Status of Claims
In the communication filed on 02/25/2026, claims 1-14 are pending. Claims 1-2 and 10 are amended. Claims 12-14 are new. No claims are presently cancelled.
Response to Arguments
The prior objections to the Drawings are withdrawn due to the amendments. The drawings filed 02/25/2026 are attached with annotations to indicate they are approved.
The prior objections to the Claims are withdrawn due to the amendments.
The prior rejections under U.S.C. 112(b) are withdrawn due to the amendments.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the amended claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of references being used in the current rejection.
Because the independent claims have been amended to change their scopes, this final rejection is proper.
Specifically, claim 1 is amended to move several limitations (“work field lighting”, “elongated housing”, “toolholder”, “drive unit”) into the body of the claim, rather than in the preamble. Further, claim 1 is also amended to require the “drive unit” to be arranged within the “elongated housing”, whereas the original claim 1 could be more broadly interpreted such that the “drive unit” is arranged within the “hand-held power tool”.
Similarly, claim 10 is amended to require each of the “drive unit” and “battery” to be arranged within the “elongated housing”, whereas the original claim 10 could be more broadly interpreted such that the “drive unit” and “battery” are arranged within the “hand-held power tool”. Further, claim 10 is also amended to more specifically claim “a charging operation for charging the battery”, rather than the original claim language of “a charging operation for a charging”, which was indefinite and interpreted as redundant and not further limiting.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10, line 5 recites “arranged in the housing”, which should be revised to “arranged in the elongated housing”, to ensure consistency of the claim terms.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 4, 7-9, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitamura et al. (US 2022/0410283 A1; hereinafter “Kit”) in view of Liu (US 2007/0046110 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Kit discloses a hand-held power tool (“electric tool 1”; Figs. 1-4) comprising the following features.
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Kit further discloses the hand-held power tool (1) comprising a work field lighting (combo of “first light source 101” and “second light source 102”; Figs. 2, 4-7A; ¶ [27, 41-43]).
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Kit further discloses the hand-held power tool (1) comprising an elongated housing (“housing 9”; Figs. 1-3).
Kit further discloses a toolholder (combo of “output shaft 3” and “chuck 7”; Fig. 3; ¶ [32]: “7 is fixed to the output shaft 3”) configured to accommodate an application tool (“tip tool 2; Fig. 3; ¶ [32]: “2 … is fixed (attached) to the output shaft 3 by the chuck 7”).
Kit further discloses a drive unit (“drive block A1”; Fig. 3) arranged in the elongated housing (“housing 9”; Figs. 1-3).
Kit further discloses the drive unit (A1) comprising at least one drive motor (“electric motor 5”; Fig. 3; ¶ [28-29]) configured to drive the toolholder (3, 7).
Kit further discloses a battery (“power source 6”; Fig. 3; ¶ [34]: “6 is a so-called battery pack”) configured to provide a network-independent power supply (¶ [34]: “6 is a direct-current power supply”).
Kit further discloses a control electronics (combo of “controller 4” and “lighting circuit”, not drawn, which controls turning on/off “101” and “102”, per ¶ [52]) associated with the work field lighting (101, 102).
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Though, as addressed supra, Kit discloses a battery, Kit does not disclose “the battery being configured to be electrically conductively connected to an external charging apparatus to charge the battery in a charging operation”.
As further addressed supra, Kit discloses a control electronics associated with the work field lighting. However, Kit further does not disclose the control electronics “is configured to visualize the charging of the battery in the charging operation by a repeated illumination and dimming of the work field lighting”.
Liu teaches the battery (“battery unit 41”, within “power supplying unit 4”; Figs. 2-3) being configured to be electrically conductively connected (conductively connected via the “input power signal”) to an external charging apparatus (supplier of the “input power signal” to the internal “power supplying unit 4”; Fig. 3) to charge the battery (41) in a charging operation (either “quick-charging mode” or “intermittent-charging mode”, per ¶ [19, 23]).
