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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informality: “heat seal block bottom surface,” in line 9 should read “a bottom surface of the heat seal block,”.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“clamping plate bottom surface” in line 6 should read “bottom surface of the clamping plate”.
“knife stop plate bottom surface,” in lines 11-12 should read “bottom surface of the knife stop plate,”.
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“having” in line 3 should read “the spring dock block having”.
“therein, and” in line 3 should read “therein which”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the nesting stray assembly" in line 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitation as if it instead reads “the nesting tray assembly”.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the heat seal machine" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitation as if it instead reads “the heat sealing machine”.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the clamping gasket shoulder support" in line 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitation as if it instead reads “the clamping gasket support shoulder”.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the knife opening" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The limitation would have proper antecedent basis if claim 8 depended from claim 5 instead of claim 1. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitation as if claim 8 depends from claim 5 instead of claim 1.
Claim 9 recites the limitations “the clamping plate” and "the knife opening" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. The limitations would have proper antecedent basis if claim 9 depended from claim 5 instead of claim 1. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitations as if claim 9 depends from claim 5 instead of claim 1.
Claim 10 recites the limitations “the clamping plate” and "the knife opening" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. The limitations would have proper antecedent basis if claim 10 depended from claim 5 instead of claim 1. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitations as if claim 10 depends from claim 5 instead of claim 1.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the clamping plate” in lines 2-3 and the limitation "the plurality of knife position springs" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. The limitations would have proper antecedent basis if claim 11 depended from claim 5 instead of claim 1. For examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting the limitations as if claim 11 depends from claim 5 instead of claim 1.
Claims 2-15 are rejected as being indefinite because they depend from claim 1.
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.
(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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 12, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rimondi (EP 1842776 A2).
Regarding claim 1, Rimondi discloses a heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 2) for heat sealing a blister package (V after being sealed with a cut portion of film 112 in Figure 2), the heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 2) comprising:
a nesting tray assembly (3 in Figure 2-5) having a blister nest (103 in Figure 2) for receiving a blister tray (V in Figure 2-5) of the blister package (as shown in Figure 2), a sealing gasket support shoulder (2 in Figures 2 and 3) having a shape that is complimentary to a backing sheet shape of a backing sheet (the portion of film 112 cut off by 27 and sealed to V) for the blister package (clear when Figures 1 and 2 are viewed in relation to each other), and a clamping gasket support shoulder (6 in Figures 2-5) surrounding the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) so that a knife slicing groove (4 in Figures 2 and 3) is defined between the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) and the clamping gasket support shoulder (6) (apparent from Figures 2 and 3);
a heater assembly (21 in Figures 2-5) having a heat seal block (the portion of 21 above the bottom protruding portion of 21, which is shown circled and labeled “heat seal block” in an annotated version of Figure 3 of Rimondi, hereinafter Figure 3x, below) with a heat seal shoulder (the bottom protruding portion of 21 shown circled and labeled “heat seal shoulder” in Figure 3x below) extending downward from heat seal block bottom surface (apparent from Figure 3x below), wherein the heater assembly (21) is disposed above the nesting tray assembly (3) (apparent from Figures 2 and 3); and
a seal and cut tooling assembly (17, 117, and 27 collectively in Figure 2) having a clamping shoulder (117) and a knife (27) having a knife shape that is complimentary to the backing sheet shape (Col. 7 lines 12-16), wherein the knife (27) is extendable past the clamping shoulder (117) and is movable relative to the clamping shoulder (117) (apparent when Figures 3-5 are viewed in relation to one another), wherein the seal and cut tooling assembly (17, 117, and 27 collectively) is disposed between the nesting tray assembly (3) and the heater assembly (21) (it is apparent from Figures 2 and 3 that at least part 117 of the seal and cut tooling assembly is disposed between the nesting tray assembly 3 and the heater assembly),
wherein a backing material web (112 in Figure 2) extends between the nesting stray assembly (3) and the seal and cut tooling assembly (17, 117, and 27 collectively) (apparent from Figure 2), wherein the heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 2) operates to clamp the backing material web (112) between the clamping shoulder (117) and the clamping gasket support shoulder (6) (as shown in figure 3), to clamp the backing material web (112) between the heat seal shoulder (shown circled and labeled “heat seal shoulder” in Figure 3x below) and the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) (as shown in Figure 4), and to extend the knife (27) between the clamping gasket support shoulder (6) and the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) and into the knife slicing groove (4) to cut the backing sheet (the portion of film 112 cut off by 27 and sealed to V) from the backing material web (112) (as shown in Figure 5).
