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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/02/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
Claims 1, 9, 17 and 19 are currently amended.
Claims 2, 3, 6-8, 10, 11, and 14-16 have been previously presented.
Claims 4, 5, 12, 13, 18, and 20 have been presented in original form.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 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) 1-4, 6-12, and 14-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. (US 2018/0040187) (hereinafter “Jeong”), previously cited by the examiner, in view of Kovacs et al. (US 8,857,707) (hereinafter “Kovacs”), previously cited by the examiner, and further in view of Nomura et al. (US 2014/0083814) (hereinafter “Nomura”).
Re claims 1 and 3, Jeong discloses a sheet processing apparatus (1), comprising:
a processing unit (100) unit having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (fig. 1), the processing unit including:
an opening (bill receiving unit 110, bill dispensing units 140 and 141) through which at least one of feeding a sheet in the sheet processing apparatus or feeding the sheet out from the sheet processing apparatus is performed and which is provided at the front side of the processing unit (fig. 1; paras. [0015]-[0016]); and
a transport path (122) (fig. 1);
a storage arranged (210a-c, 220a-c) in a storage chamber (200) to store the sheet, the storage chamber having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (see fig. 1);
a detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface at the front side of the processing unit or outer surface at the front side of the storage chamber to store the sheet (fig. 1; para. 0015);
a transport mechanism (120) to transport the sheet among the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), and the detachable container (300), the transport mechanism including at least one of a belt and roller (fig. 1; para. 0017);
control circuitry to control the processing unit (100), the storage (210a-c, 220a-c), the detachable container (300), and the transport mechanism (120) (paras. 0005, 0040).
Jeong fails to teach wherein the detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to mount the detachable container to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Jeong further fails to teach wherein at least one of the processing unit and the storage chamber is structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus, and the detachable container is mounted to the outer surface at a side opposite to a direction of pulling out the at least one of the processing unit and the storage chamber.
Kovacs discloses a sheet processing apparatus (10) comprising a processing unit structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus (fig. 2 shows upper fascia 86 in supporting connection with a rollout tray 80 that moves outside the apparatus 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong and Kovacs in order to allow the machine’s internal components to be accessible for servicing.
Jeong as modified by Kovacs fails to teach wherein the control circuitry controls the transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening, and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container and to be rejected, is transported to a destination other than the opening.
Nomura discloses a money handling apparatus comprising a control unit (190, 290) configured to control a transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening (see paras. 0274-0276), and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container (30) and to be rejected, is transported to a destination (224a) other than the opening (210a) (see para. 0155).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong, Kovacs, and Nomura in order to return abnormal banknotes such as skewed banknotes and overlapping banknotes fed through the opening for inspection by an operator, and to withhold abnormal banknotes transported from a detachable container for inspection by an authorized entity.
Re claim 2, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the processing unit is to be pulled out from a front side the sheet processing apparatus (Kovacs, fig. 2 shows upper fascia 86 in supporting connection with a rollout tray 80 that moves outside the apparatus 10).
Jeong as modified by Kovacs fails to teach wherein the detachable container is mounted to a back side of the sheet processing apparatus.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to mount the detachable container to a back side of the sheet processing apparatus, since it has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167.
Re claim 4 Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein
the opening includes an inlet (110) where the sheet is fed in (fig. 1), and
the processing unit (100) comprising a feeding mechanism (122) to feed out the sheet fed in the inlet one by one; and a recognition sensor (130) to recognize the sheet fed out by the feeding mechanism (122) and transported by the transport mechanism (120) (see Jeong, fig. 1).
Re claim 6, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the control circuitry performs a replenishing process of controlling the transport mechanism (120) such that the sheet stored in the detachable container (300) is transported to the storage (210a-c, 220a-c) (Jeong, fig. 4, and para. 0046).
Re claim 7, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the control circuitry performs a collection process of controlling the transport mechanism (120) such that the sheet stored in the storage (210a-c, 220a-c) is transported to the detachable container (300) (Jeong, fig. 4, and para. 0049).
Re claim 8, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura teaches a lock mechanism to prevent the processing unit from being pulled out (Kovacs, col. 3, lines 8-10).
