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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kaiser (US 2023/0271372).
Kaiser shows a container conveyance apparatus 10E which includes a first conveyance unit 12 that intermittently conveys a predetermined number of blow-molded containers 12, a second conveyance unit 16 which runs in an annular path and has a plurality of container conveyance bodies 24 that receive containers from the first conveyance device 12 and the bodies are driven by a linear motor, a third conveyance device 34 which sequentially receives containers 12 from the second conveyance unit 16 and rotationally conveys the containers and the second conveyance unit 16 adjusts a conveyance interval of the containers as needed for delivery to the third conveyance unit.
Re claim 2, the first conveyance unit intermittently conveys containers 12 which come from a blow molding unit.
Re claim 4, disclosed is a blow molding unit 20.
Re claim 5, as discussed above, there are first, second and third conveyance units and the second unit is controlled by a linear motor so as to drive bodies 24 and control the spacing of the containers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
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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/JAMES R BIDWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651 09/24/2026