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Figure 3x: an annotated version of Figure 3 of Rimondi
Regarding claim 2, Rimondi discloses that the heat seal machine (shown in Figure 2) operates to clamp the backing material web (112) between the clamping shoulder (117) and the clamping gasket support shoulder (6) before clamping the backing material web (112) between the heat seal shoulder (shown circled and labeled “heat seal shoulder” in Figure 3x above) and the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) (apparent when Figure 3 is viewed in relation to Figure 4).
Regarding claim 4, Rimondi discloses that the heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 2) operates to move the clamping shoulder (117), the heat seal block (shown circled and labeled “heat seal block” in Figure 3x above) and the knife (27) together until the backing material web (112) is clamped between the clamping gasket support shoulder (6) and the clamping shoulder (117) (apparent when Figure 2 is viewed in relation to Figure 3), to move the heat seal block (shown circled and labeled “heat seal block” in Figure 3x above) and the knife (27) together independent of the clamping shoulder (117) until the backing material web (112) is clamped between the sealing gasket support shoulder (6) and the heat seal shoulder (shown circled and labeled “heat seal shoulder” in Figure 3x above) (apparent when Figure 3 is viewed in relation to Figure 4), and to extend the knife (27) independent of the clamping shoulder (117) and the heat seal block (shown circled and labeled “heat seal block” in Figure 3x above) to cut the backing sheet (the portion of film 112 cut off by 27 and sealed to V) from the backing material web (112) (apparent when Figure 4 is viewed in relation to Figure 5).
Regarding claim 12, Rimondi discloses that the heater assembly (21) comprises a heat platen (the “heat seal shoulder” shown circled in Figure 3x above) mounted to a bottom surface of a moving plate (the “heat seal block” shown circled in Figure 3x above) (apparent from Figure 3x above), and that a plurality of moving plate float springs (springs 26 in Figure 3) bias the moving plate (the “heat seal block” shown circled in Figure 3x above) toward a lower support plate (6 or 2 in Figure 3) (apparent from Figure 3x above, Col. 6 lines 42-50).
Regarding claim 14, Rimondi discloses that the knife (27) includes a serrated bottom edge (227 in Figure 2, which is serrated because it has “sawteeth”) having a plurality of teeth (the “sawteeth” described in Col. 6 line 54) configured to pierce the backing material web (112) (Col. 6 lines 50-55).
Regarding claim 15, Rimondi discloses a web feed assembly (12, 13, and 113 collectively in Figure 2) having a feed roll (12) for supplying the backing material web (112) and a web take-up assembly (14, 313, and 213 collectively in Figure 2) having a take-up roll (14) for collecting scrap portions of the backing material web (112) after cutting the backing sheet (the portion of film 112 cut off by 27 and sealed to V) (Col. 5 lines 14-23, clear from Figure 2).
Claims 1, 5-7, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Iuchi et al. (US 2004/0206048), hereinafter Iuchi.
Regarding claim 1, Iuchi discloses a heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 1) for heat sealing a blister package (C and L collectively after assembly in Figure 8), the heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 1) comprising:
a nesting tray assembly (11 in Figure 1) having a blister nest (21 in Figure 1) for receiving a blister tray (C) of the blister package (C and L collectively after assembly in Figure 8) (Paragraph 0027), a sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22 in Figure 3) having a shape that is complimentary to a backing sheet shape of a backing sheet (L) for the blister package (clear from Figures 3 and 6 and Paragraph 0027/0045), and a clamping gasket support shoulder (25 in Figure 3) surrounding the sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22) so that a knife slicing groove (23 in Figures 1 and 3) is defined between the sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22) and the clamping gasket support shoulder (25) (apparent from Figure 3, Paragraph 0026);
a heater assembly (16 in Figures 1-6) having a heat seal block (61 and the portion of 62 above 71 in Figure 3, collectively) with a heat seal shoulder (71 in Figure 3) extending downward from heat seal block bottom surface (apparent from Figure 3, Paragraphs 0032-0034), wherein the heater assembly (16) is disposed above the nesting tray assembly (11) (apparent from Figures 1 and 5a); and
a seal and cut tooling assembly (34, 17, 81-84, and 15 collectively in Figure 1) having a clamping shoulder (81) and a knife (51 in Figures 1-3) having a knife shape that is complimentary to the backing sheet shape (shape of L) (Paragraphs 0031, 0044, and 0025), wherein the knife (51) is extendable past the clamping shoulder (81) and is movable relative to the clamping shoulder (81) (apparent when Figure 5(c) is viewed in relation to Figure 6(d)), wherein the seal and cut tooling assembly (34, 17, 81-84, and 15 collectively) is disposed between the nesting tray assembly (11) and the heater assembly (16) (apparent from Figures 1 and 5(a)),
wherein a backing material web (F in Figures 1, 5, and 6) extends between the nesting stray assembly (11) and the seal and cut tooling assembly (34, 17, 81-84, and 15 collectively) (apparent from Figures 1 and 5(a)), wherein the heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 1) operates to clamp the backing material web (F) between the clamping shoulder (81) and the clamping gasket support shoulder (25) (as shown in Figure 5(b)), to clamp the backing material web (F) between the heat seal shoulder (71) and the sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22) (as shown in figure 5(c)), and to extend the knife (51) between the clamping gasket support shoulder (25) and the sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22) and into the knife slicing groove (23) to cut the backing sheet (L) from the backing material web (F) (as shown in Figures 6(d) and 3).