Re claims 9 and 11, Jeong discloses a sheet processing apparatus (1), comprising:
a processing unit (100) having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (fig. 1), the processing unit including:
an opening (bill receiving unit 110, bill dispensing units 140 and 141) through which at least one of feeding a sheet in the sheet processing apparatus or feeding the sheet out from the sheet processing apparatus is performed and which is provided at the front side of the processing unit (fig. 1; paras. [0015]-[0016]); and a transport path (122) (fig. 1);
a storage (210a-c, 220a-c) arranged in a storage chamber (200) to store the sheet, the storage chamber having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (see fig. 1);
a detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface of the processing unit or the storage chamber to store the sheet (fig. 1; para. 0015);
a transport mechanism (120) to transport the sheet among the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), and the detachable container (300), the transport mechanism including at least one of a belt and roller (fig. 1; para. 0017);
control circuitry to control the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), the detachable container (300), and the transport mechanism (120) (paras. 0005, 0040);
a housing inside which the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), the transport mechanism (120), and the control circuitry are disposed, the housing having a first side surface and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface, wherein the detachable container (300) is mounted to the second side surface;
wherein the opening is disposed in an opening area formed on the first side surface of the housing (fig. 1).
Jeong fails to teach wherein the detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to mount the detachable container to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Jeong further fails to teach wherein at least one of the processing unit and the storage chamber is structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus from an opening area.
Kovacs discloses a sheet processing apparatus (10) comprising a processing unit structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus (fig. 2 shows upper fascia 86 in supporting connection with a rollout tray 80 that moves outside the apparatus 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong and Kovacs in order to allow the machine’s internal components to be accessible for servicing.
Jeong as modified by Kovacs fails to teach wherein the control circuitry controls the transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening, and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container and to be rejected, is transported to a destination other than the opening.
Nomura discloses a money handling apparatus comprising a control unit (190, 290) configured to control a transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening (see paras. 0274-0276), and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container (30) and to be rejected, is transported to a destination (224a) other than the opening (210a) (see para. 0155).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong, Kovacs, and Nomura in order to return abnormal banknotes such as skewed banknotes and overlapping banknotes fed through the opening for inspection by an operator, and to withhold abnormal banknotes transported from a detachable container for inspection by an authorized entity.
Re claim 10, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the opening area is provided at a front side (see Kovacs, fig. 2); and wherein the processing unit is configured to be pulled out from a front side the sheet processing apparatus (Kovacs, fig. 2 shows upper fascia 86 in supporting connection with a rollout tray 80 that moves outside the apparatus 10).
Jeong as modified by Kovacs fails to teach wherein the first side surface is formed on a front side of the sheet processing apparatus, the second side surface is formed on a back side of the sheet processing apparatus, the opening area is provided at the front side, and the processing unit is to be pulled out from a forward side of the and the detachable container is mounted to the back side of the sheet processing apparatus wherein the detachable container is mounted to a back side of the sheet processing apparatus.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to rearrange the front side to the back side and the back side to the front side, since it has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167.
Re claim 12 Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein:
the opening includes an inlet (110) where the sheet is fed in (fig. 1), and
the processing unit (100) comprising a feeding mechanism (122) to feed out the sheet fed in the inlet one by one; and a recognition sensor (130) to recognize the sheet fed out by the feeding mechanism (122) and transported by the transport mechanism (120) (see Jeong, fig. 1).
Re claim 14, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the control circuitry performs a replenishing process of controlling the transport mechanism (120) such that the sheet stored in the detachable container (300) is transported to the storage (210a-c, 220a-c) (Jeong, fig. 4, and para. 0046).
Re claim 15, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the control circuitry performs a collection process of controlling the transport mechanism (120) such that the sheet stored in the storage is transported to the detachable container (300) (Jeong, fig. 4, and para. 0049).
Re claim 16, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura teaches a lock mechanism to prevent the processing unit from being pulled out (Kovacs, col. 3, lines 8-10).
Re claims 17 and 18, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura discloses wherein the at least one of the processing unit and the storage chamber includes a door disposed at the opening area to open and close the opening (Jeong, door 210 shown in fig. 1; Kovacs, figs. 1 and 2); and wherein the door is lockable (Kovacs, col. 3, lines 8-10).
