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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 30 January 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 / 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 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.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-9, 13 and 30-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Lancaster (US Patent 5,911,666) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Lancaster (US Patent 5,911,666) in view of Salzsauler (US Patent 4,934,123).
Regarding claim 1, Lancaster discloses an unwrapping apparatus (100; figs. 4A and 6) for unwrapping first (110) and second (110a) loads (This is a limitation of intended use. The rotation of the mandrel 150 of Lancaster is capable of removing film that has been spirally wrapped as it is noted as being rotatable about the load. See col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35), the first load having a first continuous web of stretch film (125) spirally wrapped around the first load (110) and the second load (110a) having a second continuous web of stretch film (125a) spirally wrapped around the second load (This is a limitation of intended use. The unwrapping apparatus of Lancaster is capable of being used to unwrap first and second wrapped loads. See col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35 – “Once mandrel 150 has collected stretch wrap packaging material 125, the process to unwrap a new load 110a begins. Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125. The steps of removing the packaging material from a load and winding up the packaging material around mandrel 150 preferably are alternatingly repeated until a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads.”), comprising:
a take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) configured to, during a first unwrapping operation, collect the first continuous web of stretch film (125) unwrapped from the first load (110), and thereafter, during a second unwrapping operation, collect the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) unwrapped from the second load (110a) while the first continuous web of stretch film is disposed on the take up device and an end of the second continuous web of stretch film is attached to the first continuous web of stretch film disposed on the take up device (This is a limitation of intended use. The unwrapping apparatus of Lancaster is capable of being used to unwrap first and second wrapped loads. See col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35 – “Once mandrel 150 has collected stretch wrap packaging material 125, the process to unwrap a new load 110a begins. Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125. The steps of removing the packaging material from a load and winding up the packaging material around mandrel 150 preferably are alternatingly repeated until a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads.”);
a rotational drive (col. 5 lines 53-56 – “a power actuated mandrel... Mandrel 150 may be stationary or rotatable about turntable 114”; col. 6 lines 60-61 - “Alternatively, mandrel 150 rotate around a stationary load 110”) configured to generate relative rotation between the take up device and the first load about an axis of rotation during the first unwrapping operation, and generate relative rotation between the take up device and the second load about the axis of rotation during the second unwrapping operation (col. 7 lines 26-35); and
a controller (col. 6 lines 27-44; col. 8 lines 1-8) configured to control the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) and the rotational drive to perform the first and second unwrapping operations (col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35), the controller further configured to, when performing the second unwrapping operation on the second load (110a) while the first continuous web of stretch film (125) is disposed on the take up device, control the rotational drive to generate a plurality of relative rotations between the second load (110a) and the take up device to collect the second continuous web of stretch film with the take up device over the plurality of relative rotations between the second load (110a) and the take up device such that, after the second unwrapping operation, the first (125) and second (125a) continuous webs of stretch film are collected on the take up device as continuous webs (This is a limitation of intended use. The controller is deemed configured to perform this operation as it is effectively disclosed at col. 7 lines 26-35 – “a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads”).
Wherein the Applicant may argue that a rotation drive is not specifically cited, the Office alternatively points to Salzsauler.
Salzsauler teaches a rotational drive (26, 30, 32, 34) configured to generate relative rotation between a film carriage device (22; a film carriage is deemed to be analogous to the take up device of Lancaster with the difference that one collects and the other dispenses film which is a matter of the direction of rotation being used) and the load (16) about an axis of rotation (axis of 36).
Given the suggestion of Lancaster (col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61) and the teachings of Salzsauler (col. 4 lines 50-56), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify the rotating take up device of Lancaster so that it incorporated the rotational drive and axis of rotation of Salzsauler. Lancaster already discloses having a take up device that rotates around the load. Salzsauler teaches a similar film carriage device that rotates about an axis of rotation about a load. Doing so would allow the motion of the take up device of Lancaster to match the common stretch film wrapping pattern and more easily collect the film material.