Regarding claim 5, Iuchi discloses that the seal and cut tooling assembly (34, 17, 81-84, and 15 collectively) comprises:
a knife stop plate (the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in an annotated version of Figure 1 of Iuchi, hereinafter Figure 1x, below) having a heat seal block opening (43 in Figures 1 and 5) for receiving the heat seal block (61 and the portion of 62 above 71 in Figure 3, collectively) therethrough (Paragraph 0032);
a clamping plate (17 in Figures 1-6) having a knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17 in Figures 1 and 5) and the clamping shoulder (81) extending downward from a clamping plate bottom surface (bottom surface of 17 in Figures 1-6) and surrounding the knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17) (apparent from Figures 1 and 5, Paragraph 0036), the clamping plate (17) operatively connected to the knife stop plate (the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in Figure 1x below) to allow movement of the clamping plate (17) toward and away from the knife stop plate (apparent when Figures 5 and 6 are viewed in relation to each other, Paragraph 0036); and
a plurality of knife position springs (springs 84 in Figures 1 and 5) biasing the clamping plate (17) away from the knife stop plate (the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in Figure 1x below) (Paragraph 0036),
wherein the knife (51) is mounted to and extends downward from a knife stop plate bottom surface (the bottom surface of the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in Figure 1x below) (apparent from Figure 1x below), encircles the heat seal block opening (43) (apparent from Figure 1) and is aligned within the knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17) (apparent from Figures 1 and 2) such that the plurality of knife position springs (springs 84) are compressed and the knife (51) extends through the knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17) to cut the backing sheet (L) from the backing material web (F) after the clamping shoulder (81) engages the clamping gasket shoulder support (25) (apparent when Figures 5, 6, and 3 are viewed in relation to one another, Paragraphs 0043-0045).
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Figure 1x: an annotated version of Figure 1 of Iuchi
Regarding claim 6, Iuchi discloses that the plurality of knife position springs (springs 84) are preloaded (because springs 84 are in contact with 34 and the structure directly above 17 in Figure 1, as is clear from Figure 1 and Paragraph 0036, and are therefore under a force exerted by 34 and the structure directly above 17).
Regarding claim 7, Iuchi discloses that a knife mounting block (the horizontal portion of 15 shown circled and labeled “knife mounting block” in a second annotated version of Figure 1 of Iuchi, hereinafter Figure 1y, below) connects the knife (51) to the bottom surface (the bottom surface of the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in Figure 1x above) of the knife stop plate (the horizontal portion of 34 shown circled and labeled “knife stop plate” in Figure 1x above) (apparent from Figure 1y is viewed in relation to Figure 1x).
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Figure 1y: a second annotated version of Figure 1 of Iuchi
Regarding claim 9, Iuchi discloses that the heat seal block (61 and the portion of 62 above 71 in Figure 3, collectively) moves independent of the clamping plate (17) and through the knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17) of the clamping plate (17) to clamp the backing material web (F) between the sealing gasket support shoulder (24 or 22) and the heat seal shoulder (71) after clamping the backing material web (F) between the clamping gasket support shoulder (25) and the clamping shoulder (81) (apparent from the transition from Figure 6(d) to Figure 6(e)).
Regarding claim 10, Iuchi discloses that the heat seal block (61 and the portion of 62 above 71 in Figure 3, collectively) moves independent of the clamping plate (17) and through the knife opening (the through-hole going through the middle of 17) of the clamping plate (17) (apparent from the transition from Figure 6(d) to Figure 6(e)).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rimondi in view of Biehl (DE 4404984 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Rimondi discloses that the blister tray (V) has an attachment surface (B in Figure 2) extending outwardly and resting on the sealing gasket support shoulder (2) when the blister tray (V) is resident within the blister nest (103) (apparent from Figure 2, Paragraph 0004).
