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 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.
Claims 1-3, 5-11 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cohen US3517402 (hereinafter, Cohen) in view of Bada US20170363129 (hereinafter, Bada).
Regarding claim 7, A tie bolt comprising a shank (14, see Fig. 1) having a first longitudinal axis (X, as indicated in annotated Fig. 1);
said shank having a head end 12 and a foot end 13; wherein said shank has a first thread (see threaded head end (12) in Fig. 1) made along a first portion (see threaded portion (12) in Fig. 1), in the area of the head end;
said tie bolt comprising a dead nut (20, see Fig. 1), having a cavity (26, see Fig. 1) facing outwards from an opening (opening formed by cavity (26) as shown in Fig. 1) of said nut; said nut having a second thread (see threaded portion seen in the bore (26) in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3) realized inside said cavity; the first thread of said shank and the second thread of said nut have profiles which form a self-locking tightening and are configured for generating, during the screwing between shank and nut (see Figs. 2-3), a joint which opposes the unscrewing (see Figs. 2-3 where a joint opposed to unscrewing is formed between the thread of the bolt and the nut); the first thread of said shank and the second thread of said nut are tightened (see the connection shown in Figs. 2 and 3), to each other so as that said end portion strikes against said bottom surface and generates, upon said shank, a predefined pre-load force which locks the nut around said first end to form an indivisible body; wherein the pre-load force acts on the first thread and second thread locking them to one another (see column 3, lines 3-18).
Cohen fails to teach wherein said nut has a bottom wall delimited by a bottom surface, which faces the inside of said cavity; the bottom surface is conical and coaxial with said second longitudinal axis, and wherein said dead nut cavity is not through and faces the outside through a single opening, and wherein said bottom wall closes said cavity and is substantially transverse to said second longitudinal axis; and wherein said end portion is received in a housing formed at a bottom portion of the cavity.
Bada teaches a blind nut (see Figs. 5-10) wherein said nut has a bottom wall delimited by a bottom surface (13’, see Fig. 7), which faces the inside of said cavity 13; the bottom surface is conical (see end of the cavity 13 in Fig. 7) and coaxial with said second longitudinal axis, and wherein said dead nut cavity is not through and faces the outside through a single opening (see internal cavity 13 in Fig. 7), and wherein said bottom wall closes said cavity and is substantially transverse to said second longitudinal axis (axis of engaging bolt received in the cavity 13), and wherein said end portion is received in a housing (see inclined lines forming a housing at the bottom of the internal cavity 13 shown in Fig. 7) formed at a bottom portion of the cavity 13.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified the nut in Cohen to have dead nut having a cavity and related features as taught by Bada for improved nut and engagement inner section restricted by bottom portion to contain the said bolt within the cavity.
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Annotated Fig. 1
Regarding claim 8, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the tie bolt according to Claim 7, wherein the first thread and the second thread have profiles which form a self-locking tightening (refer to threadedly connected bolt and nut in Fig. 2 of Cohen forming a self-locking tightening).
Regarding claim 9, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the tie bolt according to Claim 7, wherein the shank and the nut are fixed to one another by means of an interference coupling, in particular a hot/cold coupling.
(Cohen discloses the interference coupling of the shank and the nut in Fig. 2 with the head treatment (Cohen: Column 3, lines (19-34).)
Regarding claim 10, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the tie bolt according to claim 7, but fail to teach wherein the shank and the nut are made of a material chosen within the following group of materials: titanium, titanium alloys; nickel-chrome alloys; X1CrNiMoAITil12-11-2 stainless steel; XINiCrMoAITi12-10-2 stainless steel; and stainless steel with a PH (Precipitation Hardening) class ranging from 13 to 8 or from 15 to 5 or from 17 to 4; steel with composition Si, 19.00-21.00 Cr, 33.00-37.00 Ni, 9.00-11.00 Mo, 1.00 max. Ti, 0.01 B, 1.00 max. Fe, Bal Co; steel comprising nickel and cobalt; AISI4340 and AISI304 steel and stainless steel of the AISI300 series and of the AISI400 series.
