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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on June 25, 2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This office action is in reply to the request for continued examination filed on June 25, 2026. Claims 1, 2 and 9 have been amended. Claims 15-21 have been added. Claim 13 has been cancelled. Claim interpretation previously made under 35 USC 112(f) is maintained. The previous 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections are maintained and are discussed in greater detail below. Claims 1-12 and 14-21 are currently pending and have been fully examined.
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 1-12 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Townsan (2008/0289843).
In reference to claim 1, Townsan discloses a working tool (Figures 2-3) comprising.
a tool head (30, Figure 3), and
an elongate shaft (51), the tool head being configured to articulate (i.e. pivot about 66) relative to the elongate shaft (paragraph 56), the elongate shaft comprising an articulating head connection comprising a housing (see figure below) having a receiving section (formed as an inner wall of the housing, see figure below) including a receiving opening (see figure below) formed in a wall (i.e. the inner wall thereof, see figure below) of the housing, a pin channel (see figure below) and a pin (70) received in the pin channel (Figure 2), wherein the pin and the pin channel are offset (i.e. radially) from a central longitudinal axis (i.e. horizontal dotted line in the figure below) of the elongate shaft,
the tool head comprising an articulating head attachment (68, Figures 2 and 3) configured to couple with the articulating head connection, the articulating head attachment having a housing (i.e. outer surface of 68) including an insertion section (formed as the portion of 68 extending within the receiving opening, see figure below) inserted through the receiving opening of the articulating head connection, the articulating head attachment further including at least two receiving openings (at 104 in Figure 6) for receiving the pin,
the tool head further comprising a shaft for rotation (66) extending within the articulating head connection and the articulating head attachment (see figure below), wherein the shaft forms an axis of rotation for the tool head (paragraph 56), wherein the shaft extends within the receiving section of the articulating head connection (see figure below).
[AltContent: textbox (Housing of the articulating head connection)]
[AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (Pin channel)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (Insertion section)]
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[AltContent: textbox (Receiving section/inner wall of the housing of the articulating head connection)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Receiving opening)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: rect]
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In reference to claim 2, Townsan further discloses that the head rotates through a range of “at least 210 degrees”, (see paragraphs 47 and claim 26) thereby including the angle in a range from about -150° to about 150° from the longitudinal axis (see Figure 1) of the elongate shaft (Note, Figure 3 shows that the head (30/68) can rotate positively (i.e. to the left 210 degrees) or negatively (i.e. to the right 210 degrees, Figure 3).
In reference to claim 3, Townsan discloses that the tool head is configured to articulate relative to the elongate shaft between a plurality of positions spaced apart by an angle in a range from about 10 degrees to about 90 degrees (see Figure 3 showing various angles including from about 10 degrees [Note, 15 degrees is about 10 degrees] to about 90 degrees [Note, going from a fixed unrotated 0 degree position to a rotated 90 degree position includes an angle of 90 degrees]).
In reference to claim 4, Townsan discloses that the at least two receiving openings comprises from two to fifteen receiving openings (see Figure 6 showing at least two openings 104 and see Figure 7 showing 15 openings).
In reference to claim 5, Townsan discloses that each receiving opening corresponds to a relative angular position between the tool head and the elongate shaft (paragraph 62).
In reference to claim 6, Townsan discloses that each of the openings are equally spaced apart such that each relative angular position between the tool head and the elongate shaft is spaced apart by an equal angle (Figure 6).
In reference to claim 7, Townsan discloses that the articulating head connection further comprising a latch (at 116 see Figure 6 which corresponds to the latch shown in Figure 2, also see annotated figure below) coupled to the pin (Figure 2),
wherein in a locked position of the latch (see paragraphs 61, 63, 67 and 68), the pin is received in one of the receiving openings (104, Figure 6) of the articulating head connection, and in an unlocked position of the latch, the pin is displaced from each of the receiving openings such that the tool head is permitted to rotate about the shaft for rotation (see paragraphs 61, 63, 67 and 68).
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In reference to claim 8, Townsan discloses that the latch comprises a latch body (again at 116 also see figure above) surrounding (The examiner notes that the definition of the term “surround” is defined according to www.merriam-webster.com as being; “extends around the margin or edge of” [see definition 1d]. And, the definition of the term “around” is defined as being “along” [see definition 1b]. Since, element 116 “extends along the margin or edge [i.e. upper edge of 51 see Figure above] of ” shaft [51], it meets the definitions above and thus the limitation of the claim) the elongate shaft (51, Figure 2), a channel (i.e. inner opening of 116 that receives 70 therein, see Figure 6) formed in the latch body for receiving the pin, wherein the latch is configured to be biased (i.e. by spring 110, see Figure 6) the latch toward the locked position of the latch.
In reference to claim 9, Townsan discloses that the articulating head connection comprising a housing (formed from 60 and 72, Figure 2),
wherein the shaft for rotation extends through the housing (Note; shaft 66 extends at least through opposing inner surfaces of housing, see figure above) of the articulating head connection, and the receiving opening (formed as the inner space between opposing inner surfaces of housing, see figure above) surrounds the shaft for rotation (Figure 2),
wherein the shaft for rotation extends through the housing of the articulating head attachment (Figure 2).
