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 initial application filed 11 May 2023.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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 Vigato (WO 2009/156829 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Vigato discloses a spindle device 500 comprising: a spindle 100 that is formed with a through hole (not labeled, see figure 4) penetrating along an axial direction; a draw bar 10 that is provided in the through hole 14, is configured to advance and retreat with respect to one end of the spindle (against spring 19), and is formed with a flow path 4/14 communicating with the through hole along the axial direction; and a plurality of balls 6 that are movable in a radial direction of the spindle in accordance with advance and retreat of the draw bar and clamp or unclamp a pull stud C inserted into the through hole from one end of the spindle, wherein the pull stud is formed with a flange C including a projecting portion (see annotated figure below) that projects from an outer peripheral surface of the pull stud, and an inclined portion (see annotated figure below) that reduces in diameter from the projecting portion toward a distal end (right side in figure 6) of the pull stud, and the spindle device further comprises a sealing member 15 that is fixed to a wall surface (see figure 10) forming the flow path of the draw bar so as to make contact with an inclined surface of the inclined portion of the pull stud clamped by the plurality of balls (at shaped end 16a; also see page 7, lines 1-4 and page 11, lines 31-33, also see figures 5 and 10).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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 16 March 2026