DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a first Office Action Non-Final rejection on the merits. Claims 1-13 as originally filed are pending and have been considered below.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 11 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. In particular, the limitation “the sleeve is configured to be slid onto the foot of the bracket (and the adapter), and the wherein thermal insulation pad contacts a contact face of the foot (the opposed surface of the adaptor), with the foot (and adaptor) sandwiched between the pad and a face of the sleeve” would overcome the prior art rejection since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches this configuration and such a modification to include this configuration would require modifying the modifier reference which would involve hindsight reconstruction. Claims 12 and 13 depend from claims 8 and 11, respectively, and are therefore objected to as well.
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 of this title, 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(s) 1-3 and 5-7, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lind (DE 10 2012016025 B4), in view of Gabriel et al. (DE 19635971 A1) with espacenet translations.
Regarding claim 1, Lind teaches a thermal insulation pad assembly (insulating body; paragraph 4) comprising: a thermal insulation pad (90) capable of attachment between a bracket and substructure in a building cladding assembly, the thermal insulation pad comprising a thermal insulation material (abstract); and a sleeve (slot between tabs 22 in which insulation 90 is inserted; figure 18).
Lind does not specifically disclose the sleeve is formed of cardboard.
Gabriel et al. discloses a thermal insulation body (paragraph 1) having a sleeve (2a, 2b) formed of cardboard (paragraph 7).
Therefore, from the teaching of Gabriel et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the thermal insulation assembly of Lind such that the sleeve is formed of cardboard, as taught by Gabriel et al., in order to provide sleeve material that is lightweight and effective to reduce costs of shipping and handling.
Regarding claim 2, Lind teaches said thermal insulation material part is comprised of a fibrous material (the insulating body may include fibers; paragraph 38).
Regarding claim 3, Lind does not specifically disclose said thermal insulation material part is comprised of a silica aerogel.
Gabriel et al. discloses a thermal insulation body (paragraph 1) whereby the thermal insulation material part comprises a silica aerogel (paragraph 1).
Therefore, from the teaching of Gabriel et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the thermal insulation assembly of Lind to include a silica aerogel, as taught by Gabriel et al., in order to provide an insulative material that is lightweight and effective to reduce costs of shipping and handling.
Regarding claim 5, Lind teaches a bracket (figure 18) capable of attachment to a substructure in a building cladding assembly (figure 18), the bracket comprising: a foot (14; see figure 1) having a contact face (bottom face of 14) being configured to face towards the substructure in use (figure 18); and a thermal insulation pad (90), according to Claim 1, the pad being attached to said foot SO as to sit between said contact face and the substructure in use (figure 18).
Regarding claim 6, Lind teaches said foot has a footprint (footprint of bottom face of 14), and wherein said thermal insulation pad has a pad footprint (footprint of top face of 90).
The figure 18 embodiment of Lind does not specifically disclose the pad footprint equal to said footprint of said foot. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the figure 18 embodiment to disclose the pad footprint equal to said footprint of said foot as disclosed by the figure 10 embodiment, in order to provide a matching shape, that would facilitate assembly.
Regarding 7, the figure 18 embodiment of Lind does not specifically disclose the bracket has openings in the foot for receiving fastenings and wherein the sleeve comprises an opening to allow access to openings in the foot of the bracket. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the figure 18 embodiment to disclose openings in the foot for receiving fastenings and wherein the sleeve comprises an opening to allow access to openings in the foot of the bracket as disclosed by the figures 9 and 10 embodiment, in order to further secure the insulating member to the bracket, to keep the components together during installation, to facilitate assembly.
Claim(s) 4, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lind (DE 10 2012016025 B4), in view of Gabriel et al. (DE 19635971 A1), and in view of O’Kane et al. (WO 2016207648 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Lind does not specifically disclose the sleeve has a greater depth than the thickness of the pad, such that there is a space provided between the pad and a face of the sleeve.
O’Kane et al. discloses a thermal insulation bracket assembly (abstract) wherein the sleeve (600) has a greater depth than the thickness of the pad (107), such that there is a space provided between the pad and a face of the sleeve (as illustrated, there is a space between the pad and a top face of the sleeve (figure 6).
Therefore, from the teaching of O’Kane et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the thermal insulation assembly of Lind such that the sleeve has a greater depth than the thickness of the pad, such that there is a space provided between the pad and a face of the sleeve, as taught by O’Kane et al., in order to a layer of sufficient structural protection to the insulation layer and prevent unintended loads or compression to the insulation layer.
Claim(s) 9 and 10, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lind (DE 10 2012016025 B4), in view of Gabriel et al. (DE 19635971 A1), and in view of Knight et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0128518).
Regarding claim 9, Lind as modified does not specifically disclose an adaptor, being comprised of a plate and having a support surface positioned in contact against said contact face and an opposed surface positioned against said thermal insulation pad.
Knight et al. discloses a cladding assembly (abstract) including an adaptor (30), being comprised of a plate (figure 2) and having a support surface (at 38) positioned in contact against said contact face (73) and an opposed surface (bottom surface of 30; figure 2) positioned against said thermal insulation pad (in the combination, it is understood that the adaptor of Knight et al. would be positioned against said thermal insulation pad of Lind).
Therefore, from the teaching of Knight et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the ,modified thermal insulation assembly of Lind to include an adaptor, being comprised of a plate and having a support surface positioned in contact against said contact face and an opposed surface positioned against said thermal insulation pad, as taught by Knight et al., in order to provide a quick attachment means to the foot to simplify the alignment and assembly of the insulation part, to reduce assembly time and costs.
Regarding claim 10, Knight et al. in the combination discloses said adaptor is comprised of plastic (polyoxymethylene; paragraph 91).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The cited patents listed on the included form PTO-892 further show the state of the art with respect to thermal insulation brackets in general.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR HIJAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5790. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-6 EST Monday-Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached on (571) 270-3238. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR F HIJAZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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