Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
2. Claim 13 is 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 13 depends from claim 13. In other words, claim 13 depends from itself. It is unclear as the scope of claim 13. Further clarification is needed to understand this claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
3. Claims 1-2, 6, 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 4,727,803 (Nobuta et al.) (hereinafter “Nobuta”).
Regarding claim 1, Figs. 1-4 show Blanks storage unit (Fig. 1), for storing a stack of blanks (1), comprising:
- an inlet section (2) of said blanks (1) and an outlet section (2’) of said blanks (1),
- a feed device (including 4, 22 and 22) comprising a support device (including 4 and 22) intended to restingly receive said blanks (1) of said stack of blanks (1) and a feed element (22) for moving said blanks (1) along a feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) from said inlet section (2) towards said outlet section (2’);
- a guide device (including 3 and 7) configured to facilitate the sliding of the blanks (1) in a section (adjacent 21) of the feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) adjacent to the inlet section (2)
- wherein at least one (including 3 and 7) of said support device (including 4 and 22) or said guide device (including 3 and 7) is movable with respect to the other (including 4 and 22) along a lifting trajectory (up or down) between a transport configuration (down) in which said support device (including 4 and 22) defines in said section (adjacent 21) a feed plane of said blanks (1) and said blanks (1) rest on said support device (including 4 and 22) and a sliding configuration (up) in which said guide device (including 3 and 7) is at least partially lifted with respect to said support device (including 4 and 22) and said blanks (1) rest on said guide device (including 3 and 7) to be slidingly guided along said section (adjacent 21) towards said outlet section (2’).
Regarding claim 2, Figs. 1-4 show that said support device (including 4 and 22) comprises at least one feed belt (22) configured to restingly receive said blanks (1), said at least one feed belt (22) extending along said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Figs. 1-4 show that said support device (including 4 and 22) comprises at least a first feed belt (22) and at least a second feed belt (22) intended to support distinct portions of said blanks (1), said second feed belt (22) being flanked to said first feed belt (22) along said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) and spaced from said first feed belt (22) in a direction perpendicular to the feed direction (right in Fig.1)
Regarding claim 10, MPEP 2115 states that “[i]nclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims." In re Otto, 312 F.2d 937, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963); see also In re Young, 75 F.2d 996, 25 USPQ 69 (CCPA 1935).” Since the recitation, “Apparatus for packaging boxed articles comprising a storage unit according to claim 1” depends upon the material or article acted upon by the structure being claimed, this recitation does not patentably distinguish claim 10 from the prior art apparatus of Nobuta.
Regarding claim 11, Figs. 1-4 disclose Method for storing a stack of blanks (1) comprising:
- loading a stack of blanks (1) onto a support device (including 4 and 22) of a storage unit (Fig. 4) of said blanks (1) intended to support said blanks (1),
- feeding the blanks (1) of said stack of blanks (1) along a feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) from an inlet section (2) to said an outlet section (2’) of said storage unit (Fig. 4),
- arranging a guide device (including 3 and 7) in a section (adjacent 21) of the feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) adjacent to the inlet section (2) to guide the sliding of said blanks (1) in said section (adjacent 21),
- moving at least one blank (1) between said support device (including 4 and 22) and said guide device (including 3 and 7) with respect to the other of said support device (including 4 and 22) and said guide device (including 3 and 7) along a lifting trajectory (up or down) between a transport configuration (down) in which said support device (including 4 and 22) defines a feed plane of said blanks (1) and said blanks (1) rest on said support device (including 4 and 22) and a sliding configuration (up) in which, in said section (adjacent 21), said guide device (including 3 and 7) is at least partially lifted with respect to said support device (including 4 and 22) and said blanks (1) rest on said guide device (including 3 and 7) to be guided in sliding towards said outlet section (2’).
Regarding claim 14, Figs. 1-4 show that said moving comprises moving said guide device (including 3 and 7) from said transport configuration (down) to said sliding configuration (up) along a lifting trajectory (up or down) having at least one vertical lifting component (up) and at least one transport component (right or left) parallel to and opposite to said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1).
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.
4. Claims 3-5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nobuta as applied to claims 2 and 11 above, and further in view of Japanese Publication No.5-208742 (hereinafter “JP’742”).
With regard to claim 3, Nobuta teaches that said guide device (including 3 and 7) comprises at least one slide (31) configured to restingly receive said blanks (1) in said sliding configuration (up). Nobuta teaches all of the limitations of this claim, except for the slide having a lower coefficient of friction than that of the feed belt, as claimed.
With regard to claim 12, Figs. 1-4 of Nobuta show said support device (including 4 and 22) comprises at least one feed belt (22) and said guide device (including 3 and 7) comprises at least one slide (31) extending along said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) and said guide device (including 3 and 7) comprises flanking in said sliding configuration (up) along said section (adjacent 21) said at least one slide (31) to said at least one feed belt (22) so that said at least one slide (31) is at least partially lifted with respect to said at least one feed belt (22), but Nobuta does not show that the at least one slide (31) has a lower coefficient of friction with respect to a coefficient of friction of said at least one feed belt (22), as claimed.