Liu further teaches a control electronics (“processor unit 45”; Fig. 3) associated with the work field lighting (“lamp unit 62”; Figs. 2-3) and configured to visualize the charging of the battery (41) in the charging operation (¶ [23]: “visually indicating … the progress of the charging operation”) by a repeated illumination and dimming (¶ [23]: “processor unit 45 controls the lamp unit 62 … to generate a slow flashing output … during operation of the battery charger 42 in the intermittent-charging mode”) of the work field lighting (62).
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Liu teaches this control of the work field lighting during charging to visually communicate the progress of the charging operation to the user of the power tool (¶ [23]), thus improving user-friendliness and convenience of charging the power tool.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the hand-held power tool and control electronics disclosed by Kit to control the work field lighting to blink while charging, as taught by Liu, to improve user experience and convenience by visually communicating the progress of the charging operation to the user of the hand-held power tool as a secondary function of the existing work field lighting.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit does not disclose “the control electronics are further associated with a battery charge level sensing unit which is configured to sense a current battery charge level”.
Liu further teaches the control electronics (45) are further associated with a battery charge level sensing unit (“battery voltage detector 44”; Fig. 3) which is configured to sense a current battery charge level (¶ [19]: “44 is coupled electrically to the processor unit 45 and is adapted for detecting battery voltage of the battery unit 41”).
Liu further teaches that sensing the current battery charge level is necessary to protect the battery from overcharging (¶ [19]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the hand-held power tool disclosed by the combo of Kit & Liu to incorporate a battery charge level sensing unit to sense the current battery charge level, as further taught by Liu, to protect the battery from overcharging.
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit further discloses the control electronics (combo of “controller 4” and “lighting circuit”, not drawn, which controls turning on/off “101” and “102”, per ¶ [52]) are further associated with a switch element (“light button 103”; Fig. 2; ¶ [52]: for turning on “101” and “102”, in coordination with “lighting circuit”).
Regarding claim 7, Kit does not disclose “upon an activation of the switch element a battery charge level is visualizable in the operation of the hand-held power tool”.
Liu further teaches the control electronics (45) are further associated with a switch element (“user-actuated unit 61”; Figs. 1-4; ¶ [21]: “61 includes a button … and in the form of a gun trigger mounted operably to a handle portion 31 of the housing 3”).
Liu further teaches that upon an activation of the switch element (61) a battery charge level is visualizable in the operation of the hand-held power tool (¶ [24]: “when the battery voltage of the battery unit 41 drops below a dynamic preset value (such as 2.45 volts), which indicates insufficient residual power of the battery unit 41, while the button of the user-actuated unit 61 is manually operated, the processor unit 45 deactivates the driving unit 5 and the auxiliary lamp 7, and controls the lamp unit 62 to flash for a predetermined number of times (such as two times), thereby indicating the need to recharge the battery unit 41”).
Liu teaches this control of the work field lighting during charging to visually communicate battery charge level to the user of the power tool (¶ [24]), thus improving user-friendliness and convenience of using the power tool.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the hand-held power tool and control electronics disclosed by the combination of Kit and Liu for a battery charge level to be visualizable in the operation of the hand-held power tool upon an activation of the switch element, as further taught by Liu, to improve user experience and convenience of using the power tool by visually communicating battery charge level to the user of the power tool as a secondary function of the existing work field lighting.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 7.
Kit further discloses the switch element (103) is configured as a switch (“light button 103”; Fig. 2) activatable by a user (¶ [52]: “each time a press operation is given to … 103”; ¶ [52]: “a user turns on … 101 … 102”) of the hand-held power tool (1).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit further discloses the hand-held power tool (1) further comprises an activation unit (“interruption mechanism B1”, including “contact part P1”; Fig. 3; ¶ [82-85]) configured to activate (¶ [84]: “when the contact part P1 is switched to the closed state, the drive voltage is given to the electric motor 5”) the drive motor (5).
Kit further discloses the activation unit (B1, P1) is configured to activate the drive motor (5) upon a biasing (“pressing force” exceeds the “restriction range R0”; ¶ [77-78, 83, 85]; Fig. 8) of an application tool (2) arranged in the toolholder (3, 7), against a workpiece (“work target 100”; Fig. 3) to be machined (“100” to be tightened by “1”; ¶ [19]).
