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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed 18 December 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kubo (JP H10-29106 A).
Regarding claim 1, Kubo discloses a tool holder (figure 1) having a tubular shape extending in an axial direction and configured to be held in a tool holder insertion space of a tool holder mounting part (the tool holder is capable of being used in this manner), the tool holder comprising a body member 1 and a sleeve 7 that define a tool holder inner peripheral surface (inner surface for holding tool 24), a tool holder outer peripheral surface 11-14, a tool insertion space (inner surface for holding tool 24) defined by the tool holder inner peripheral surface, and a holding part 7a/7b/16/17 configured to hold a tool 24 that has been inserted into the tool insertion space, wherein the holding part: has at least one pressurizing chamber 16/17 extending in the axial direction and in a circumferential direction and at least one grip part 7a/7b provided between the at least one pressurizing chamber and the tool holder inner peripheral surface and extending in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction, is configured such that the at least one grip part is elastically deformable radially inward by increasing the pressure in the at least one pressurizing chamber, and has an extended chamber 15 which fluidly communicates with a rear end part of the pressurizing chamber formed on a rear end side of the at least one pressurizing chamber, and extends in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction, and wherein: the body member has a tubular shape extending in the axial direction and includes a body member inner peripheral surface 5, a body member outer peripheral surface (see figure 1) and a body member interior space (see figure 1) defined by the body member inner peripheral surface, the body member outer peripheral surface having a body member outer peripheral surface portion (see figure 1) extending in the axial direction and a notched surface 2 extending from the body member rear end surface in the axial direction, the sleeve has a tubular shape extending in the axial direction and includes a sleeve inner peripheral surface (inner portion for tool 24), a sleeve outer peripheral surface (see figure 1) and a sleeve interior space defined by the sleeve inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), the sleeve outer peripheral surface has a first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (at 8) and a second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (at 10) that are respectively defined on a rear end side and a front end side of the sleeve and extend in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction, and at least one third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion 11 and a fourth sleeve outer peripheral surface portion 13 defined between the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and extend in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction, the fourth sleeve outer peripheral surface portion is connected to a rear end part of the third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion defined on the rear end side of the at least one third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (see figure 1), and to a front end part of the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (see figure 1), and is recessed radially inward more than the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (see figure 1), the at least one third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion is recessed radially inward more than the fourth sleeve outer peripheral surface portion (see figure 1), the sleeve inner peripheral surface includes a first sleeve inner peripheral surface portion having a first inner diameter (smaller inner diameter portion at the left in figure 1), a second sleeve inner peripheral surface portion having a second inner diameter (larger inner diameter at the right in figure 1) that is larger than the first inner diameter (see figure 1), and a stepped sleeve inner peripheral surface portion (angled inner diameter portion between the smaller and larger inner diameter portions, see figure 1) connecting a rear side of the first sleeve inner peripheral surface portion to a front side of the second sleeve inner peripheral surface portion, the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion are affixed to the body member inner peripheral surface with the sleeve inserted into the body member interior space (see figure 1), the tool holder inner peripheral surface that defines the tool insertion space is formed by the body member inner peripheral surface and the sleeve inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), the tool holder outer peripheral surface is defined by the body member outer peripheral surface (see figure 1), the at least one pressurizing chamber is defined by the at least one third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion of the sleeve outer peripheral surface and the body member inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), the at least one grip part is defined by the at least one third sleeve outer peripheral surface portion of the sleeve outer peripheral surface and the sleeve inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), the extended chamber is defined by the fourth sleeve outer peripheral surface portion of the sleeve outer peripheral surface and the body member inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), and the extended chamber is configured such that a width in a radial direction of the extended chamber is smaller than a width in the radial direction of the pressurizing chamber formed on the rear end side (see figure 1), and a width in the radial direction between the extended chamber and the tool holder inner peripheral surface is larger than a width in the radial direction between the pressurizing chamber formed on the rear end side and the tool holder inner peripheral surface (see figure 1), and is configured such that, when inserted into the tool holder insertion space of the tool holder mounting part, radially inward elastic deformation of a portion of the tool holder inner peripheral surface, which corresponds to the grip part formed on the rear end side, caused by a force received on the notched surface of the tool holder outer peripheral surface is curtailed (by holding tool 24).
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 of this title, 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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubo.
Regarding claim 5, Kubo discloses the invention substantially as claimed, except Kubo does not disclose wherein the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion are circular cylindrical shaped. However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to make the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion cylindrical shaped for the purpose of matching the shape of a different tool holder. A change in form or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art, absent any showing of unexpected results. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 6-20 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 18 December 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the chuck of Kubo cannot be identified as the body member of claim 1. This is not persuasive because the chuck of Kubo is designed to be held in a tool holder of a spindle of a machine tool, and it has the same features as the claimed body member.
Applicant argues that the first sleeve outer peripheral surface portion and the second sleeve outer peripheral surface portion are not affixed to the body member inner peripheral surface. This is not persuasive because the term affixed only requires that the two members be attached to each other. It does not require that the members be permanently joined to each other.
Applicant argues that the body member and the sleeve are not tubular because they have tapered surfaces. This is not persuasive because tubular members may be either cylindrical or conical.
For the reasons set forth above, the rejections are maintained.
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 ERIC ANDREW GATES whose telephone number is (571)272-5498. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 9-6, Alt Fr 9-5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil Singh, can be reached on 571-272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC A. GATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 5 February 2026