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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference signs mentioned in the description: drive train 486, measuring system 1760, and actuator 2106.
The drawings are objected to because in Figure 25, reference numeral “798” is used for two different components. Further, in Figure 48, reference numeral “1934” appears to be used for the bottom surface of laser module 1964, but in Figures 49-50, as well as the specification, it is used to designate the bottom surface of head 1918.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 37, the scope of the limitation “the eccentric support includes a plate having a central opening, wherein the central opening receives the output shaft” is unclear. Per Claims 34 and 35, from which Claim 37 depend, the first end of the guide support arm is coupled to the output shaft, and the second end, which includes the eccentric support, is coupled to the guide. How can the central opening of the plate in the eccentric support receive the output shaft therein if it is located on the opposite end of the guide support arm from the output shaft?
Examiner note: no art has been applied to Claim 37; however, the claim as currently set forth is not deemed allowable and Applicant is required to clarify in compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112 so as to facilitate a clear understanding of the claimed invention and the protection sought.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 11-12, 14-17, and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Latoria (US 9,718,108, provided by Applicant).
Regarding Claim 11, Latoria discloses (Figures 1-3 and 7-8) a power tool (bending tool 10) configured to bend conduit, the power tool comprising: a housing (assembly of portable drive housing 12 and blade 26); a motor supported by the housing (col. 3 lns 22-29: the conventional drive is interpreted as a motor); a user interface (trigger switch 20) for controlling the motor (col. 3 lns 25-27); an output shaft (bolt 86) coupled to the housing and including a first end extending from the housing, the output shaft being driven by the motor to rotate about an output axis (col. 4 lns 15-21: bolt 86 is driven to rotate with blade 26 via drive gear 18, which is driven by the drive, engaging driven gear teeth 82); a bender head (center guide 88) supported on the output shaft for rotation therewith (col. 4 lns 29-31), the bender head including a curved channel for receiving the conduit (col. 4 lns 32-34); and a guide (arm guide 96) coupled to the housing; wherein the bender head is rotatable relative to the guide between a first position, in which the conduit is positionable in and movable along the curved channel (see Figure 7; rod R is shown as positioned on the arm guide 96 and support guide 104, but it is also capable of being positionable in and movable along the curved channel of center guide 88 in the position shown), and a second position, in which the conduit is secured in the curved channel (col. 4 ln 60 – col. 5 ln 2: center guide 88 together with blade 26 is driven to rotate until rod R is secured between the curved channel of center guide 88 and arm guide 96).
Regarding Claim 12, Latoria discloses (Figures 7-8) the user interface includes a first actuator (trigger switch 20) for moving the bender head (center guide 88) from the first position to the second position (col. 4 ln 60 – col. 5 ln 2: pressing trigger switch 20 causes the center guide 88 together with blade 26 to move into the second position).
Regarding Claim 14, Latoria discloses (Figure 8) in the second position, the guide (arm guide 96) is configured to contact the conduit (rod R) to secure the conduit in the curved channel (clearly seen in figure).
Regarding Claim 15, Latoria discloses (Figure 7) in the first position, the guide (arm guide 96) is configured to be spaced from the conduit (rod R) positioned in the curved channel (based on the spacing in the figure, it is clear that if rod R is positioned in the curved channel of center guide 88, it will be spaced from arm guide 96).
Regarding Claim 16, Latoria discloses (Figures 1-3) the guide (arm guide 96) is mounted to a guide support arm (arm 28), the guide support arm having a first end (near end 90) mounted around the output shaft (bolt 86; col. 4 lns 11-12) and a second end (distal end 98) which receives the guide.
Regarding Claim 17, Latoria discloses (Figure 5) the guide support arm (arm 28) is selectively secured to the housing (assembly of portable drive housing 12 and blade 26) so that the guide (arm guide 96) is fixed with respect to the housing during a loading and bending operation (col. 4 lns 65-67: arm projection 108 of arm 28 engages blade edge 110 of blade 26 during a bending operation in such a way that arm 28 is fixed, i.e. stationary, relative to blade 26 as it rotates).