Re claim 19, Jeong discloses a sheet processing apparatus (1), comprising:
a processing unit (100) having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (fig. 1), the processing unit including an inlet and an outlet (bill receiving unit 110, bill dispensing units 140 and 141) through which at least one of feeding a sheet in the sheet processing apparatus or feeding the sheet out from the sheet processing apparatus is performed and which is provided at the front side of the processing unit (fig. 1; paras. [0015]-[0016]); and a transport path (122) (fig. 1);
a storage (210a-c, 220a-c) arranged in a storage chamber (200) to store the sheet, the storage chamber having a front side and a back side opposite to the front side (see fig. 1);
a detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface of the processing unit or an outer surface at the front side of the storage chamber to store the sheet (fig. 1; para. 0015);
a transport mechanism (120) to transport the sheet among the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), and the detachable container (300), the transport mechanism including at least one of a belt and roller (fig. 1; para. 0017);
control circuitry to control the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), the detachable container (300), and the transport mechanism (120) (paras. 0005, 0040);
a housing inside which the processing unit (100), the storage chamber (200), the transport mechanism (120), and the control circuitry are disposed, the housing having a first side surface and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface, wherein the detachable container (300) is mounted to the second side surface.
Jeong fails to teach wherein the detachable container (300) detachably mounted to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to mount the detachable container to an outer surface at the back side of the processing unit or outer surface at the back side of the storage chamber, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Jeong further fails to teach wherein the processing unit is structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus.
Kovacs discloses a sheet processing apparatus (10) comprising a processing unit structured to be pulled outside the sheet processing apparatus (fig. 2 shows upper fascia 86 in supporting connection with a rollout tray 80 that moves outside the apparatus 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong and Kovacs in order to allow the machine’s internal components to be accessible for servicing.
Jeong as modified by Kovacs fails to teach wherein the control circuitry controls the transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening, and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container and to be rejected, is transported to a destination other than the opening.
Nomura discloses a money handling apparatus comprising a control unit (190, 290) configured to control a transport mechanism such that a first rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed in from the opening and to be rejected, is transported to the opening (see paras. 0274-0276), and a second rejected sheet, which is a sheet fed from the detachable container (30) and to be rejected, is transported to a destination (224a) other than the opening (210a) (see para. 0155).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong, Kovacs, and Nomura in order to return abnormal banknotes such as skewed banknotes and overlapping banknotes fed through the opening for inspection by an operator, and to withhold abnormal banknotes transported from a detachable container for inspection by an authorized entity.
Claim(s) 5, 13, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Kovacs and Nomura, and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2016/0163144) (hereinafter “Lee”). The teachings of Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura have been discussed above.
Re claims 5 and 13, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura fails to teach wherein the processing unit further comprises a temporary storage disposed behind the recognition sensor and connected to the transport mechanism.
Lee discloses a sheet processing apparatus (10) comprising a temporary storage (30) disposed behind a recognition sensor (25) and connected to a transport mechanism (fig. 1; para. 0077).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong/Kovacs/Nomura and Lee in order to store abnormal bills or bills having a larger denomination.
Re claim 20, Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura further discloses wherein the processing unit (100) comprising a feeding mechanism (122) to feed out the sheet fed in the inlet one by one; and a recognition sensor (130) to recognize the sheet fed out by the feeding mechanism (122) and transported by the transport mechanism (120) (see Jeong, fig. 1).
Jeong as modified by Kovacs and Nomura fails to teach wherein the processing unit further comprises a temporary storage disposed behind the recognition sensor and connected to the transport mechanism.
Lee discloses a sheet processing apparatus (10) comprising a temporary storage (30) disposed behind a recognition sensor (25) and connected to a transport mechanism (fig. 1; para. 0077).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the teachings of Jeong/Kovacs/Nomura and Lee in order to store abnormal bills or bills having a larger denomination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/02/2026 have been fully considered but moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to APRIL A TAYLOR whose telephone number is (571)272-2403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday between 9am-6pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEVEN S PAIK can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/APRIL A TAYLOR/
Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/EDWYN LABAZE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights