair of conveying elements each having a respective recess adjacent to a gripping portion, a recess being configured to engage a substrate engages therein during conveyance by the at least one conveying element;
wherein a pair of conveying elements have an outer circular arc portion on which a substrate 107 arranged in an output region (transition of substrate 107 between positions shown in FIG. 6A & 6C) is supportable.
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Gripping portion)]
PNG
media_image1.png
384
728
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With respect to claim 5, Stemmle discloses a guide 104.
With respect to claim 6, Stemmle discloses a drive unit 134 laterally offset.
With respect to claim 9, Stemmle discloses wherein a conveying element comprises two, oppositely rotatable conveying elements, between which a substrate is arrangeable.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 8 & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmle in view of Gournelle (FR 2.123.054)(English translation attached to copy of reference).
With respect to claim 8, Stemmle does not disclose a disk. Gournelle discloses a disk 5. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Stemmle to include a disk, as taught by Gournelle, which reduces the potential for jamming as substrates are engaged and subsequently lifted by the conveying elements.
With respect to claim 10, Stemmle does not disclose two, oppositely rotatable conveying elements that comprise a first pair of conveying elements rotatable counter to a second pair of conveying elements. Gournell discloses that two, oppositely rotatable conveying elements comprise a first pair of conveying elements 5, 5 (FIG. 1) rotatable counter to a second pair of conveying elements 5, 5. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Stemmle to include a first pair of conveying elements rotatable counter to a second pair of conveying elements, as taught by Gournelle, which reduces the potential for jamming as substrates are engaged and subsequently lifted by the conveying elements.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmle in view of Focke (US 5,088,883).
Stemmle does not disclose a separate output region. Focke discloses a separate output region (position of upper three most substrates 11 in FIG. 1) into which substrates are outputtable from an input region. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Stemmle to include a separate output region into which substrates are outputtable from an input region, as taught by Focke, thereby forming “pack bundles” to be packaged, thereby reducing cycle times over individual substrate removal.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmle in view of Speith (US 9,421,797) (previously cited).
Stemmle discloses a separating device of claim 1 and a conveyor 17, e.g. transport device, and does not disclose a printer. In combination with a stacking device 103 Speith disclose a printing device 104 for printing information on one substrate separated from a stack of substrates and conveyed to a position proximate a printer 104. Speith teaches that it is well known to combine separators with printers in the industry of printing media such as plastic cards or mats. “In the previously known separating devices, especially metal components are moved against a stop to establish an end position. In this process, the components hit the stop without prior deceleration, frequently leading to development of noise. In addition, the components become eroded by the high mechanical stress.” It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Stemmle to combine a separating device with a printer, as taught by Speith, to reduce erosion and mechanical stresses.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gournelle in view of Speith and further in view of Lieder (US 3,933,255).
Stemmle does not disclose rails. Lieder discloses a pair of rails 43 along which a substrate that is separated from a stack is pushed “forwardly from beneath the stack 91 to other parts of the machine (not shown) where at folding and other operations are carried out on the case to form a box.” It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Stemmle to include a transport device that has rails, as taught by Lieder, which allows a weight of a stack to be increased without the amount of friction caused by the increased weight affecting separation accuracy.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY W ADAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-8101. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at (571)272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GREGORY W ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3652