Regarding claim 2, Lancaster discloses wherein the rotational drive (col. 5 lines 53-56 – “a power actuated mandrel... Mandrel 150 may be stationary or rotatable about turntable 114”; col. 6 lines 60-61 - “Alternatively, mandrel 150 rotate around a stationary load 110”) is configured to generate relative rotation (col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61) between the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) and the first load (110) about the axis of rotation to spirally unwrap the stretch film from the first load (This is a limitation of intended use. The rotation of the mandrel 150 of Lancaster is capable of removing film that has been spirally wrapped as it is noted as being rotatable about the load, col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35) and to generate relative rotation between the take up device and the second load (110a) about the axis of rotation to spirally unwrap the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) from the second load (This is a limitation of intended use. The unwrapping apparatus of Lancaster is capable of being used to unwrap first and second wrapped loads. See col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35 – “Once mandrel 150 has collected stretch wrap packaging material 125, the process to unwrap a new load 110a begins. Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125. The steps of removing the packaging material from a load and winding up the packaging material around mandrel 150 preferably are alternatingly repeated until a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads.”).
Wherein the Applicant may argue that an axis of rotation to spirally unwrap the stretch film is not specifically disclosed, the Office alternatively points to Salzsauler.
Salzsauler teaches a rotational drive (26, 30, 32, 34) is configured to generate relative rotation between a film carriage device (22; a film carriage is deemed to be analogous to the take up device of Lancaster with the difference that one collects and the other dispenses film which is a matter of the direction of rotation being used) and the load (16) about the axis of rotation (axis of 36) to spirally (col. 4 lines 50-56) unwrap the stretch film from the load.
Given the suggestion of Lancaster (col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61) and the teachings of Salzsauler (col. 4 lines 50-56), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify the rotating take up device of Lancaster so that it incorporated the axis of rotation of Salzsauler. Lancaster already discloses having a take up device that rotates around the load and that the take up device vertically displaceable. Salzsauler teaches a similar film carriage device that rotates about an axis of rotation about a load in a spiral pattern. Doing so would allow the motion of the take up device of Lancaster to match the common stretch film pattern of a spiral and more easily collect the film material.
Regarding claim 4, Lancaster discloses wherein the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) is configured to collect the first continuous web of stretch film (125) unwrapped from the first load (110) and the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) from the second load (110a) into a roll (212) of stretch film (This is a limitation of intended use. The unwrapping apparatus of Lancaster is capable of being used in the cited manner. See col. 7 lines 26-38 – “Once mandrel 150 has collected stretch wrap packaging material 125, the process to unwrap a new load 110a begins. Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125. The steps of removing the packaging material from a load and winding up the packaging material around mandrel 150 preferably are alternatingly repeated until a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads.”).
Regarding claim 5, Lancaster discloses wherein the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) is configured to collect the first continuous web of stretch film (125) unwrapped from the first load (110) and the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) form the second load (110a) into the roll of stretch film by winding the collected first continuous web of stretch film and the collected second continuous web of stretch film into a roll form (212; col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-38 - “Once mandrel 150 has collected stretch wrap packaging material 125, the process to unwrap a new load 110a begins. Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125. The steps of removing the packaging material from a load and winding up the packaging material around mandrel 150 preferably are alternatingly repeated until a rolled bale 212 of stretch wrap packaging material is formed from the stretch wrap packaging material removed from a plurality of loads.”).
Regarding claim 6, Lancaster discloses wherein the take up device is configured to wind the collected first continuous web of stretch film (125) into the roll (212) form and the second continuous web of stretch film from the second load by rolling the collected first continuous web of stretch film (125) and the collected second continuous web of stretch film (125a) onto a core (col. 7 lines 26-44 – “Disposable mandrels”).
Regarding claim 7, Lancaster discloses wherein the core (col. 7 lines 26-46 – “Disposable mandrels”) is sized and configured for use as a supply roll in a stretch film wrapping apparatus (This is a limitation of intended use. The Office deems that formed rolls 212 as seen in fig. 6 can be used as supply roll as it is a roll of stretch film which can be spooled off of to provide a supply of film; see also col. 5 lines 52-53 – “Mandrel 150 may be reusable”).