However, Cohen does teach that the stud (10) and the nut (20) are made of a mechanically worked alloy such as A286 Stainless Steel.
Further, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed inventio to have modified the nut and bolt as taught by Cohen in view of Bada to be of any material from the list in claim 10, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering design choice. It is also a common knowledge to choose a material that has sufficient strength, durability, flexibility, hardness, and potential aesthetics, etc. for the application, intended use and design considerations for that material. MPEP 2144.07.
Regarding claim 11, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the tie bolt according to claim 7, but fail to expressly teach the bolt having a length, namely an extension along said longitudinal axis, greater than 160 mm.
However, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have the length of the bolt to be greater than 160 mm along said longitudinal axis, since such modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 1, Cohen in view of Bada teaches structural limitation, and Cohen further teaches a process for manufacturing a tie bolt comprising the steps of:
- providing a shank having a first longitudinal axis; said shank having a head end and a foot end; wherein said shank has a first thread made along a first portion, in particular in the area of the head end; wherein said first portion has an end portion which protrudes axially from the first thread;
(See claim 2, lines 3-6 and Figs. 1, 2 and 4)
- providing a nut, having a second longitudinal axis and a cavity facing outwards from an opening of said nut; said nut having a second thread made inside said cavity; wherein said nut is a dead nut (see claim 7 above where Bada discloses a dead nut) and said cavity is not through and faces the outside through a single opening (see Bada Fig. 7); wherein said nut has a bottom wall delimited by a bottom surface, which faces the inside of said cavity; wherein said bottom wall closes said cavity and is substantially transverse to said second longitudinal axis (see dead nut in Fig. 7 of Bada); the bottom surface is conical and coaxial with said second longitudinal axis;
(See Claim 2, lines 7-8 of Cohen and rejection established in claim 7 above for the nut having a bottom wall delimited by a bottom surface and conical shaped bottom surface.)
- the first thread of said shank and the second thread of said nut form a self-locking tightening and are configured for generating, during the screwing between shank and nut, a joint which opposes the unscrewing;
(Claim 2, lines 11-21, and Figs. 2-3)
- tightening said nut against the head end of said shank, so as to screw said second thread around said first thread;
(Claim 2, lines 14-15, and Figs. 3 and 5)
- wherein said tightening step involves screwing said first thread of said shank and said second thread of said nut to one another so as to cause said end portion to strike against said bottom surface and generate, upon said shank, a predefined pre-load force as a function of the level of screwing of the shank with the nut to form a single, indivisible, body; wherein said end portion is received in a housing formed at a bottom portion of the cavity and bottoms out against said bottom surface (dead nut in Bada is capable of receiving threaded shank, refer to Figs. 7 and 10), and wherein said predefined pre-load force is adjustable by an inclination of said bottom surface relative to said second longitudinal axis; and are configured for generating, during the screwing between shank and nut, a joint which opposes the unscrewing.
(Please refer to Cohen method steps in claim 2, Figs. 1-5, and rejection set forth above in claim 7.)
Regarding claim 2, A process according to Claim 1, wherein the step of providing the shank and the step of providing the nut can take place simultaneously or at least partially in succession; wherein, the shank and the nut are made of a high mechanical resistance material; in particular, the shank and/or the nut are made of a material chosen within the following group of materials: titanium, titanium alloys; nickel-chrome alloys; X1CrNiMoAITil12-11-2 stainless steel; XINiCrMoAITil2-10-2 stainless steel; and stainless steel with a PH (Precipitation Hardening) class ranging from 13 to 8 or from 15 to 5 or from 17 to 4; steel with composition Si, 19.00-21.00 Cr, 33.00-37.00 Ni, 9.00-11.00 Mo, 1.00 max. Ti, 0.01 B, 1.00 max. Fe, Bal Co; steel comprising nickel and cobalt; AISI4340 and AISI304 steel and stainless steel of the AISI300 series and of the AISI400 series.