Regarding Claim 32, Latoria discloses (Figures 1-3 and 7-8) a power tool (bending tool 10) configured to bend conduit, the power tool comprising: a housing (assembly of portable drive housing 12 and blade 26); a motor positioned within the housing (col. 3 lns 22-29: the conventional drive is interpreted as a motor); an output shaft (bolt 86) extending from the housing and driven by the motor to rotate about an axis (col. 4 lns 15-21: bolt 86 is driven to rotate with blade 26 via drive gear 18, which is driven by the drive, engaging driven gear teeth 82); a bender head (center guide 88) coupled for rotation with the output shaft (col. 4 lns 29-31) and configured to engage a conduit (rod R) during the bending operation (col. 5 lns 1-4); a guide (arm guide 96) configured to support the conduit during the bending operation (seen in Figure 8); and a guide support arm (arm 28) configured to support the guide in a variety of positions with respect to the output shaft (seen in Figures 7-8), the guide support arm being rotatably coupled to the output shaft such that the guide support arm is rotatable with respect to the axis (col. 5 lns 23-25).
Regarding Claim 33, Latoria discloses (Figure 5) a locking latch (arm projection 108) for selectively securing the guide support arm (arm 28) with respect to the housing (assembly of portable drive housing 12 and blade 26; col. 4 lns 65-67: arm projection 108 of arm 28 selectively engages blade edge 110 of blade 26 in such a way that arm 28 is secured to blade 26 as it rotates).
Regarding Claim 34, Latoria discloses (Figure 2) the guide support arm (arm 28) includes a first end (near end 90) for coupling to the output shaft (bolt 86) and a second end (distal end 98) for coupling to the guide (arm guide 96).
Claims 28-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brochman (US 2021/0387243, provided by Applicant).
Regarding Claim 28, Brochman discloses (Figures 2A-E, 4B, and 12A-B) a power tool configured to bend conduit (conduit bender 100’), the power tool comprising: a housing (housing 112); a motor (driver 102) positioned within the housing ([0038] lns 5-6); an output shaft (output shaft 132) extending from the housing and driven by the motor to rotate about an axis ([0042] lns 1-5); a bender head (bender shoe 106) coupled for rotation with the output shaft and configured to engage a conduit during a bending operation ([0043] lns 1-3); a guide (bearing wheel 108) coupled to the housing and configured to engage the conduit during the bending operation ([0051] lns 26-30); and a stand (wheeled cart 220) coupled to the housing for supporting the housing above a support surface ([0066] lns 1-4: conduit bender 100’ can be mounted to wheeled cart 220 shown in Figures 12A-B), the stand including a battery receptacle for receiving a battery (battery pack 118) that provides power to the motor (battery pack 118 is received on the conduit bender 100’, which is in turn received by wheeled cart 220; therefore, wheeled cart 220 receives the battery pack 118 and thus is considered to comprise a battery receptacle).
Regarding Claim 29, Brochman discloses (Figures 2A-E and 12A-B) the housing (housing 112) is rotatably coupled to the stand (wheeled cart 220) for movement between a first position with the output shaft (output shaft 132) extending vertically (shown in Figure 12A), and a second position with the output shaft extending horizontally (shown in Figure 12B).
Regarding Claim 30, Brochman discloses (Figures 2A-B) a handle (handgrip 126) extending from the housing (housing 112).
Regarding Claim 31, Brochman discloses (Figures 2A-B) a user input (trigger 124) configured to control operation of the motor (drive 102; [0041] lns 3-7), the user input being positioned on the handle (handgrip 126).
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latoria as applied to Claim 12 above, and further in view of Brochman.
Regarding Claim 13, Latoria does not disclose the user interface including a second actuator for further rotating the bender head to bend the conduit; in Latoria the trigger switch 20 is used both to move the bender head into the second position and then to continue bending the conduit. In the same field of endeavor, Brochman teaches (Figures 2A-E) a power tool configured to bend conduit (portable conduit bender 100’) comprising a motor (driver 102), a user interface (trigger 124 and keypad 192) for controlling the motor, a bender head (bender shoe 106) supported on an output shaft (output shaft 132) for rotation therewith ([0043] lns 1-3), and a guide (bearing wheel 108), wherein the user interface includes a first actuator (trigger 124) and a second actuator (keypad 192) for further rotating the bender head relative to the guide to bend the conduit ([0057] lns 5-11: a user can input a desired bend angle on keypad 192, which is coupled to programmable controller 202, which in turn controls the motor to rotate the bending shoe 106 until the conduit has achieved the desired bend). This second actuator allows a user to input precise bend specifications ([0061] lns 4-9), which one skilled in the art would understand helps achieve more accurate bends as well as to automate the bending process. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power tool disclosed by Latoria such that the user interface also includes a second actuator for further rotating the bender head relative to the guide from the second position to bend the conduit, as taught by Brochman, in order to automate and improve the accuracy of the bending operation.
Claims 24-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brochman (US 2021/0387243, provided by Applicant) in view of Harvey et al., hereinafter Harvey (US 10,378,739).
