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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 26 Jun 2026 has been entered.
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) 1-3, 5-6, 8, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fogelberg (US 2023/0152838, previously cited) in view of Oh (KR 101435166, previously cited), Shishido (US 5363600, previously cited) and Stoll (US 2008/0171499, previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Fogelberg teaches a walk-behind machine (100; fig 1) adapted for grinding or polishing concrete floors, comprising: a frame (frame carrying elements 110, 120 and handle as shown in fig 1) having forward and rear portions (left and right portions as viewed in fig 1) that pivots about a single set of right and left wheels (wheels shown in rear of frame in fig 1); the rear portion of the frame including a handle bar assembly (as shown in annotated fig 1), the handle bar assembly being hinged to the frame via a pivoting joint (described [0019]); an engine (120) mounted on the forward portion of the frame (fig 1); a planetary (described as planetary in claim 20) grinding head (110) coupled to the forward portion of the frame underneath the engine (as shown in fig 1) and powered by the engine ([0030]); and wherein the engine is directly, mechanically coupled to the grinding head without the use of pulleys, belts or chains (by centrifugal clutch shown in fig 2; [0031]).
Fogelberg does not teach a water tank coupled to the frame or a water feed line facilitating wet floor grinding or polishing. Oh teaches a walk-behind machine for grinding or polishing concrete floors comprising a water tank (410; [0060]) coupled to a rear portion of a frame (frame 110 labeled in fig 1 and shown unlabeled in fig 5 with water tank coupled to rear portion), between an engine (230) and a handle bar assembly (including elements 130, 132 shown labeled in fig 1), and a water feed line (430) from the water tank to a grinding head (as shown in fig 5) facilitating wet floor grinding or polishing ([0062-0063]), wherein the water tank is mounted on the frame above wheels between the engine and a pivoting joint of the handle bar assembly (as shown in figs 1 and 5), and wherein the water feed line is coupled to the forward portion of the frame (as shown in fig 5). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a water tank on the rear portion of the frame of Fogelberg between the engine and pivoting joint with a water feed line from the water tank to the grinding head, as this allows the machine to utilize water to prevent dust from spreading to the air and reducing frictional heat as taught by Oh ([0004]).
Oh and Fogelberg do not teach the water feed line extending to a front portion of the grinding head located in front of the engine relative to the handle bar assembly (the water feed line of Oh extends forward as shown in fig 5, but not to the portion of the grinding head in front of the engine relative to the handle bar assembly). However, it has been held that it is obvious for a person of ordinary skill to rearrange of parts when there would be no change in the operation of the device (MPEP 2144.04 VI C.). Furthermore, Shishido teaches a walk-behind machine adapted for grinding or polishing floors including a water feed line (3a) extending to a front portion of a grinding head located in front of an engine (engine within cover 1a; col 2, lines 57-62) relative to a handle bar assembly (7; as shown in fig 1, water feed line 3a extends in front of engine relative to handle 7 before entering shroud 2), wherein the water feed line is coupled to the forward portion of the frame and attached to and extending along the forward portion (as shown in fig 1). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the water feed line to extend to a front portion of the grinding head of Fogelberg located in front of the engine relative to the handle bar assembly, as the position or extent of the water feed line would not affect the operation of the machine, and the disclosure of Shishido demonstrates that this position for a water feed line is known in the art and would predictably achieve the desired result of providing liquid to the grinding head to facilitate wet grinding or polishing (Shishido col 2, lines 64-66).
Fogelberg does not teach a gas spring coupled to the frame between the forward portion and the rear portion for weight distribution. Stoll teaches a walk-behind grinder/polisher adapted for concrete floors including a gas spring (31a) coupled to a frame (12; fig 1) between a forward portion and rear portion (between forward portion with grinding head and rear portion with handle) for weight distribution (function provided by the presence of the springs), wherein the gas spring is attached to and extending along the forward portion (as shown in fig 1). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to couple a gas spring to the frame of Fogelberg between the forward portion and rear portion and extending along the forward portion (resulting in the water feed line and gas spring being next to one another) in order to allow the grinding head to float on the work surface, allowing up and down movement to follow the contours of an uneven surface as taught by Stoll ([0026]).
Regarding claims 2-3 and 5, Fogelberg, as modified, teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Fogelberg further teaches the engine is a propane engine ([0030]); the engine is directly coupled to the grinding head through a centrifugal clutch (220; [0031]); and the grinding head is encased in a shroud (see annotated fig below) coupled to a tube (see annotated fig below; coupled through frame) for dust collection associated with dry floor grinding or polishing (the function of dust collection associated with dry grinding and polishing is provided by the structure of the tube).
Regarding claim 6, Fogelberg, as modified, teaches all the limitations of claim 5 as described above. Fogelberg is silent as to whether the tube is an exhaust out tube extending into the shroud (it is unclear from Fogelberg whether the tube extends into the shroud). Oh further teaches the machine includes a grinding head encased in a shroud (210; fig 1) and coupled to a tube (352) for dust collection ([0055]), wherein the tube is an exhaust out tube extending into the shroud (extends into shroud through element 340 as shown in fig 3). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the tube of Fogelberg to extend into the shroud as an exhaust out tube, as this position achieves the predictable result of allowing dust to be suctioned and collected from the work surface as taught by Oh ([0047], [0056]).
Regarding claim 8, Fogelberg, as modified by Oh and Shishido, teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Shishido further teaches the water feed line (3a; included as described in the rejection of claim 1 above) extends along the frame above the grinding head from the rear portion to the forward portion (Shishido fig 1).
Regarding claim 11, Fogelberg, as modified by Oh and Shishido, teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Fogelberg further teaches a shroud that encases the grinding head (see annotated fig below). Shishido further teaches the water feed line (included as described in the rejection of claim 1 above) enters the shroud (2) at the front portion of the grinding head (Shishido teaches shows this in fig 1 and this positioning is rendered obvious for the reasons discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
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Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fogelberg, Oh, Shishido, and Stoll as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Buchanan (US 6343981, previously cited).
Regarding claim 7, Fogelberg, as modified, teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Fogelberg is silent as to the specific structure of the engine, and thus does not explicitly teach an air intake or catalytic exhaust (although an air intake would be necessary to provide the desired combustion for the engine taught by Fogelberg [0030]). Buchanan teaches a grinder/polisher adapted for concrete floors powered by an engine (652; fig 14) including an air intake (indicated by fan shown in fig 14) and a catalytic exhaust (650). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include an air intake and catalytic exhaust to the engine of Fogelberg, achieving the predictable result of providing oxygen for the combustion desired by Fogelberg, and to reduce pollutants from said combustion, permitting the grinder to be used indoors as taught by Buchanan (col 5, lines 38-44).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 27 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding claim 1 and its dependents, applicant argues that the prior art does not teach the water feed line being coupled to the forward portion of the frame and extending to the front portion of the grinding head. However, this is shown in fig 1 of Shishido. Contrary to applicant’s arguments, the water feed line 3A of Shishido is coupled to the forward portion of the frame as shown in fig 1. Furthermore, the water feed line 430 of Oh is coupled to the forward portion of the frame as shown in fig 5. As the water feed lines taught by Shishido and Oh are attached to and extending along the forward portion, and the gas spring of Stoll is attached to and extending along the forward portion, these elements would be nest to each other as claimed when applied to the machine of Fogelberg.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCEL T DION whose telephone number is (571)272-9091. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-5, F 9-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCEL T DION/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/BRIAN D KELLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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