(Please refer to rejection and rationale set forth 10 above and see rejection for claim 1 above)
Regarding claim 3, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the process according to claim 1, Cohen further teaches wherein the step of providing a shank comprises the sub-step of making said first thread along said first portion (see claim 2, lines 3-6); wherein the step of providing a nut comprises a sub-step of making said second thread inside said cavity (See claim 2, lines 7-9).
Regarding claim 5, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the process according to claim 1, wherein the tightening step involves locking the nut and the shank to one another by means of an interference coupling, in particular a hot/cold coupling. (See Cohen claim 2, lines 13-20)
Regarding claim 6, Cohen in view of Bada teaches the process according to claim 1 and comprising the further step of making a third thread along a respective further portion of said shank. (See claim 2, lines 3-6 and Figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 15, Cohen in view of Bada teaches and/or make obvious of the process according to claim 1 wherein Bada further teaches said nut (see Fig. 10) has a collar 24 protruding axially from a foot surface of a flange (160, see Fig. 8) and said collar is configured to center and align the shank with the nut (collar 24 in Bada is capable to be configured to center and align the shank with the nut).
Claims 13-14 and 16-17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cohen in view of Bada, in further view of Downey et al., US4341497 (hereinafter, Downey).
Regarding claim 13, Cohen in view of Bada teaches and/or make obvious of the process according to claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the first thread is symmetrical and the second thread is asymmetrical.
However, Downey teaches a torque bolt (see Fig. 1) having a symmetrical thread on nut thread 21 and asymmetrical thread on bolt thread see Figs. (1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the first thread and the second thread of Cohen to have thread features as taught by Downey to provide an external thread design for fasteners, such as bolts and screws which is shaped to swage the crests of mating internal threads and thereby provide an interference fit and prevailing torque that resists self-loosening (see column 1, lines 5-21).
Regarding claim 14, Cohen in view of Bada, in further view of Downey teaches and/or make obvious of the process according to claim 1, wherein Downey further teaches the second thread includes a further fitting portion (43A, see Fig. 2) configured to create a should for the first thread (see Fig. 2). Please refer to the rational established above in claim 13.
Regarding claim 16, Cohen in view of Bada, in further view of Downey teaches and/or make obvious of the process according to claim 1, wherein Downey further teaches the second thread (bolt thread in Figs. 1-3) has first 45 and second sides 47 with different inclination relative to a plane perpendicular to the first longitudinal axis (vertical axis parallel to the bolt). Please refer to the rationale set forth in claim 13 above (see Downey, column 2 lines 10-26).
Regarding claim 17, Cohen in view of Bada teaches and/or make obvious of the process according to claim 1, wherein said pre-load force acts on said first and second threads locking them to one another.
It is the examiner’s position that asymmetrical threads of bolt and symmetrical threads of nut in Downey is capable of such pre-load force on one another.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the first thread and the second thread of Cohen to have thread features as taught by Downey to provide an external thread design for fasteners, such as bolts and screws which is shaped to swage the crests of mating internal threads and thereby provide an interference fit and prevailing torque that resists self-loosening (see column 1, lines 5-21).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/08/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Upon further consideration, rejection has been set forth based on existing prior arts. Please refer to the rejection and rational set forth above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US20110033260 (Miura) discloses a fastener assembly for fastening a member to workpiece having a threaded bolt 5 and a nut cap 7 having a female threading 6 to be screwed onto the bolt.
US5071300 (McCauley) discloses a Shrouded Jam Locknut having a locknut 11 in locking relation with the threaded bolt 15 (see Fig. 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIL K MAGAR whose telephone number is (571)272-8180. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christine Mills can be reached at (571) 272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIL K. MAGAR/Examiner, Art Unit 3675
/CHRISTINE M MILLS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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