Kit further discloses the biasing (“pressing force”; ¶ [70]: “2 receives the pressing force in the pressing direction D1”) is along a longitudinal axis (“pressing direction D1” is along a longitudinal axis of “1”; Fig. 3) of the hand-held power tool (1).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit further discloses the hand-held power tool (1) is a screwdriver (¶ [19]: “an electrically driven screw driver”).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit further discloses the work field lighting (101, 102) is arranged on a front face (annotated Fig. 5, included supra, is a front view that depicts “101” positioned on a front face of the housing; further any surface could be interpreted as a front face, thus, “102” could separately be interpreted as being positioned on a front face) of the elongated housing (9) and is configured to illuminate a workpiece (“work target 100”; Fig. 3) to be machined (“100” to be tightened by “1”; ¶ [19]).
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitamura et al. (US 2022/0410283 A1; hereinafter “Kit”) in view of Liu (US 2007/0046110 A1) and Lee et al. (US 2014/0184171 A1).
Regarding Claims 2-3, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit does not disclose “the control electronics comprise a detection unit configured to detect the external charging apparatus when electrically conductively connected to the battery, and the control electronics are configured to initiate the charging operation of the battery in response to the detection of the external charging apparatus” (claim 2).
Kit does not disclose “the control electronics further comprise a charging control unit configured to initiate the charging operation and to terminate the charging operation after a successful charging” (claim 3).
Lee teaches the control electronics (combo of “160”, “170”, “180”, “190”; Fig. 1) comprise a detection unit (“detection unit 160”, including “second detection module 162”; Fig. 1) configured to detect (¶ [44]: “160 may detect a connection to the external power supply device”; Fig. 2, step 210) the external charging apparatus (“external power supply apparatus”, not drawn; ¶ [29]) when electrically conductively connected (via “wired charging interface unit 150”; Fig. 1) to the battery (“battery 185”; Fig. 1)
Lee further teaches the control electronics (160, 170, 180, 190) are configured to initiate the charging operation (Fig. 2, steps 220 + 230; ¶ [31]: “charging operation is performed through the wired charging interface unit 150”) of the battery (185) in response to the detection (step 210) of the external charging apparatus (“external power supply apparatus”).
Lee further teaches the control electronics (160, 170, 180, 190) further comprise a charging control unit (“charging unit 180”; Fig. 1) configured to initiate (¶ [33]: “when power is detected through the wired charging interface unit 150 … 190 may detect the power and control a charging operation by driving the charging unit 180”) the charging operation (Fig. 2, steps 220 + 230).
Lee further teaches the charging control unit (180) is further configured to terminate (¶ [33]: “190 may detect a residual quantity of the battery 185 and control the charging unit 180 to terminate a charging operation when the battery 185 is in a 100% charging state”; ¶ [54]: “190 may determine whether charging is complete, and if charging is complete, … the process may be terminated”) the charging operation (Fig. 2, steps 220 + 230) after a successful charging (¶ [33]: “100% charging state”).
Lee further teaches the detection unit, charging control unit, and associated capabilities to enable the control electronics to detect and quickly respond to the connection of an external charging apparatus by the user (¶ [3]), which reduces charging time and improves user convenience (¶ [67]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the control electronics disclosed by the combination of Kit and Liu to incorporate a detection unit to detect an external charging apparatus and to incorporate a charging control unit to initiate/terminate charging, as taught by Lee, to reduce charging time and improve convenience of charging the hand-held power tool’s battery by enabling the control electronics to detect and quickly respond to the connection of an external charging apparatus.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitamura et al. (US 2022/0410283 A1; hereinafter “Kit”) in view of Liu (US 2007/0046110 A1) and the Texas Instruments application note (Kathrina Macalanda, SLYY163: Fundamentals to automotive LED driver circuits, May 2019, Texas Instruments), hereinafter “Mac”.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit further discloses the control electronics (combo of “controller 4” and “lighting circuit”, not drawn, which controls turning on/off “101” and “102”, per ¶ [52]) are further associated with a brightness control (“light button 103”; Fig. 2) configured to control a brightness (controls whether none, one, or both of “101” and “102” are on, thus adjusting the light output to the “dark work environment”; ¶ [52]) of the work field lighting (combo of “101” and “102”).