JP’742 shows that it is well-known in the art to provide a blanks storage unit (Fig. 1) with at least one slide (8) being made of a material having a lower coefficient of friction with respect to a coefficient of friction of at least one feed belt (1) to facilitate the sliding of blanks (2) on said at least one slide (8) in a section of a feed trajectory (left direction in Fig. 1). See, e.g., numbered paragraph [0018]. Numbered paragraphs [0010] - [0011] explain that this arrangement prevents damage of paper sheets due to friction. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the Nobuta apparatus with a slide and a feed belt, in which the slide has a lower coefficient of friction than a coefficient of friction of the feed belt, for the purpose of preventing damage of paper sheets due to friction, as taught by JP’742.
Regarding claim 4, Figs. 1-4 of Nobuta show that said at least one slide (31) is positioned in said sliding configuration (down) flanked by said at least one feed belt (22) along said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1) in said section (adjacent 21).
Regarding claim 5, Figs. 1-4 of Nobuta.show that said guide device (including 3 and 7) comprises a first slide (31) and a second slide (7) flanked in said section (adjacent 21) to said at least one feed belt (22) in said sliding configuration (down) said first slide (31) and said second slide (7) being positioned on opposite sides (front and rear sides) of said at least one feed belt (22) with respect to said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow in Fig. 1).
5. Claims 7-9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nobuta in view of JP’742 as applied to claims 5 and 12 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,653,326 (Liedgens) (hereinafter “Liedgens”).
With regard to claim 7, Nobuta shows a movement device (32) for moving said at least one slide (31) with respect to said at least one feed belt (22) along said lifting trajectory (up) between said transport configuration (down) and said sliding configuration (up), but Nobuta in view of JP’742 does not teach a parallelogram movement mechanism, as claimed.
Liedgens shows that it is well-known in the art to provide a blanks storage unit (Fig. 2) with a movement device (Fig. 3) for moving at least one slide (12) with respect to at least one feed member (including 9 and 2) along a lifting trajectory (up) between a transport configuration (down) and a sliding configuration (up), in which the movement device (Fig. 3) comprises an articulated parallelogram movement mechanism (including 8, 14, 7’ and 19). Because both Liedgens and Nobuta teach movement devices for moving slides, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to substitute the movement device of Liedgens for the movement device of Nobuta to achieve the predictable result of moving a slide up and down.
Regarding claim 8, Fig. 4 of Liedgens shows that the movement device (Fig. 3) comprises at least one connecting rod (unnumbered vertical member connected to elements 12 and 14) hinged at a first hinging end (at 12) thereof to said at least one slide (12) and at an opposite second hinging end (at 14) thereof to a support structure (14) of said storage unit (Fig. 2), wherein said movement device (Fig. 3) is configured to rotate said second hinging end (at 14) of said at least one connecting rod (unnumbered vertical member connected to elements 12 and 14) about a horizontal rotation axis (axis of pin connected to element 14) in two rotation directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise) to move said at least one slide (12) between said transport configuration (down) and said sliding configuration (up).
Regarding claim 9, Figs. 1-4 of Liedgens show that said movement device (Fig. 3) is configured to rotate said second hinging end (at 14) so that in the passage between the transport configuration (down) and the sliding configuration (up) said at least one slide (12) is moved with a lifting trajectory (up) having at least one vertical lifting component (up) and at least one transport component (left) parallel to and opposite said feed trajectory (unnumbered right facing arrow).
With regard to claim 15, Figs. 1-4 of Nobuta show that a movement device (32) is provided for moving said guide device (including 3 and 7) between said transport configuration (down) and said sliding configuration (up), but Nobuta does not show a movement device, as claimed.
Figs. 1-4 of Liedgens show a movement device (Fig. 3) comprising at least one connecting rod (unnumbered vertical member connected to elements 12 and 14) hinged at a first hinging end (at 12) thereof to said at least one slide (49) and at an opposite second hinging end (at 14) thereof to a support structure (14) of said movement device (Fig. 3), said moving comprising rotating said second hinging end (at 14) of said at least one connecting rod (unnumbered vertical member connected to elements 12 and 14) about a horizontal rotation axis (axis of pin connected to element 14) in two rotation directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise) to move said at least one slide (31) between said transport configuration (down) and said sliding configuration (up). Because both Liedgens and Nobuta teach movement devices for moving slides, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to substitute the movement device of Liedgens for the movement device of Nobuta to achieve the predictable result of moving a slide up and down.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent No. 6,412,770 (Demmeler) teaches a blanks storage unit (Fig. 1) with an inlet section (above 5), a feed device (including 4), and a guide device (including 5) that is movable up and down.
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS A MORRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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, Mike McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. 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.
/THOMAS A MORRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
Prosecution Insights