Regarding claim 8, Lancaster discloses wherein the first continuous web of stretch film (125) unwrapped from the first load (110) includes a first length of stretch film, the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) unwrapped from the second load (110a) includes a second length of stretch film, and the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) is configured to wind the collected second first continuous web of stretch film into the roll (212; col. 7 lines 26-38) form after a lap seal (col. 7 lines 26-30 – “Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125” – According to the Applicant’s own disclosure, see Specification paragraphs 0144 and 0186, a lap seal can be formed by having one piece of stretch film placed on top of another. As such, Lancaster disclosing one piece of stretch film being placed over another and then winding around that connection is deemed to disclose the cited “lap seal”; This is further deemed to be a limitation of intended use, as what is being claimed is the capability of winding two films after a lap seal has been formed, but does not positively recite the means for producing such a lap seal) is formed between an end of the first length of stretch film and an end of the second length of stretch film (col. 7 lines 26-44).
Regarding claim 9, Lancaster discloses wherein the lap seal joins the first (125) and second (125a) lengths of stretch film into a continuous web (212) of stretch film (col. 7 lines 26-46; – “Stretch wrap packaging material 125a off new load 110a is wound on top of the previous stretch wrap packaging material 125” – According to the Applicant’s own disclosure, see Specification paragraphs 0144 and 0186, a lap seal can be formed by having one piece of stretch film placed on top of another. As such, Lancaster disclosing one piece of stretch film being placed over another and then winding around that connection is deemed to disclose the cited “lap seal”; Furthermore, the “lab seal” limitation is referring to how the apparatus is intended to be employed and is not itself part of the apparatus).
Regarding claim 13, Lancaster (alternatively as modified by Salzsauler above) discloses wherein the axis of rotation is a first axis of rotation (Salzsauler – axis of 36), the first continuous web of stretch film (Lancaster - 125) is spirally wrapped (Lancaster - col. 5 lines 53-56 and col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35; Salzsauler - col. 4 lines 50-56) around the first load (Lancaster - 110) throughout a wrapped region of the first load (The limitation of “the load being spirally wrapped around the load throughout a wrapped region of the load” is deemed to be a limitation of intended use since parent claim 1 does not positively recite the load, but instead only references “the load” in terms of something the take up device needs to be “configured to collect stretch film” from and that the “rotational drive configured to generate relative rotation between the take up device and the load”), and the take up device (Lancaster - 150, 152, 154, 158) includes a collection roller (Lancaster - 150) rotatable about a second axis (Lancaster - axis of 166) of rotation (Lancaster - via 164; col. 6 lines 37-41; col. 7 lines 17-19) and having a length along the second axis of rotation that is at least as long as a distance between opposing edges of the wrapped region of the first load (Lancaster - col. 7 lines 8-9 – “Such bales may be about the height of the load or the height of the wrapped packaging material on the load.”; Figs. 4A and 6 show that 150 is at least the length of bales 212; This limitation is also deemed to be a limitation of intended use as it tries to define a length by a measurement of a hypothetical load which could be of any size or dimension including those smaller than collection roller 150).
Regarding claim 30, Lancaster discloses wherein the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) includes a collection roller (150) rotatable about a second axis (axis of 166) of rotation (via 164; col. 6 lines 37-41; col. 7 lines 17-19) and having a length along the second axis of rotation, and wherein, during the first unwrapping operation, the first continuous web of stretch film (125) is wound around the collection roller at a plurality of elevations along the collection roller (This is a limitation of intended use. When unwrapping a spirally wrapped load, the take up device 150 of Lancaster would receive the film at various vertical positions corresponding to the height on the load the film transferred from the load to the take up device.).
