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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2024/0416489 A1 to (LINDSTRÖM).
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(LINDSTRÖM) discloses an attachment (tool head 14), comprising: an input shaft (drive member 68 receives drive shaft 36 of a power tool) rotatable about a first rotation axis, the input shaft being configured to receive power input from a power tool 10; a tip socket 28a including a recess having a socket opening 30; a housing 24 having a housing opening 26 to receive a workpiece, the housing supporting the tip socket 28a in a rotatable manner; a power transmission 70 configured to transmit, to the tip socket 28a, power input (electric motor 46) into the input shaft 36; and a front aligner (positioning device 92a and recess 100); Fig. 5a; para. [0086]) configured to stop rotation of the tip socket 28a with the socket opening being aligned with the housing opening 26.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2887340 B2 to (WAKAMORI).
(WAKAMORI) discloses an attachment (gear case 2), comprising: an input shaft 4a rotatable about a first rotation axis, the input shaft being configured to receive power input from a power tool (driving shaft 3); a tip socket 7 including a recess (Figs. 1, 2 and 7) having a socket opening h; a housing 2 having a housing opening H to receive a workpiece N, the housing 2 supporting the tip socket 7 in a rotatable manner; a power transmission configured to transmit, to the tip socket 7, power input (via driving shaft 3) into the input shaft 4a; and a front aligner (Figs. 2, 3 and 7) configured to stop rotation of the tip socket 7 with the socket opening h being aligned with the housing opening H; wherein the power transmission includes an intermittent gear 7a on an outer circumferential surface of the tip socket 7, and a spur gear 5 coupled to the intermittent gear 7a and having as many teeth as the intermittent gear 7a, and the front aligner (Figs. 2, 3 and 7) includes a rotary member (upper portion of 5) fixed to the spur gear 5 and having a cutout 15, and a movable member 16 receivable in the cutout; wherein the power transmission includes a first intermediate gear 6 and a second intermediate gear 6 each meshing with the spur gear 5, the spur gear 5 is coupled to the intermittent gear 7a with at least one of the first intermediate gear 6 or the second intermediate gear 6 in between, and the spur gear 5 rotates with at least one of the first intermediate gear 6 or the second
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intermediate gear 6 meshing with the intermittent gear 7a.
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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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 11-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (WAKAMORI), as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, in view of US 6,955,105 B2 to (Chen).
(WAKAMORI), as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, provides an attachment according to claims 11 and 16 except for the provision of a magnet on an inner surface of the recess of the tip socket 7.
(Chen) provides a wrench having a “tip socket”, i.e., open ended head 12, having a pair of opposing jaws (14, 15) extending from an intermediate portion 13, each jaw having a surface (141, 151) and the intermediate portion having a surface 131, together forming contacts faces within the head 12 to receive and engage a nut 30 or bolt; and, teaches placing a magnet 20 within a hole 132 within the surface 131 of intermediate portion 13 such that when the head 12 is engaged with the nut 30, the surfaces 141 and 151 are in contact with two parallel facets 301 and 302 of the nut 30, and the magnet 20 is in contact with a corner 303 of the nut 30. Attraction between the magnet 20 and the nut 30 ensures the engagement of the head 12 with the nut 30.
Thus, since the socket tip 7 of (WAKAMORI) and the open ended head 12 of (Chen) are functionally equivalent, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the socket tip 7 of (WAKAMORI) by providing a magnet on an inner surface of the recess of the socket tip, as taught by (Chen), and having the predictable result of ensuring the engagement of the socket tip with the head of the fastener (nut or bolt).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9, 15, and 17-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if claims 3 and 5 are rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: in claim 3 – that the input shaft is supported by the housing in a manner movable in a front-rear direction parallel to the first rotation axis, the movable member moves in the front-rear direction with the input shaft, and the input shaft moves forward to cause the movable member to be placed into the cutout; and in claim 5 – that the attachment further comprises: a power interrupter configured to interrupt the power, wherein the front aligner stops rotation of the tip socket in synchronization with interruption of the power with the socket opening being aligned with the housing opening, together in combination with the rest of the limitations in the independent and any intervening claims, has neither been disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as providing a number of attachments having an open socket rotated via a transmission.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/