However, Rimondi does not disclose: an adhesive coating is applied to one of the backing material web and the attachment surface, and wherein the heat sealing machine operates to heat the heat seal block so that the heat seal shoulder applies heat to activate the adhesive coating to attach the backing sheet to the attachment surface when the backing material web is clamped between the heat seal shoulder and the sealing gasket support shoulder.
Biehl teaches that it was known to: apply an adhesive coating (the “hot melt adhesive” described in Paragraph 0035 of Machine Translation of DE 4404984 A1) to a backing sheet (D in Figures 1-3) (Paragraph 0035 of Machine Translation of DE 4404984 A1), and operate a heat sealing machine (shown in Figure 1) to heat a heat seal block (11 in Figures 1-3) so that a heat seal shoulder (14 in Figures 1-3) applies heat to activate the adhesive coating (“hot melt adhesive”) to attach the backing sheet (D) to an attachment surface (top surface of F in Figures 1-3) of a tray (13 in Figures 1-3) when the backing sheet (D) is clamped between the heat seal shoulder (14) and a sealing gasket support shoulder (18 in Figure 2 and 3) (as shown in Figure 3, Paragraphs 0034-0036 of Machine Translation of DE 4404984 A1), in order to seamlessly and tightly adapt the backing sheet (D) to irregularities of the attachment surface (top surface of F in Figures 1-3) and gently provide a completely tight and as-wide-as-possible seal between the backing sheet (D) and the attachment surface (top surface of F in Figures 1-3) (Page 4 lines 126-146 and Paragraph 0035 of Machine Translation of DE 4404984 A1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Rimondi to incorporate the teachings of Biehl so that: an adhesive coating is applied to the backing material web, and the heat sealing machine operates to heat the heat seal block so that the heat seal shoulder applies heat to activate the adhesive coating to attach the backing sheet to the attachment surface when the backing material web is clamped between the heat seal shoulder and the sealing gasket support shoulder, because doing so would seamlessly and tightly adapt the backing sheet to irregularities of the attachment surface and gently provide a completely tight and as-wide-as-possible seal between the backing sheet and the attachment surface.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iuchi in view of Moran et al. (WO 2020002934 A1), hereinafter Moran.
Regarding claim 11, Iuchi discloses all the limitations of the claim as stated above except: the seal and cut tooling assembly includes a spring dock block mounted in a clamping plate top surface of the clamping plate, having a spring recess defined therein, and receives a knife position spring end of one of the plurality of knife position springs.
Moran teaches that it was known to provide a tooling assembly (shown in Figure 12) with a spring dock block (18 in Figures 8, 12, and 14) mounted in a clamping plate top surface (the top surface of 13 in Figure 8) of a clamping plate (13 in Figures 8, 12, and 14) (it is apparent from Figures 8 and 12 that wall 182 of block 18 is received in a groove in the top surface of 13 which extends around the perimeter of 13), having a spring recess (11 in Figure 6) defined therein (apparent from Figure 6), and receives a knife position spring end (bottom end of 60 in Figures 12 and 14) of one of a plurality of knife position springs (springs 60 in Figures 12 and 14) (Page 13 lines 4-6), in order to allow pressure to be applied evenly at a bottom surface (12 in Figures 4, 5, and 10-13) of the clamping plate (13, 14, and 16 collectively) (Page 13 lines 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Iuchi to incorporate the teachings of Moran by providing the seal and cut tooling assembly with a spring dock block mounted in a clamping plate top surface of the clamping plate, having a spring recess defined therein, and receives a knife position spring end of one of the plurality of knife position springs, because doing so would allow pressure to be applied evenly at a bottom surface of the clamping plate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 8, the closest prior art reference, Iuchi (see 102 rejections of claims 1 and 5 above), taken alone or in combination with the prior art as a whole, fails to teach or render obvious any of the limitations of claim 8.
Regarding claim 13, the closest prior art references, Rimondi and Iuchi (see 102 rejections of claim 1 above), taken alone or in combination with the prior art as a whole, fails to teach or render obvious any of the limitations of claim 13.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The patent documents listed on the PTO-892 form teach limitations of the claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TANZIM IMAM whose telephone number is (571)272-2216. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri 8:00AM - 4:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelley Self can be reached on 571-272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TANZIM IMAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731