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 .
Response to Amendment / Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the response filed on 12/01/2025. Claim 4 is canceled. Claims 11-13 are new. Claims 1-3 and 5-13 are currently pending and have been examined.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al (Chinese Patent Publication No. CN109015416) as evidenced by the machine translation of Ma, in view of Puschner (US Patent No. 5,431,593), and in further view of Aadland et al (US PGPUB No. 2012/031643), hereinafter referred to as Ma, Puschner, and Aadland, respectively.
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended), Ma discloses a welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus [Ma, fig 1, item 6 is the workpiece, where the office notes that per MPEP 2115 that the "[i]nclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims." Where in the instant case, the welding jig is the interpreted to be the workpiece being worked upon and therefore does not impart patentability] comprising:
a housing [Ma, fig 1, 2];
a sand supply line [Ma, fig 1, 503 supplies sand to 501];
an air supply unit connected to the sand supply line with a hose [Ma, fig 1, 504 is connected to 501 which is thus also connected to 503];
a blasting gun positioned in the housing [Ma, fig 1, 501 is positioned within 2, the Office notes that the air supply unit and the sandbox are not currently claimed to be connected];
a jig fixing portion positioned at a first end of the blasting gun [Ma, fig 1, 3 which includes 3a and 3b and is positioned at a first end of 501 such that 501 faces 3, and 3 is positioned at the ejection end of 501]; and
a controller [Ma, page 5, pp 0015, including a magnetic controller to control the electromagnet 3],
wherein the jig fixing portion comprises a magnetic unit configured to fix a welding jig [Ma, fig 1, 3 which includes 3a and 3b, and pages 13-14, pp 0046-0047].
Ma does not explicitly disclose a sandbox connected to the housing and the air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose; and wherein the blasting gun includes a blasting gun orifice at a tip end of the blasting gun, and wherein the blasting gun orifice includes a discharge port and a suction port, the discharge port and the suction port facing a same direction.
Regarding the sandbox connected to the housing, Puschner teaches a welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus comprising:
a housing [Puschner, fig 1, 9];
a sandbox connected to the housing [Puschner, fig 2, 17a/65, which is connected to the housing and supplies blasting medium, the office notes that the sandbox is not currently claimed to be connected to the blasting gun, only to the air supply unit];
an air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose [Puschner, fig 2, 141 is connected to 17a/65 as a hose, and col 9, lines 1-31]; and
a blasting gun positioned in the housing [Puschner, fig 2, 13].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the supply sandbox and compressed air connections and lines and the connections to the blasting gun as taught by Puschner to connect with the robotic arm and nozzle (5) of Ma in order to supply the blasting medium to the nozzle (5) of Ma because having different blasting mediums and the ability to externally have a constant supply of blasting medium accessible allows the user to continue operation without stopping the sandblasting unit thus enabling a greater throughput of work and an increase in efficiency which improves the number of units being able to be worked upon which improves the ability of the user to sell more units that need to be worked upon which increases profit and profitability of the user.
Regarding the structure of the blast gun, Aadland teaches micro-cleaning apparatus comprising:
a sandbox [Aadland, page 2, pp 0022, grit reservoir];
an air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose [Aadland, page 2, pp 0022, the grit reservoir is connected to a gas compressor];
a blasting gun [Aadland, fig 4a, 40], wherein the blasting gun includes a blasting gun orifice at a tip end of the blasting gun [Aadland, fig 4a, 41], and wherein the blasting gun orifice [Aadland, fig 4a, 41] includes a discharge port [Aadland, fig 4a, 48] and a suction port [Aadland, fig 4a, 42 and 47], the discharge port and the suction port facing a same direction [Aadland, fig 4a, 42 and 47 both face the workpiece 43 and are flush]; and
a jig fixing portion positioned at a lower end of the blasting gun [Aadland, page 2, pp 0022 clamps or grippers].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Ma to use to blasting gun of Aadland in place of the blasting gun of Ma because having the blasting gun structure of Aadland which is directed at a slant, gives several beneficial results such as rebounded particles contribute to the cleaning effect in that the kinetic energy is not wasted, produces a more desirable look, and reduces the quantity of wasted blasting grit [Aadland, page 1, pp 0005, summarized].
