DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
This Final Rejection is in response to the Amendment dated May 1, 2026 filed in response to the Non-final Rejection dated December 18, 2025.
Cancelation of claims 6 and 8 is acknowledged.
Addition of claims 21 and 22 is acknowledged.
The 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections in the previous Office action are withdrawn in view of the amendments made to the claims. However, the claims are rejected as explained below based upon new grounds necessitated by the claim amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues, on page 10 of the Amendment, Burhorst ‘953 (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2019/0374953 A1) does not disclose nor suggest the stationary screen now described in amended claim 1. Examiner agrees. Accordingly, the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection in the previous Office action is withdrawn. However, Examiner considers amended claim 1 to be unpatentable over the prior art as explained in the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection below.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 8-12, 15-18 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2019/0374953 A1 by Burhorst et al., hereinafter “Burhorst”, in view of U.S. Patent No. 6,311,905 B1 to Galanty et al., hereinafter “Galanty 905”.
Regarding claim 1, Burhorst discloses a comminuting apparatus adapted for screening a wastewater stream flowing through a channel and for grinding solids in the wastewater stream (the comminuting device shown in the figures; ¶[0002]), said apparatus comprising:
a housing positionable in the channel (housing 1 in Fig. 1; ¶[0033]), said housing having an inlet end for receiving wastewater flowing through the channel (the lower side of housing 1 in Fig. 4b is the inlet side; ¶[0044]) and an outlet end for discharging wastewater from said housing (the upper side of housing 1 in Fig. 4b);
a rotatable cutter assembly mounted to said housing between said inlet and outlet ends and adjacent one side of said housing, said cutter assembly being configured to grind solids in the wastewater stream upon rotation of said cutter assembly (cutter assemblies 11 and 12 in Fig. 1 are adjacent the left side of housing 1; ¶[0033]);
a rotatable screen mounted to said housing between said inlet and outlet ends and adjacent an opposite side of said housing (rotatable screen device 50 in Figs. 2, 3, 4a and 4b; ¶[0038]), a first portion of said rotatable screen being in close proximity to said cutter assembly (see “First Portion” annotation to Fig. 4b of Burhorst reproduced below), a second portion of said rotatable screen facing said inlet end of said housing (see “Second Portion” annotation below) and a third portion of said rotatable screen facing said outlet end of said housing (see “Third Portion” annotation), said rotatable screen having a first plurality of spaced-apart, generally horizontal ribs configured to transfer solids captured thereon to said cutter assembly in response to rotation of said rotatable screen, said first plurality of ribs defining a first plurality of generally horizontal slots sized and shaped so as to permit wastewater to flow through said rotatable screen (curved screen portion elements 52 in Figs. 2, 3, 4a and 4b have generally horizontal ribs configured to transfer solids captured thereon to cutter assemblies 11 and 12 in response to their rotation);
a stationary screen mounted to said housing in a fixed orientation relative to said cutter assembly and to said rotatable screen (stationary screen 30 in Figs. 1 and 3; ¶[0038]), said stationary screen having a second plurality of spaced-apart, generally horizontal ribs (first screening wall ribs 31 in Figs. 3 and 4b; ¶[0037]), a first curved screen section attached to said housing at said opposite side thereof and extending toward said one side thereof along said second portion of said rotatable screen in close proximity thereto (see “First Curved Section”) such that said second plurality of ribs on said first curved screen section of said stationary screen is interleaved with said first plurality of ribs on said second portion of said rotatable screen to thereby bisect and partially obstruct said first plurality of slots in said second portion of said rotatable screen as said first plurality of slots moves past said first curved screen section of said stationary screen in response to rotation of said rotatable screen (the Second Portion of rotatable screen device 50 interleaves with the First Curved Section of stationary screen 30 as shown in the annotated figure below), a central screen section extending from said first curved screen section toward said outlet end of said housing between said cutter assembly and said first portion of said rotatable screen (see “Central Section” annotation below), and a second screen section extending from said central screen section terminated at a fixed location adjacent said outlet end of said housing and remote from said third portion of said rotatable screen (see “Second Section” annotation below) such that said first plurality of slots in said third portion of said rotatable screen are not bisected or partially obstructed at said outlet end of said housing by said second plurality of ribs on said first curved screen section or said second screen section of said stationary screen (the Third Portion of rotatable screen device 50 is to the left of stationary screen 30 in Fig. 4b such that it is not obstructed); and
drive means for rotating said rotatable screen such that in response to its rotation said rotatable screen cooperates with said stationary screen to transfer solids in the wastewater stream to said cutter assembly (drive means device 54 in Fig. 2; ¶[0038]).
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Burhorst does not disclose the Second Section of stationary screen 31 is curved such that it extends from the Central Section toward the cutter assembly side of housing 1 and partially surrounds cutter assemblies 11 and 12 in close proximity thereto, whereby cutter assemblies 11 and 12 are adapted to remove accumulated debris from the Second Section of stationary screen 31.
