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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because at least figures 5H-6C are not satisfactory for reproduction because these particular figures lack the proper character of lines, numbers and letters needed (note drawing standards as found within MPEP608.02). Additionally, figures 5H and 6A-6C include improper shading thus rendering the elements thereof unclear. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 9 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Within the fourth line of claim 9, please replace “the frame” with “a frame” in order to avoid antecedent basis issues.
Within twelfth line of claim 16, please replace “a frame” with “the frame” since the term has already been introduced within the seventh line of the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 12, 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NEELY et al. (US 2014/0352589 A1).
Regarding claim 1, NEELY discloses a tufting machine (T) fully capable of functioning to form artificial grass or turf products, comprising: at least one needle bar (11) carrying a plurality of needles (30) (Figures 1-3A); a yarn feed system configured to feed a plurality of yarns to the needles (30) (para 0008); a drive system (10) for driving reciprocation of the needles (30) toward and away from a backing (B) moving through the tufting machine (T) to form tufts of yarns in the backing (B) (Figures 1-2); wherein the drive system (10) comprises: a plurality of push rods (26) coupled to the at least one needle bar (11) (Figures 1-3A); and a plurality of needle stroke support assemblies (each of the plurality of needle stroke support assemblies includes: a portion of 77 which includes 28, 70, a portion of 55, and 60) each configured to receive a push rod (26) therethrough (push rod extends through 28 of 77) (Figures 1-3C); and wherein each of the needle stroke support assemblies include at least one support (at least 61, 62 of 60 moves with the up-down movement of the push rod 26 based on the linear bearing structure thereof) adapted to move with the push rod (26) so as to stabilize the push rod (26) against a substantially non-linear motion as the push rod (26) is reciprocated in along a substantially linear path of travel for reciprocating the needles (30) along a needle stroke distance into and out of the backing (B) (Figures 1-2 and 3B).
Regarding claim 6, NEELY discloses at least one shift mechanism (33) for shifting/moving the backing (B) transversely (in direction 14 which is transverse to the needles (30) and transverse to the length of the tufting machine (T) (Fig. 1). For future reference, please note DAVIS et al. (US 5,588,383) which discloses a shift mechanism (94, 96) that shifts a backing transversely relative to a backing advancing direction.
Regarding claim 12, NEELY discloses a tufting machine (t) comprising: at least one needle bar (11) having a plurality of spaced needles (30) mounted therealong, the needles (30) configured to penetrate a backing (B) for forming tufts of yarns therein (Figures 1-3A); and a drive system (10) including: a plurality of push rods (26) coupled to the at least one needle bar (11) (Figures 1-3A); and a plurality of needle stroke support assemblies (each of the plurality of needle stroke support assemblies includes: a portion of 77 which includes 28, 70, a portion of 55, and 60) coupled to a frame of the tufting machine (T), each of the needle stroke support assemblies configured to slidably receive a push rod (26) therethough (push rod extends through 28 of 77) (Figures 1-3C); and wherein the needle stroke support assemblies are configured to support the push rods (26) in at least a first direction substantially transverse a path of travel of the push rods (26) as the push rods (26) are reciprocated along a needle stroke distance, and in a second direction substantially parallel to the path of travel of the push rods (26) so as to substantially stabilize and maintain the push rods against non-linear motion as the push rods (26) are reciprocated along the needle stroke distance for driving reciprocation of the needles (30) into and out of the backing (B) (Figures 1-2 and 3B).
Regarding claim 16, NEELY discloses a tufting machine (T), comprising: at least one needle bar (11) carrying a plurality of needles (30) configured to penetrate a backing (B) (Figures 1-3A); a yarn feed system configured to selectively feed a plurality of yarns to the needles (30) (para 0008); at least one shift mechanism (56, 58) for shifting the needles (30) across the backing (B) (Figures 1-2); and a drive system (10) located along a frame of the tufting machine (T) and configured to drive reciprocation of the needles (30) into and out of the backing (B), the drive system comprising: a plurality of push rods (26), the push rods (26) coupled to the at least one needle bar (11) by a plurality of push rod feet (41) (Figures 2-3A); and a plurality of needle stroke support assemblies (each of the plurality of needle stroke support assemblies includes: a portion of 77 which includes 28, 70, a portion of 55, and 60) coupled to a frame of the tufting machine (T), each of the needle stroke support assemblies configured to slidably receive a push rod (26) therethough (push rod extends through 28 of 77) and support the push rods (26) in at least two directions with respect to a path of travel of the push rods (26) so as to substantially stabilize and maintain the push rods against non-linear motion as the push rods are reciprocated to reciprocate the needles (30) into and out of the backing (B) (Figures 1-2 and 3B).