Regarding claim 31, Lancaster (alternatively as modified by Salzsauler above) discloses wherein an elevation of a portion of the first continuous web of stretch film (Lancaster - 125) extending between the load (Lancaster - 110) and the take up device (Lancaster - 150, 152, 154, 158) changes (This is a limitation of intended use. When unwrapping a spirally wrapped load, the take up device 150 of Lancaster would receive the film at various vertical positions corresponding to the height on the load the film transferred from the load to the take up device.) relative to that of the take up device while the controller (col. 6 lines 27-44; col. 8 lines 1-8) controls the rotational drive (Lancaster - col. 5 lines 53-56 – “a power actuated mandrel... Mandrel 150 may be stationary or rotatable about turntable 114”; col. 6 lines 60-61 - “Alternatively, mandrel 150 rotate around a stationary load 110”; Salzsauler - 26, 30, 32, 34) to generate the plurality of relative rotations between the first load and the take up device during the first unwrapping operation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8 January 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The amendments are deemed to overcome the 35 USC 112a new matter rejections of the previous final office action.
The amendments are not deemed to distinguish over the cited prior art of Lancaster. As detailed above, Lancaster is deemed to disclose a take up device configured to, during a first unwrapping operation, collect the first continuous web of stretch film (125) unwrapped from the first load (110), and thereafter, during a second unwrapping operation, collect the second continuous web of stretch film (125a) unwrapped from the second load (110a) while the first continuous web of stretch film is disposed on the take up device and an end of the second continuous web of stretch film is attached to the first continuous web of stretch film disposed on the take up device (col. 7 lines 26-35). Lancaster further discloses a controller (col. 6 lines 27-44; col. 8 lines 1-8) configured to control the take up device (150, 152, 154, 158) and the rotational drive to perform the first and second unwrapping operations (col. 5 lines 53-56; col. 6 lines 60-61; col. 7 lines 26-35), the controller further configured to, when performing the second unwrapping operation on the second load (110a) while the first continuous web of stretch film (125) is disposed on the take up device, control the rotational drive to generate a plurality of relative rotations between the second load (110a) and the take up device to collect the second continuous web of stretch film with the take up device over the plurality of relative rotations between the second load (110a) and the take up device such that, after the second unwrapping operation, the first (125) and second (125a) continuous webs of stretch film are collected on the take up device as continuous webs (col. 7 lines 26-35).
As best understood in view of the instant invention (Specification paragraphs 0144, 0186) and the prior art, webs 125 and 125a make up a continuous web 212 because they are placed on top of one another when winding in the same way the Applicant’s webs are placed on one another in the forming of the lap seal.
Furthermore, even if some narrower reading of the “continuous web of stretch film” limitation was required to be read into the claims, the claims recite that the instant invention is merely “configured to... control the rotational drive to generate a plurality of relative rotations between the second load and the take up device to collect the second continuous web of stretch film with the take up device over the plurality of relative rotations between the second load and the take up device such that, after the second unwrapping operation, the first and second continuous webs of stretch film are collected on the take up device as continuous webs”. This amounts to a limitation of intended use. The prior art of Lancaster is deemed to be capable of being used in the claimed manner, and thus would still read on the claim even if the limitations were given a narrower limitation.
The Applicant argues that the web of Lancaster is removed using a “vertical cut on the load”. Such a vertical cut is not found in Lancaster and not found in the embodiment utilized in Lancaster. Per col. 6 lines 18-61 of Lancaster, the web material is wound around the mandrel 150 which “rotate around a stationary load”. This is the same way in which the Applicant’s apparatus operates. This means that it would be configured to perform the claimed actions. As such, even if Lancaster were to disclose a mode of operation in which a vertical cut was utilized, the prior art of Lancaster would still be “configured to” perform the claimed actions as it would simply be a matter of a user choosing to operate it without a cut and having the mandrel take up the entire length of the web.
The Applicant’s arguments are deemed to relate primarily to preferred modes of operation but do not draw structural distinctions between the claimed invention and the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW M TECCO whose telephone number is (571)270-3694. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11a-7p.
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/ANDREW M TECCO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731