In the same field of comminuting apparatus, Galanty 905 teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to partially surround the cutter assembly with a curved screen section at a location adjacent the outlet end of the housing. See column 5, line 66 through col. 6, line 22.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to curve Burhorst’s Second Section of stationary screen 30 toward the cutter assembly side of housing 1 to partially surround cutter assemblies 11 and 12 about the exit side of the assemblies in the same way Galanty 905 teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Galanty 905 to Burhorst would achieve the predictable result of partially surrounding the exit side of Burhorst’s cutter assemblies 11 and 12 with the Second Section of stationary screen 30.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said rotatable cutter assembly includes a plurality of cutting stacks (cutter stack assemblies 11 and 12 in Fig. 1), at least one of said cutting stacks being positioned adjacent said one side of said housing and at least another one of said cutting stacks being positioned adjacent said stationary screen (cutter stack assembly 12 in Fig. 1 is positioned adjacent the left side wall of housing 1 and cutter stack assembly 11 is positioned adjacent stationary screen 30).
Regarding claim 3, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 2 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said cutter assembly (cutter assemblies 11 and 12 in Fig. 1) is removable from said housing independently of said rotatable screen and said stationary screen (Figs. 1-3 show cutter assemblies 11 and 12 are removable through an opening in the top of housing 1 independent from rotatable screen device 50 and stationary screen 30).
Regarding claim 8, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said first plurality of ribs on said rotatable screen (ribs of curved screen portion elements 52 in Fig. 4b) are interleaved with said second plurality of ribs on said first screen section of said stationary screen (rib elements 31 of stationary screen 30). See Figs. 3, 4a and 4b.
Regarding claim 9, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 8 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said first plurality of ribs on said rotatable screen (ribs of curved screen portion elements 52 in Fig. 4b) cooperate with said second plurality of ribs on said first screen section of said stationary screen (rib elements 31 in Fig. 4b) to form a composite fine screen at said inlet end of said housing, said composite fine screen including interleaved ribs of said rotatable screen and said first screen section of said stationary screen.
Regarding claim 10, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 9 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said first plurality of slots of said rotatable screen have a first width. Ribs of curved screen portion elements 52 of rotatable screen device 50 define a first plurality of slots therebetween which have a first width.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 10 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said interleaved ribs of said composite fine screen form a second plurality of spaced-apart, generally horizontal slots. Fig. 4 shows the composite fine screen formed with a second plurality of spaced-apart, generally horizontal slots defined by the ribs of stationary screen 30.
Regarding claim 12, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 11 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said second plurality of slots of said composite fine screen have a second width which is less than said first width of said first plurality of slots of said rotatable screen. Fig. 4b shows curved screen elements 52 are shorter than the length of the slots in stationary screen 30 which limits the width of the slots in the second fine screen created by device 50 and screen 30.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said rotatable screen has a circumference (see “Circumference” annotation to Fig. 4b of Burhorst reproduced below) and an interior within said rotatable screen and bounded by said circumference thereof (see “Interior” annotation below).
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Regarding claim 16, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 15 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said rotatable screen has a removable section adapted to permit access to said interior of said rotatable screen upon removal of said removable section from said rotatable screen. Fig. 2 shows curved screen sections 51a-51c are fastened to drive shaft 53 which makes them removable to permit access to the interior of the rotatable screen device 50.
Regarding claim 17, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 16 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said removable section constitutes about one third of said circumference of said rotatable screen. Each curved screen section 51a-51c in Fig. 2 constitutes about one third of the circumference of rotatable screen device 50.
Regarding claim 18, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 16 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst does not disclose said removable section constitutes about one fourth of said circumference of said rotatable screen as claim 18 recites. However, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try dividing Burhorst’s rotatable screen device 50 into more or less sections than the three sections disclosed. A person of ordinary skill could have pursued dividing Burhorst’s rotatable screen device 50 into more than three sections with a reasonable expectation of success at arriving at dividing rotatable screen device 50 into four sections.
Regarding claim 21, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further teaches the first curved screen section of the stationary screen (screen 30 in Fig. 4b) is convex relative to the inlet end of the housing. When the teaching of Galanty 905 is applied to Burhorst’s apparatus, the Second Section of Burhorst’s screen 30 will be curved concave relative to the inlet end of the housing.
Regarding claim 22, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 21 unpatentable as explained above. The radius of curvature of the Second Section of screen 30 will be less than the radius of curvature of the First Curved Section when the teaching of Galanty 905 is applied to Burhorst in order to make the curvature of the Second Section closely adjacent to cutter assemblies 11 and 12 in the same way Galanty 905 teaches in Fig. 5.
Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,833,152 to Galanty, hereinafter “Galanty 152”.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. However, Burhorst does not disclose the rotatable screen includes a plurality of spaced-apart scraper bars adapted to rotate conjointly with said rotatable screen, each scraper bar of said plurality of scraper bars being positioned within a corresponding one of said first plurality of slots in said rotatable screen.