NOTE: The claim language “control a brightness” can be interpreted broadly. Simply turning a light between an off-state (not bright) and an on-state (brighter) is controlling a brightness.
Kit does not disclose “the brightness control comprises at least one transistor and/or one MOSFET”.
Mac teaches the brightness control (circuits of Fig. 5 to implement “PWM dimming” in right-hand graph of Fig. 11, page 7) comprises at least one transistor (left-hand circuit in Fig. 5, page 4) and/or one MOSFET (right-hand circuit in Fig. 5, page 4)
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Mac further teaches using transistors and/or MOSFET to control brightness as practical, power-efficient, and stable implementations (page 4: “Discrete constant-current LED drivers”) of a lighting drive circuit that can control brightness via pulse-width modulation (Fig. 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the hand-held power tool disclosed by the combination of Kit and Liu to incorporate at least one transistor and/or MOSFET for brightness control, as taught by Mac, as a practical, power-efficient, and stable implementation of a lighting drive circuit that can control brightness via pulse-width modulation.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitamura et al. (US 2022/0410283 A1; hereinafter “Kit”) in view of Liu (US 2007/0046110 A1) and Olsson et al. (US 11,894,707 B1; hereinafter “Olss”).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Kit and Liu teaches the hand-held power tool according to claim 1.
Kit does not disclose “the control electronics are further configured to deactivate the work field lighting when the battery has been fully charged by the charging operation”.
Olss teaches the control electronics (130) are further configured to deactivate the lighting (“red LED 270-2”; Fig. 2C; col. 12, lines 44-47: “fully charged state … the red LED is off”; Fig. 6, step 622: “green only”, thus “red LED 270-2” is deactivated to show fully charged) when the battery (100) has been fully charged (“yes” response to step 620 of Fig. 6) by the charging operation (600).
NOTE: Olss’s teachings regarding the deactivation of the lighting are not with respect to a work field lighting, as claimed. However, a different teaching from Liu is included supra that it would be obvious to use the existing work field lighting disclosed by Kit to visualize a status of the battery.
Olss further teaches to deactivate the lighting when the battery has been fully charged by the charging operation as a simple and low-cost approach to communicate the battery has been fully charged to the user (col. 1, lines 38-46, 53-57).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the control electronics disclosed by the combination of Kit and Liu to deactivate the work field lighting when the battery has been fully charged by the charging operation, as taught by Olss, as a simple and low-cost approach to communicate the battery has been fully charged to the user.
Claims 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2014/0184171 A1) in view of Kitamura et al. (US 2022/0410283 A1; hereinafter “Kit”) and Liu (US 2007/0046110 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, Lee discloses a method (flowchart of Fig. 2) of charging a battery (“battery 185”; Fig. 1).
Lee further discloses the battery (185) being electrically conductively connectable (via “wired charging interface unit 150”; Fig. 1) to an external charging apparatus (“external power supply apparatus”, not drawn; ¶ [29]) in a charging operation (Fig. 2, steps 220 + 230; ¶ [31]: “charging operation is performed through the wired charging interface unit 150”) for charging the battery (185).
Lee further discloses the method (Fig. 2) comprising the following.
Lee further discloses electrically conductively connecting (via “150”; ¶ [29]) the charging apparatus (“external power supply apparatus”) to the battery (185).
Lee further discloses detecting (¶ [44]: “160 may detect a connection to the external power supply device”; Fig. 2, step 210), with a detection unit (“detection unit 160”, including “second detection module 162”; Fig. 1), the electrically conductive connection of the battery (185) to the charging apparatus (“external power supply apparatus”).
Lee further discloses activating the charging operation (Fig. 2, steps 220 + 230) using a charging control unit (“charging unit 180”; Fig. 1; ¶ [33]: “when power is detected through the wired charging interface unit 150 … 190 may detect the power and control a charging operation by driving the charging unit 180”).