Regarding claims 2 (Previously Presented) and 3 (Previously Presented), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the jig fixing portion comprises a sliding unit movable in first and second opposing directions at the first end of the blasting gun [Ma, fig 1, 3a and 3b move are capable of moving in opposite directions in order to adjust the magnetic field holding strength and slide in that there is sliding contact between threads] (clm 2); and wherein the sliding unit is rotatable by a predetermined angle in one of the first and second directions [Ma, fig 1, 3a and 3b are able to be rotated 360 degrees in order to move in the vertical direction as being a threaded insert] (clm 3).
Regarding claim 8 (Previously Presented), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blasting gun is connected to a moving unit so as to be movable in first and second opposing directions [Ma, fig 1, 501 is connected to 502 which is a robotic arm manipulator].
Regarding claim 9 (Previously Presented), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sandbox and the air supply unit are configured to adjust supply amounts of air and sand under control of the controller [Puschner, col 9, lines 1-31 and Ma, page 5, pp 0016 teaching that a computer controls the operations].
Regarding claim 10 (Original), Ma as modified discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a housing door [Ma, fig 1, 201 and/or 202].
Ma as modified does not explicitly disclose wherein the housing door comprises an observation window.
Puschner further teaches the housing comprises a housing door [Puschner, fig 1, 23] and an observation window [Puschner, fig 1, 27].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the device of Ma to incorporate an observation window and/or extra door with an observation window within the housing as taught by Puschner within the housing or within at least the housing inlet and/or outlet of the device of Ma because this allows the user to see in real time the sandblasting operation and to observe for any errors or for any safety concerns with the device, which enables the user to reduce downtime and injuries which saves the user expenses related to downtime and injuries.
Regarding claim 11 (New), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port and the suction port are flush along the blasting gun orifice [Aadland, fig 4a, showing a flush surface of 48 and 42, respectively].
Regarding claim 12 (New), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port and the suction port terminate at a common plane [Aadland, fig 4a, showing 48 and 42, respectively terminate in a common flush plane].
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al (Chinese Patent Publication No. CN109015416) as evidenced by the machine translation of Ma, in view of Puschner (US Patent No. 5,431,593) and in further view of Aadland et al (US PGPUB No. 2012/031643). as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Song (Korean Patent Publication No. KR20180053927) as evidenced by the machine translation of Song, hereinafter referred to as Ma, Aadland, Puschner, and Song, respectively.
Regarding claim 5 (Currently Amended), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blasting gun comprises a blasting gun discharge port provided at a tip end of the blasting gun [Puschner, fig 2, 51 includes a discharge port at the tip end of the blasting gun].
Ma does not explicitly disclose wherein the blasting gun inlet comprises a sealing portion.
Song teaches a blast gun [Song, fig 1, 10] comprising: an air inlet [Song, fig 1, 112 is a compressed air supply per page 10, pp 0027], a blasting medium supply inlet [Song, fig 1, 111 is an abrasive supply per page 10, pp 0027], and a blasting gun inlet provided at a tip end of the blasting gun [Song, fig 1, 120 and 330], and wherein the blasting gun inlet comprises a discharge port [Song, fig 3, 200] and a suction port [Song, fig 3, 121]; wherein the blasting gun inlet comprises a sealing portion [Song, fig 3, 300].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the sealing portion as part of the blasting gun as taught by Song in the nozzle configuration of Ma as modified because this allows for the user to more easily recover the abrasive material [Song, page 10, pp 0026, summarized] which reduces the cost of material used in working on other devices which improves the profitability of the machine to the user.
Regarding claim 6 (Previously Presented), Ma as modified discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sealing portion contacts a die of the jig fixing portion such that the welding jig is positioned in an inner space of the sealing portion [Song, fig 3, 300 contacts the workpiece such that the workpiece is provided within the sealing space of 300].
Where it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the use of the Ma apparatus to contact the magnetically levitating workpiece such that the blast nozzle of the Ma apparatus is in contact with the workpiece as taught Song because this allows for the user to recover the abrasive material [Song, page 10, pp 0026, summarized] which reduces the cost of material used in working on other devices which improves the profitability of the machine to the user.
