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 .
This is the First Office Action on the merits of Application No. 19/196165, filed on 05/01/2025. Claims 1-2, 4-13, 15-20 are still pending in the application.
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)(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) 1-2, 4, 7, 10, 12-13, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 211366667 to Yuan (henceforth referred to as Yuan).
Regarding claims 1-2, 4 and 7 and 10, Yuan discloses an elevator system, comprising:
an elevator car (i.e. Machine Translation page 1, last two lines: “rated load of the car”) and a counterweight (i.e. Fig. 1) connected to each other through a rope (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10);
wherein, the counterweight comprises a counterweight frame (i.e. Machine translation page 3, last paragraph: “Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, a large tonnage goods elevator counterweight frame”) and a plurality of counterweight blocks (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 8) mounted on the counterweight frame, the counterweight frame comprising:
a first main surface (i.e. Fig. 1, side of counterweight shown) and a second main surface (i.e. Fig. 1, opposite side of counterweight shown, going into the page) opposite each other, wherein the counterweight blocks are arranged between the first main surface and the second main surface;
a first inverted arch beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3) and a second inverted arch beam (i.e. Fig. 1 and 2, ref. 3 on opposite side of counterweight) connected to the first main surface and the second main surface respectively; and
a load bearing shaft (i.e. Fig. 1, shaft at ref. 4) connected between the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam;
wherein the counterweight is connected to the rope through the load bearing shaft (i.e. via Fig. 1, ref. 4);
wherein the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam are in the shape of an inverted curved arch or an inverted obtuse angle arrow (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3 contains inverted obtuse angle shape).
Wherein a pulley (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 2) or rope connector is provided on the load bearing shaft.
Wherein the counterweight frame comprises:
a bottom beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 12) , a top beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3), a first longitudinal beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 5 on the left) and a second longitudinal beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 5 not referenced but shown on the right), wherein the bottom beam, top beam, first longitudinal beam and second longitudinal beam are connected to form an outer contour of a rectangular frame; and a first intermediate longitudinal beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 6) and a second intermediate longitudinal beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3 on the right) connected between the bottom beam and the top beam;
wherein the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam span and connect to the first longitudinal beam, the first intermediate longitudinal beam, the second intermediate longitudinal beam and the second longitudinal beam.
Wherein the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam are arranged in the upper one third area of the counterweight frame (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3 is in the upper region).
Wherein the counterweight frame is bilaterally symmetrical on the first main surface and the second main surface, where a central area (i.e. Fig. 1, area at ref. 6) of the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam is widened (i.e. Fig. 1 is symmetrical on both sides of ref. 6).
Regarding claims 12-13 and 18, Yuan discloses a counterweight (i.e. Fig. 1) for an elevator system, comprising:
a counterweight frame (i.e. Machine translation page 3, last paragraph: “Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, a large tonnage goods elevator counterweight frame”) and a plurality of counterweight blocks (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 8) mounted on the counterweight frame, the counterweight frame comprising:
a first main surface (i.e. Fig. 1, side of counterweight shown) and a second main surface (i.e. Fig. 1, opposite side of counterweight shown, going into the page) opposite each other, wherein the counterweight blocks are arranged between the first main surface and the second main surface;
a first inverted arch beam (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3) and a second inverted arch beam (i.e. Fig. 1 and 2, ref. 3 on opposite side of counterweight) connected to the first main surface and the second main surface respectively; and
a load bearing shaft (i.e. Fig. 1, shaft at ref. 4) connected between the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam;
wherein the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam are in the shape of an inverted curved arch or an inverted obtuse angle arrow (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3 contains inverted obtuse angle shape).
Wherein a pulley (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 2) or rope connector is provided on the load bearing shaft.
Wherein the first inverted arch beam and the second inverted arch beam are arranged in the upper one third area of the counterweight frame (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 3 is in the upper region).
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(s) 11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable CN 211366667 to Yuan.
Regarding claims 11 and 20, Yuan does not specifically teach counterweight blocks is less than 25kilograms. However, Yuan teaches in Machine Translation Page 2, second paragraph that “the weight of the single block counterweight block is reduced to ½ of the original 1/2”. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use counterweight blocks that are less than 25 kilograms to make it more convenient for maintenance and installation personnel to carry and install the counterweight blocks and there would have been reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 15-17 and 19 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.
Claims 8-9 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 DIEM M TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7825. The examiner can normally be reached M 9-5, W-F 10-2.
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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