Regarding Claim 24, Brochman discloses (Figures 2A-E, 4B, and 12A-B) a bending system configured to bend conduit, the system comprising: a power tool (conduit bender 100’) including a housing (housing 112), a motor (driver 102) positioned within the housing ([0038] lns 5-6), an output shaft (output shaft 132) extending from the housing and driven by the motor to rotate about an axis ([0042] lns 1-5), and a bender head (bender shoe 106) rotatably coupled to the output shaft ([0043] lns 1-3); and a stand (wheeled cart 220) configured to support the power tool above a surface ([0066] lns 1-4: conduit bender 100’ can be mounted to wheeled cart 220 shown in Figures 12A-B).
Brochman does not disclose the stand having the claimed configuration. Harvey teaches (Figures 2 and 9) a stand configured to support an object (head assembly 26) above a surface, the stand including a center column (elongate body 14) extending between a first end (top end 30) and a second end (bottom end 34), the first end configured to couple to the object (col. 4 lns 54-57), a battery receptacle (recess 282) supported by the center column for receiving a battery (battery pack 274) to provide power to the object, and a set of legs (legs 142) coupled to the center column and configured to engage the surface. The shown head assembly 26 is interchangeable with a separate head assembly 60 (col. 4 lns 24-25), so the stand is capable of being configured to support different objects, and the battery used is of the kind used to power a power tool (col. 10 lns 38-42). Accordingly, the stand may be configured to support a power tool and provide power to the motor of the power tool. Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the bending system disclosed by Brochman by replacing the disclosed stand with that taught by Harvey, the stand including a center column extending between a first end and a second end, the first end configured to couple to the power tool, a battery receptacle supported by the center column for receiving a battery to provide power to the motor of the power tool, and a set of legs coupled to the center column and configured to engage the surface, to perform the same function of supporting the power tool above a surface.
Regarding Claim 25, with reference to the aforementioned combination of Brochman and Harvey, Harvey teaches (Figures 2 and 9) the battery receptacle (recess 282) is coupled to the second end (bottom end 34) of the center column (elongate body 14).
Regarding Claim 26, Brochman as modified by Harvey discloses the power tool is movable to different orientations relative to the stand (Brochman Figures 12A-B, [0067] lns 6-12; Harvey col. 4 lns 10-16).
Regarding Claim 27, with reference to the aforementioned combination of Brochman and Harvey, Harvey teaches (Figure 2) the set of legs includes three legs (legs 142) arranged as a tripod (clearly seen in figure).
Claims 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latoria as applied to Claim 34 above, and further in view of Xiao (CN 111589914). For text citations of Xiao, refer to the machine translation provided as Non-Patent Literature.
Regarding Claim 35, Latoria does not disclose the second end of the guide support arm includes an opening with an eccentric support positioned therein. In the same field of endeavor, Xiao teaches (Figures 1 and 3-5) a power tool configured to bend conduit ([0002] lns 1-2) comprising a bender head (supporting groove wheel 2-3) coupled for rotation about an axis with an output shaft (rotating shaft 2-2) and configured to engage a conduit during a bending operation ([0047] lns 2-5), a guide (bending groove wheel 3-1) configured to support the conduit during the bending operation ([0044] lns 4-5), and a guide support arm (bending rotating plate 2-7) rotatably coupled to the output shaft such that it is rotatable with respect to the axis ([0047] lns 2-4), wherein the guide support arm includes a first end for coupling to the output shaft ([0040] lns 5-6) and a second end for coupling to the guide, wherein the second end includes an opening (bending groove 2-8) and an eccentric support (slider 3-7) positioned within the opening ([0043] lns 6-7: slider 3-7 supports bending groove wheel 3-1, i.e. the guide, in groove 2-8 at a location eccentric to the axis of rotation about shaft 2-2). This configuration of the opening and the eccentric support at the second end of the guide support arm allows the distance between the bender head and the guide to be adjustable in order to tightly clamp the conduit therebetween during a bending operation ([0036] lns 3-6). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the guide support arm of the power tool disclosed by Latoria such that the second end includes an opening and an eccentric support positioned within the opening, as taught by Xiao, in order to allow the distance between the guide and the bender head to be adjusted for the conduit to be tightly clamped during bending operations.
Regarding Claim 36, with reference to the combination of Latoria and Xiao, Xiao teaches (Figures 1, 3, and 5) the eccentric support (slider 3-7) is movable within the opening (bending groove 2-8; [0043] lns 6-7).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERESA A GUTHRIE whose telephone number is (571)270-5042. The examiner can normally be reached M/Tu/Th, 10-6 ET.
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/TERESA A GUTHRIE/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725