DETAILED ACTION
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 § 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) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwasaki (U.S. 2011/0023423)
In regards to claim 1. Iwasaki discloses a film supply device (fig. 4) configured to supply a film (F) to a bag-making-packaging section (5) of a bag-making-packaging machine (1), comprising: holding portions (18a and 18b) configured to respectively hold film rolls (FR1, FR2) rotatably around which a film (F) is wound; drive portions (18a, 18b see at least paragraph 53 and 54) configured to respectively rotate the film rolls held by the holding portions (see at least paragraphs 53-57); a splicing portion (see at least element 22,23) configured to splice a first film that is the film being used for bag-making and a second film that is the film to be used subsequent to the first film (see at least paragraph 60); and a control unit (at least fig. 7) configured to control operations of the drive portions and the splicing portion (see at least paragraph 74), wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive portion of one of the holding portions that holds the film roll around which the second film is wound (see at least paragraph 61, 62, 66, 76), for a predetermined period after causing the splicing portion to perform an operation of splicing the first film and the second film (see at least paragraph 76).
Iwasaki does not distinctly disclose is configured to control the drive portion of one of the holding portions that holds the film roll around which the second film is wound to rotate in a first direction opposite to a second direction in which the second film is fed out.
However, Iwasaki teaches in at least paragraphs 61, 62, 66, and 76 control of the drives 19a and 19b to align the end of one roll with the beginning of the other roll. In paragraph 76 Iwasaki teaches winding a portion of film F on roller FR1 during alignment. As such both rolls FR1 and FR2 would be capable of being driven in a forward and reverse direction. Because Iwasaki teaches controlling rotation of the drives FR1 and FR2 for the purpose of aligning the ends for splicing. One of ordinary skill in the art would have considered the language “positioning and other controls for joining” to obviously encompass reverse driving roller FR2 if needed during positioning.
In regards to claim 2. Iwasaki further teaches The film supply device according to claim 1, further comprising: a dancer roller (40) configured to adjust tension of the film being used for bag-making (see at least paragraph 52 and 71); and a detection portion (51) configured to detect displacement of the dancer roller (see at least paragraph 72), wherein the control unit is configured to cause the drive portion to stop a rotation in the first direction when the detection portion detects the displacement in a direction opposite to a direction of a force applied by the dancer roller to the film (see at least paragraph 72, 73, 74, and 76).
In regards to claim 3. Iwasaki further teaches The film supply device according to claim 1, wherein the splicing portion includes a heating element configured to heat-seal the first film and the second film to each other (see at least paragraph 65).
In regards to claim 5. Iwasaki further teaches A bag-making-packaging machine comprising: the film supply device according to claim 1; and the bag-making-packaging section (see at least fig. 1).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwasaki (U.S. 2011/0023423) in view of Futase (U.S. 2003/0173022)
In regards to claim 4. Iwasaki further teaches The film supply device according to claim 3, Iwasaki does not teach wherein the film provided with a sealant layer on one surface is wound around the film rolls, and wherein the splicing portion is configured to heat-seal the first film and the second film to each other in a state where the sealant layers of the films pulled out from the respective film rolls held by the holding portions do not face each other.
Futase teaches a sealant layer (5,6) on one surface is wound around the film rolls (the rolls of Futase are not shown however film rolls of Iwasaki would be used), and wherein the splicing portion is configured to heat-seal the first film and the second film to each other in a state where the sealant layers of the films pulled out from the respective film rolls held by the holding portions do not face each other (illustrated in at least fig. 1 and 2a).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Futase with the teachings of Iwasaki to arrive at two film rolls having a film with a sealant layer on a surface of the film. Futase teaches splicing these films is to be down with the adhesive layers facing away from each other. The combination of the device of Iwasaki used for splicing the film of Futase in the manor noted by Futase would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filling.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCAS E A PALMER whose telephone number is (303)297-4779. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Thursday 8am-6pm PT.
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/Lucas E. A. Palmer/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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