As addressed supra, Lee discloses a method of charging a battery. However, Lee does not disclose the battery is “of a hand-held power tool which includes a work field lighting, an elongated housing, a toolholder configured to receive an application too, a drive unit arranged in the elongated housing and having at least one drive motor configured to drive the toolholder, and the battery, which is arranged in the housing and is configured to supply network-independent power to the drive motor”.
Lee further does not disclose the method further comprises “activating the work field lighting to execute a repeated illumination and dimming of the work field lighting during the charging operation”.
Kit teaches a battery (“power source 6”; Fig. 3; ¶ [34]: “6 is a so-called battery pack”) of a hand-held power tool (“electric tool 1”; Figs. 1-4).
Kit further teaches the hand-held power tool (1) includes a work field lighting (combo of “first light source 101” and “second light source 102”; Figs. 2, 4-7A; ¶ [27, 41-43]).
Kit further teaches the hand-held power tool (1) includes an elongated housing (“housing 9”; Figs. 1-3).
Kit further teaches a toolholder (combo of “output shaft 3” and “chuck 7”; Fig. 3; ¶ [32]: “7 is fixed to the output shaft 3”) configured to receive an application tool (“tip tool 2; Fig. 3; ¶ [32]: “2 … is fixed (attached) to the output shaft 3 by the chuck 7”).
Kit further teaches a drive unit (“drive block A1”; Fig. 3) arranged in the elongated housing (9) and having at least one drive motor (“electric motor 5”; Fig. 3; ¶ [28-29]) configured to drive the toolholder (3, 7).
Kit further teaches the hand-held power tool includes the battery (6), which is arranged in the housing (9) and is configured to supply network-independent power (¶ [34]: “6 is a direct-current power supply”) to the drive motor (5).
Kit further teaches the hand-held power tool of this structure as a useful tool to be used on a construction site to tighten bolts and screws (¶ [19]). Kit further teaches the battery being used as a power source for the control electronics and the drive motor in the tool (¶ [29, 34-35]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery of the method disclosed by Lee to incorporate the battery in a hand-held power tool, as taught by Kit to broaden the commercial uses for the method for a battery in a tool that is useful on construction sites to tighten bolts and screws.
Liu teaches activating the work field lighting (“lamp unit 62”; Figs. 2-3) to execute a repeated illumination and dimming (¶ [23]: “processor unit 45 controls the lamp unit 62 … to generate a slow flashing output … during operation of the battery charger 42 in the intermittent-charging mode”) of the work field lighting (62) during the charging operation (¶ [23]: “visually indicating … the progress of the charging operation”).
Liu teaches this control of the work field lighting during charging to visually communicate the progress of the charging operation to the user of the power tool (¶ [23]), thus improving user-friendliness and convenience of charging the power tool.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the method disclosed by Kit to activate the work field lighting to blink while charging, as taught by Liu, to improve user experience and convenience by visually communicating the progress of the charging operation to the user of the hand-held power tool as a secondary function of the existing work field lighting.
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Lee, Kit, and Liu teaches the method according to claim 10.
Lee further discloses the method (Fig. 2) further comprising, prior to an activation (step 220 begins charging, thus activating “180”) of the charging control unit (180), detecting a battery charge level (¶ [33]: “190 may detect a residual quantity of the battery 185”, corresponding to a percentage “charging state”, and used to inform “charging with a method of constant current charging or constant voltage charging”; per ¶ [60], this info is output from “190” to “display unit 120”) using a battery charge level sensing unit (“controller 190”; Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Lee, Kit, and Liu teaches the method according to claim 10.
The combination of Lee, Kit, and Liu (as set forth prior) the hand-held power tool (incorporated from Kit: “1”) is a screwdriver (Kit ¶ [19]: “an electrically driven screw driver”).
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 Daniel P McFarland whose telephone number is (571)272-5952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM Eastern.
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/DANIEL P MCFARLAND/ Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/DREW A DUNN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859