In reference to claim 10, Townsan discloses further comprising a motorized articulation mechanism (i.e. button 28 and motor 44) configured to drive articulation of the tool head relative to the elongate shaft, wherein the motorized articulation mechanism comprises a motor (44), a motor shaft (not labeled but shown in Figure 2 connecting motor 44 to gear 48 in Figure 2), and a gear system (formed from 48, 52, 58a-58c, 62 and 64) configured to couple the motor shaft to the shaft for rotation.
In reference to claim 11, Townsan discloses that the gear system comprises a bevel gear (i.e. at 48, Figure 2) system or a worm gear system (58a-58c, Figure 2).
In reference to claim 12, Townsan discloses further comprising at least one stop (i.e. from openings 104 or as best understood under a second interpretation is formed from inner surfaces of adjacent teeth of the gear system [48, 52, 58a-58c, 62 and 64]) configured to define articulation intervals of rotation of the tool head relative to the elongate shaft.
In reference to claim 21, Townsan discloses that the articulating head attachment housing (68) comprises a channel (see figure below but is formed as the opening that receives 66, therein) formed in a wall (sidewall) of the articulating head attachment housing, wherein the at least two receiving openings (see figure below) of the articulating head attachment are formed in a pin receiver (formed from 100 and 66) received in (i.e. by 66) the channel (see figure below).
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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.
Claim 2, is also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Townsan (2008/0289843).
In further reference to claim 2, Townsan further discloses that the head rotates through a range of “at least 210 degrees”, (see Figgure3, paragraph 47 and claim 26) thereby including the angle in a range from about -150° to about 150° from a longitudinal axis (see Figure 1) of the elongate shaft.
However, assuming arguendo that Townsan does not expressly disclose that;
the angle in a range from about -150° to about 150° than Townsan is further modified as discussed below.
The examiner notes that Townsan does teach that, “The user may wish to rotate even further then positive or -90.degree” (see paragraph 58).
Thus, Townsan teaches of providing additional angles of rotation (see paragraph 58) thereby teaching that the rotation angle can be optimized to “provide for rotational configuration as the user desires” (paragraph 59) and as such the rotation angle in the range from about -150° to about 150° is disclosed to be a result effective variable in that changing the rotation angle changes the rotational configuration as the user desires (paragraph 59). Further, it appears that one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success in modifying the Townsan device to have a rotation angle within the claimed range, as it involves only adjusting the angle of a component disclosed to require adjustment. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the device of Townsan by making the rotating head rotating about an angle in a range from about -150° to about 150°, as a matter of routine optimization since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). Further, it appears that applicant places no criticality on the range claimed, indicating simply that the angle “may” be within the claimed ranges (see paragraph 34) and offering other acceptable ranges (e.g., 5-150 degrees, see paragraph 34).
Claim 14, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Townsan (2008/0289843) in view Baskar et al. (7752760).
In reference to claim 14, Townsan discloses the claimed invention as previously mentioned above, but lacks,
a cable or wire extending continuously through the elongate shaft, the articulating head connection, the articulating head attachment, and into the tool head, the cable or wire configured to power or drive the tool head by a source distal from the tool head.
However, Baskar et al. teach that it is old and well known in the art at the time the invention was made to provide a tool (100) comprising a cable or wire (formed from 170 and the cable/wire within 104, Figure 8) extending continuously through an elongate shaft (104), an articulating head connection (formed from 107, 144, 145 and 176), an articulating head attachment (164), and into a tool head (120), the cable or wire configured to power or drive the tool head by a source distal from the tool head.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the device, of Townsan, with the known technique of providing the cable or wire extending continuously from the shaft to the tool head, as taught by Baskar et al., and the results would have been predictable. In this situation, one could provide a more advantageous and versatile device that provides a source of electrical power and has an elongated boom that releasably engages with a coupling module of the power head (Column 2, Lines 21-30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 25, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant contends that, “The Office Action alleges that Townsan anticipates the claimed working tool of claim 1. However, Townsan fails to disclose an articulating head connection housing having a receiving opening formed in a wall of the housing, and an articulating head attachment having a housing including an insertion section inserted through the receiving opening of the articulating head connection. Instead, as illustrated in at least FIGS. 2, 3, 6, and 9 of Townsan, no portion of the spindle housing 30 (interpreted by the Office Action as the claimed tool housing) includes an insertion section inserted through a receiving opening of the housing. In fact, no portion of the spindle housing 30 is inserted through any opening in the housing of Townsan; instead, the spindle housing 30 is positioned between the catch lock casing 72 and spur gear casing 60 of the upper end 18 of the housing 16. For at least this reason, Applicant submits that the materials cited in the Office Action do not anticipate claim 1. Applicant requests withdrawal of the rejection of claim 1 under § 102.”
However, the examiner respectfully disagrees with this statement. As discussed in the rejection above and also as shown in the annotated figures above, the portion of housing (i.e. indicated in the annotated figure on page 4 above with a bold bracket/brace at the right portion of 68) that extends within the receiving opening (Note; the examiner has removed the tool head 30 in the annotated figure on page 4 above in order to more clearly see the receiving opening) meets the limitation of the insertion section. And, since the insertion section of the tool head housing extends within the receiving opening of the articulated head connection, it meets the limitation of the claim. Since, all of the structural limitations have been met, the examiner believes that the rejection is proper.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J SCRUGGS whose telephone number is (571)272-8682. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-2.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at 313-446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT J SCRUGGS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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