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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1, 2, 5-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (CN 211661449, herein referenced by the EPO English Machine Translation), in view of Li (CN 103722342, herein referenced by the EPO English Machine Translation).
Re Claim 1, Zhou discloses an variable angle rolling tool (Pars. 0029-0031, Figs. 1-3), comprising: a tool handle 1, a rotatable tool head 2, 3; the tool handle 1 is provided with a front end for assembling the rotatable tool head 2 and a rear end for being fixedly mounted on a tool holder (see figures 1-3); the rotatable tool head 2, 3 comprises a base 2, a rolling head 32; a bottom end of the base 2 is mounted on the tool handle 1 (See figures 1-3); the rolling head 32 is detachably mounted on a front end surface of the base 2; and the base 2 has a rotating state and a locked state and is capable of switching between the rotating state and the locked state, when the base 2 is in the rotating state, the base 2 is capable of rotating in a horizontal plane relative to the tool handle 1 so as to realize adjustment of the rolling head 32; and when the base 2 is in the locked state, the base 2 is fixed relative to the tool handle 1 so as to perform rolling (Pars. 0029-0036, Figs. 1-5).
Zhou does not explicitly disclose the tool is an internal-cooling rolling tool capable of realizing variable-angle low-temperature lubrication; a medium conveying tube; a ball; a top of the base is provided with a medium input port connected with the medium conveying tube, and a medium flow channel is disposed inside the base; the front end surface of the base is provided with a plurality of spray holes for spraying a cooling and lubricating medium in a circumferential direction of the rolling head; the ball is mounted on one end of the rolling head facing away from the base; the medium conveying tube communicates with the spray holes through the medium flow channel; the medium conveying tube is configured to convey the cooling and lubricating medium.
Li discloses an internal-cooling rolling tool capable of realizing variable-angle low-temperature lubrication, comprising: a tool handle, a rotatable tool head 75 and a medium conveying tube 11; a ball 61; the tool handle 1 is provided with a front end for assembling the rotatable tool head 75 and a rear end for being fixedly mounted on a tool holder; the rotatable tool head 75 comprises a base 4, a rolling head 5 and a ball 61; a bottom end of the base 4 is mounted on the tool handle 1, the handle 1 is provided with a medium input port 11a connected with the medium conveying tube 11, and a medium flow channel 21 is disposed inside the base 4; the front end surface of the base 4 is provided with a plurality of spray holes 62 for spraying a cooling and lubricating medium in a circumferential direction of the rolling head 5; the ball 61 is mounted on one end of the rolling head 5 facing away from the base 4; the medium conveying tube 11 communicates with the spray holes 62 through the medium flow channel 21; the medium conveying tube 11 is configured to convey the cooling and lubricating medium (Pars. 0038-0056, Figs. 1-9) for the benefit of providing a tool having improved processing precision (Par. 0011). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the inventions of Zhou and Li to provide an improved internal-cooling rolling tool capable of realizing variable-angle low-temperature lubrication, that provides improved processing precision.
The combination does not explicitly disclose a top of the base is provided with a medium input port connected with the medium conveying tube. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art to alternatively provide a top of the base with a medium input port connected with a medium conveying tube because Applicant has not disclosed that the aforementioned configuration provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose or solves a stated problem. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with either medium conveying tube configuration because both perform the same function of supplying cooling medium. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the invention of the combination to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Re Claim 2, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the medium flow channel 21 is provided with an internal annular flow channel 51 communicating with all the spray holes 62 (See Li, Par. 0040, Figs. 1-4).
Re Claim 5, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose the bottom end of the base is provided with a central hole; the tool handle is provided with a central shaft corresponding to the central hole in position; and the central shaft and the central hole are in clearance fit. Zhou however discloses the bottom end of the base 2 is provided with a central shaft 21 protruding toward the tool handle 1; the tool handle 1 is provided with a central hole (not labeled, see figure 2) corresponding to the central shaft 21 in position; and the central shaft 21 and the central hole are in clearance fit (Par. 0031, Figs. 1 and 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to rearrange the parts to provide the base of Zhou with a central hole and the tool handle with a central shaft, as such a modification would not interfere with the operation of the invention. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Re Claim 6, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Zhao discloses the bottom end of the base 2 is provided with a central shaft 21 protruding toward the tool handle 1; the tool handle 1 is provided with a central hole (not labeled, see figure 2) corresponding to the central shaft 21 in position; and the central shaft 21 and the central hole are in clearance fit (Par. 0031, Figs. 1 and 2).
Re Claim 7, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose the ball is a diamond ball or a ceramic ball. Zhou however discloses a diamond cutting head 31 (Pars. 0007 and 0031, Figs. 1-3).
Li discloses the aforementioned tool having a ball 61 (Par. 0038, Figs. 1-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the invention of the combination with a ball comprised of diamond as disclosed by Zhou for the benefit of machining extremely hard materials.
Re Claim 8, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose the medium conveying tube is threadedly connected to the base. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a medium conveying tube that is threadedly connected to the base because Applicant has not disclosed that providing the aforementioned conveying tube configuration provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose or solves a stated problem. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with either conveying tube configuration because both perform the same function of supplying cooling medium to the tool. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the invention of the combination to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
Re Claim 9, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the plurality of spray holes 62 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the rolling head 5 (See Li, Figures 1 and 2).
Re Claim 10, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the spray holes 61 are round holes (See Li, Figures 1 and 2).
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 4 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
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/BAYAN SALONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726