In the same field of comminuting apparatus, Galanty teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a plurality of spaced-apart scraper bars adapted to rotate in relation to a stationary screen in order to clean the slots of the stationary screen and divert solids toward a cutter assembly. See the written description at column 7, line 5-32 and column 9, line 5-19.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a scraper bar in Burhorst’s rotating screen device 50 to clean the slots in stationary screen 30 in the same way Galanty teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching Galanty to the comminuting apparatus of Burhorst would achieve the predictable result of adding a scraper bar to Burhorst’s rotating screen device 50.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and Galanty 152 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 4 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said stationary screen (stationary screen 30 in Figs. 1, 3 and 4a) includes a vertical support member coupled to said second screen section of said stationary screen and to a bottom of said housing (see “Vertical Support Member” annotation to Fig. 4b of Burhorst reproduced below).
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Regarding claim 6, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and Galanty 152 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 5 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said second screen section of said stationary screen (see Second Screen Section annotation to Fig. 4b in the rejection of claim 1 above) partially surrounds said cutter assembly (the Second Screen Section surrounds the right side of cutter assemblies 11 and 12), such that said cutter assembly is adapted to remove accumulated debris from said second screen section of said stationary screen (cutter assemblies 11 and 12 remove accumulated decries from the Second Screen Section as annotated above).
Regarding claim 7, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and Galanty 152 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 6 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said cutter assembly (cutter assemblies 11 and 12) is also adapted to remove accumulated debris from said vertical support member of said stationary screen (cutter assemblies 11 and 12 are capable of removing debris accumulated on the Vertical Support Member which accumulates therebetween).
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0084154 A1 by Amburgey, hereinafter “Amburgey”.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 12 unpatentable as explained above. However, Burhorst does not disclose said first plurality of ribs on said rotatable screen form a coarse screen at said outlet end of said housing.
In the same field of comminuting apparatus, Amburgey teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a rotatable screen with continuously circular rib rings 32 shown in Fig. 1, creating a coarse screen at the outlet of housing frame 12. See paragraphs [0017] and [0018].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make Burhorst’s curved screen section elements 52 into a continuous, circular rotatable screen in the same way Amburgey teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Amburgey to Burhorst’s comminuting apparatus would achieve the predictable result of making Burhorst’s comminuting apparatus have a rotatable screen with a coarse screen at the outlet of the housing.
Regarding claim 14, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and Amburgey renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 13 unpatentable as explained above. Burhorst further discloses said second screen section of said stationary screen (see Second Section annotation in the rejection of claim 1 above) is configured to screen solids comminuted by said cutter assembly (the Second Section is located down-stream from cutter assemblies 11 and 12 such that it is capable of screening solids previously comminuted by the cutter assemblies).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2023/0271191 A1 by Burhorst, hereinafter “Burhorst 191”.
Regarding claim 19, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905 renders claim 16 unpatentable as explained above. However, Burhorst does not disclose removable section constitutes about one half of said circumference of said rotatable screen, said removable section and said rotatable screen having substantially equivalent heights.
In the same field of comminuting apparatus, Burhorst 191 teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to divide a continuously-circular rotatable screen (30 in Fig. 2) into multiple screen sections (31a-c) with each section having a height equal to the height of the screen. See paragraph [0053].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make Burhorst’s curved screen section elements 52 into a continuous, circular rotatable screen divided into multiple screen sections in the same way Burhorst 191 teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Burhorst 191 to Burhorst’s comminuting apparatus would achieve the predictable result of configuring Burhorst’s rotatable screen device as a two-piece continuously circular rotatable screen.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhorst in view of Galanty 905, Burhorst 191 and further in view of Galanty 152.
Regarding claim 20, the prior art reference combination of Burhorst in view of Galanty 905, and Burhorst 191 renders the comminuting apparatus of claim 19 unpatentable as explained above. However, neither Burhorst, Galanty 905 nor Burhorst 191 teach said rotatable screen includes a pair of bifurcated pillars positioned in said interior of said rotatable screen on diametrically opposed sides thereof, each bifurcated pillar of said pair of bifurcated pillars including a plurality of removable, spaced-apart scraper bars adapted to rotate conjointly with said rotatable screen and said pair of bifurcated pillars, each scraper bar of said plurality of scraper bars being positioned within a corresponding one of said first plurality of slots in said rotatable screen.
In the same field of comminuting apparatus, Galanty 152 teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a pair of rotating bifurcated pillars including a plurality of removable, spaced-apart scraper bars adapted to clear the slots of a stationary screen. See the written description at column 7, line 5-32 and column 9, line 5-19. Fig. 3 shows bolts 44 hold the bifurcated parts of the pillars together to enable scraper bar teeth 38 to be removable from rotatable frame 33.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to mount Burhorst 191’s screen sections on Galanty 152’s rotatable frame 33 to provide a rotatable screen with scraper bars. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Galanty to the combined teaching of the Burhorst references would achieve the predictable result of a rotatable screen with interior scraper bars.
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 PAUL DEREK PRESSLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-6658. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am to 3:30pm Eastern.
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/P DEREK PRESSLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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