Regarding claim 20, the tufting machine of NEELY discloses all the structure as claimed by the applicant and is therefore considered fully capable of performing the claimed function of producing “tufted turf or artificial grass products with integrated designs for tufted turf or artificial grass products”.
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.
Claim(s) 2-3, 7, 10-11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEELY et al. (US 2014/0352589 A1) in view of DAVIS et al. (US 5,588,383).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, NEELY discloses a tufting machine comprising needles as discussed above. However, NEELY fails to disclose the needles being hollow needles. As is old and known in the art, DAVIS discloses a tufting machine (10) that uses hollow needles (18) in order to produce a complex pattern in a high-speed manner (Figures 1, 2B and 5). DAVIS discloses the hollow needles (18) each comprise a body having an internal passage (164) defined therein, a first end received within a needle bar (142); and a second end terminating at a tip (166) and having a flattened cutting surface (angled surface wherein blade 170 slides to cut yarn) configured for cutting flat ribbon yarns or filaments (Figures 5-7). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the tufting machine of NEELY with hollow needles, in light of the teachings of DAVIS, in order to produce a complex pattern in a high-speed manner.
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 13-15, NEELY in view of DAVIS teaches a tufting machine that uses hollow needles as discussed above. Note that neither NEELY nor DAVIS discloses the specific length of the needles, the specific stroke of the needles or the specific gauge spacing of the needles. It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have provided the hollow needles of NEELY in view of DAVIS with the claimed length, stroke and/or spacing because it has been held that the determination of a result-effective variable or a workable range thereof involves only routine skill in the art (through experimentation) and thus is not a patentable distinguishable feature from the prior art (MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding claim 7, NEELY discloses a tufting machine as discussed above. However, NEELY fails to disclose a yarn selection system as claimed. DAVIS discloses a tufting machine (10) comprising a yarn selection system (250) arranged along a path of travel of yarns between a yarn feed system (28) and needles (18), the yarn selection system configured to retract and/or hold back non-selected yarns supplied by the yarn feed system to one or more of the needles (Figures 1 and 2A). Note that DAVIS discloses a control system (30) for controlling the yarn selection system (yarn supply controllers 464 thereof) and all other aspects of the tufting machine (Figures 22-26). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have provided the tufting machine of NEELY with a yarn selection system, in light of the teachings of DAVIS, in order to supply each needle with an exact length of at least one yarn to each needle.
Claim(s) 8, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEELY et al. (US 2014/0352589 A1) in view of DAVIS et al. (US 5,588,383) and in further view of HALL (US 2016/0289880 A1).
Regarding claim 8, NEELY in view of DAVIS teaches a tufting machine comprising a yarn selection system as discussed above. However, NEELY in view of DAVIS fails to disclose a plurality of yarn jerkers. As is old and known in the art, HALL discloses a tufting machine comprising a yarn jerker (100; 101-103) to maintain yarn tension while the needles (17A) are being reciprocated into and out of a backing material (para 0034) (Fig. 7). HALL discloses the yarn jerker (100) being movable between an extended position and retracted position by an actuator (spring, solenoid, or pneumatic actuator) (para 0034). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have provided the yarn selection system of NEELY in view of DAVIS with one or more yarn jerkers, in light of the teachings of HALL, in order to maintain yarn tension while the needles are being reciprocated into and out of a backing material. Note that it has been held that the mere duplication of parts only involves routine skill in the art (See St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8).
Claims 17 and 18 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 by NEELY in view of DAVIS and in further view of HALL for the reasons addressed above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 9 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record, as cited on attached PTO-892, and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Note that US 4,991,523 discloses a hollow needle tufting machine with elements that would stabilize the push rod thereof.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN E DURHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8642. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alissa J Tompkins can be reached at 571-272-3425. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NED
/NATHAN E DURHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732