Further, the Office notes that per MPEP 2114 "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." … A claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Where in the instant case, the Ma device as modified teaches all of the structural limitations and is therefore capable to of contacting the workpiece.
Regarding claim 7 (Original), Ma as modified further discloses the welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sealing portion is made of an elastic material [Song, page 13, pp 0037, 300 may be made of flexible rubber material].
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al (Chinese Patent Publication No. CN109015416) as evidenced by the machine translation of Ma, in view of Puschner (US Patent No. 5,431,593), and in further view of Hill (US PGPUB No. 2012/0186520), hereinafter referred to as Ma, Puschner, and Hill, respectively.
Regarding claim 13 (New), Ma discloses a jig micro-cleaning apparatus comprising:
a housing [Ma, fig 1, 2];
a sand supply line [Ma, fig 1, 503 supplies sand to 501];
an air supply unit connected to the sand supply line with a hose [Ma, fig 1, 504 is connected to 501 which is thus also connected to 503];
a blasting gun positioned in the housing [Ma, fig 1, 501 is positioned within 2, the Office notes that the air supply unit and the sandbox are not currently claimed to be connected];
a jig fixing portion positioned at a first end of the blasting gun [Ma, fig 1, 3 which includes 3a and 3b and is positioned at a first end of 501 such that 501 faces 3, and 3 is positioned at the ejection end of 501]; and
a controller [Ma, page 5, pp 0015, including a magnetic controller to control the electromagnet 3],
wherein the jig fixing portion comprises a magnetic unit configured to fix a welding jig [Ma, fig 1, 3 which includes 3a and 3b, and pages 13-14, pp 0046-0047].
Ma does not explicitly disclose a welding jig; and a sandbox connected to the housing and the air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose.
Regarding the sandbox connected to the housing, Puschner teaches a welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus comprising:
a housing [Puschner, fig 1, 9];
a sandbox connected to the housing [Puschner, fig 2, 17a/65, which is connected to the housing and supplies blasting medium, the office notes that the sandbox is not currently claimed to be connected to the blasting gun, only to the air supply unit];
an air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose [Puschner, fig 2, 141 is connected to 17a/65 as a hose, and col 9, lines 1-31]; and
a blasting gun positioned in the housing [Puschner, fig 2, 13].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the supply sandbox and compressed air connections and lines and the connections to the blasting gun as taught by Puschner to connect with the robotic arm and nozzle (5) of Ma in order to supply the blasting medium to the nozzle (5) of Ma because having different blasting mediums and the ability to externally have a constant supply of blasting medium accessible allows the user to continue operation without stopping the sandblasting unit thus enabling a greater throughput of work and an increase in efficiency which improves the number of units being able to be worked upon which improves the ability of the user to sell more units that need to be worked upon which increases profit and profitability of the user.
Regarding the welding jig, Hill teaches a welding jig micro-cleaning apparatus [Hill, fig 1, 10] comprising: a housing [Hill, fig 1, 12]; a sandbox connected to the housing [Hill, fig 1, 14]; an air supply unit connected to the sandbox with a hose [Hill, fig 1, 34 is connected to 14]; a blasting gun positioned in the housing [Hill, fig 1, 28 and 30 are within 12]; a jig fixing portion positioned at a first end of the blasting gun [Hill, fig 1, 16 and 26 are positioned at a first end of 28 and 30].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the blasting system of Ma as modified within the system of Hill including the welding jig such that the system of Ma as modified is used in a welding jig environment because per MPEP 2143(I)(A) the combination of old elements is held to be obvious over the prior art. Where in the instant case, to include the welding jib as taught by Hill with the system of Ma as modified, each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, albeit shown in separate references. The only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art is the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the welding jig as taught by Hill with the system of Ma as modified because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, the elements being the blasting system of Ma as modified and the welding jig environment of Hill. In the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination gave the predictable result of the blasting system would operate within the welding jig system of Hill.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/01/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On page 5 the applicant has argued that the prior art does not teach the amended portion of claim 1. Respectfully the Office disagrees because the amendment has necessitated a new grounds of rejection, where the amendment has been rejected by the prior art Aadland and Hill, and has not argued other portions of rejection, therefore the arguments are a moot point.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT NEIBAUR whose telephone number is (571)270-7979. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/ROBERT F NEIBAUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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