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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albrecht (US 2016/0332264) in view of Sperling (DE 4313830) with references made to machine translation.
Regarding claim 1, Albrecht discloses An accessory holder (accessory device 100) for a torch (torch or cutting device 10), comprising:- a body (110) having an inner surface (114, See Fig 2) for contacting the torch (10) and an outer surface - at least one accessory (ball assembly 150) arranged on the body (ball assembly 150 is considered the accessory and is arranged on the body 110) of the accessory holder (100) and/or a fastening region arranged on said outer surface (Figs 2 and 3 show the fastening region) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (100), which fastening region is configured to releasably fasten an accessory to the accessory holder (100), characterized in that the body (10) of the accessory holder (100) is configured to be releasably connected to the torch (Fig 1 shows the holder being releasably connected to the torch.),
Albrecht fails to disclose, wherein the inner surface (3a) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (1) comprises at least one alignment feature (5) that is configured to be mated with a corresponding feature (6) arranged on an outer surface (2a) of the torch (2) in a form fitting manner so that the accessory holder (1) resides in a fixed spatial orientation with respect to the torch (2) when the accessory holder (1) is releasably connected to the torch (2).
Sperling discloses, a welding torch having an accessory attachment having an accessory (4) disclosed has several protruding elements (8) arranged circumferentially around its inner surface. The torch (1) is equipped with circumferential recesses (7) on its outer surface, acting as mating counterparts (see figures 1, 2 and Paragraph [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to adapt Albrecht in view of Sperling to provide the alignment feature and corresponding mating feature for locking the accessory attachment into place.
Albrecht fails to disclose, regarding claim 2, wherein the at least one alignment feature (5) is a projection of the inner surface (3a) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (1) or a recess of the inner surface of the body of the accessory holder; regarding claim 3, wherein the inner surface (3a) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (1) comprises several alignment features (5), wherein each alignment feature (5) is configured to be mated with corresponding features (6) arranged on said outer surface (2a) of the torch (2) in a form fitting manner so that the accessory holder (1) can reside in different fixed spatial orientations with respect to the torch (2) when the accessory holder (1) is connected to the torch (2) depending on which of the features (6) of the torch (2) the accessory holder's alignment features (5) engage with.
Sperling discloses, regarding claim 2, the alignment feature is shown to be a recess and a projection (re claim 5: having an arc shape). See Fig 2. Regarding claim 3, Fig 2 shows the projection sections 8 as being a plurality of projections. They are capable of being positioned in different orientations in relation to the corresponding mating features of the torch. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to adapt Albrecht in view of Sperling to provide the alignment feature and corresponding mating feature for locking the accessory attachment into place.
Albrecht discloses, regarding claim 4, Figs 1-4 show the accessory holder extending along the perimeter of the torch and the body engages the full perimeter of the torch.
Regarding claim 6, Figs 1-4 of Albrecht show the holder having a top side and bottom side being connected by an inner surface and outer surface.
Sperling discloses, regarding claim 7, the alignment feature is shown to be a recess and a projection and would extend from the upper to lower edge of the body. See Fig 2. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to adapt Albrecht in view of Sperling to provide the alignment feature and corresponding mating feature for locking the accessory attachment into place. Regarding claim 8, it would have been obvious to terminate the alignment features being terminated at the edge or spaced apart from the edge as this is an obvious design choice based on the intended use of the device.
Regarding claim 9, Albrecht discloses An accessory holder (accessory device 100) for a torch (torch or cutting device 10), comprising:- a body (110) having an inner surface (114, See Fig 2) for contacting the torch (10) and an outer surface - at least one accessory (ball assembly 150) arranged on the body (ball assembly 150 is considered the accessory and is arranged on the body 110) of the accessory holder (100) and/or a fastening region arranged on said outer surface (Figs 2 and 3 show the fastening region) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (100), which fastening region is configured to releasably fasten an accessory to the accessory holder (100), characterized in that the body (10) of the accessory holder (100) is configured to be releasably connected to the torch (Fig 1 shows the holder being releasably connected to the torch.),
Albrecht fails to disclose, wherein the inner surface (3a) of the body (3) of the accessory holder (1) comprises at least one alignment feature (5) that is configured to be mated with a corresponding feature (6) arranged on an outer surface (2a) of the torch (2) in a form fitting manner so that the accessory holder (1) resides in a fixed spatial orientation with respect to the torch (2) when the accessory holder (1) is releasably connected to the torch (2).
Sperling discloses, a welding torch having an accessory attachment having an accessory (4) disclosed has several protruding elements (8) arranged circumferentially around its inner surface. The torch (1) is equipped with circumferential recesses (7) on its outer surface, acting as mating counterparts (see figures 1, 2 and Paragraph [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to adapt Albrecht in view of Sperling to provide the alignment feature and corresponding mating feature for locking the accessory attachment into place.
Regarding claim 10, the torch is a cutting torch.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albrecht (US 2016/0332264) in view of Sperling (DE 4313830) and Liu et al (CN 209754243) with references made to machine translation.
The teachings of Albrecht have been discussed above. Albrecht fails to disclose at least one accessory (40, 41) or several accessories (40, 41) held by the accessory holder (1) or integrated into the accessory holder (1), wherein the respective accessory (40, 41) is selected from the group comprising: a level indicator (40), a wire feed tube, an alignment laser, an anti-spatter injector, a gas cleaning injector, an observational and/or alignment camera, an environmental sensor, a distance sensor, a trail, a cooling nozzle.
However, Lui discloses a welding torch having an accessory holder 4, where the accessory comprises a vision based system or laser sensor for tracking/alignment. Seam tracking would be for alignment and is done using a vision based system which would include a camera. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to adapt Albrecht in view of Lui to provide increased welding accuracy.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN W JENNISON whose telephone number is (571)270-5930. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-5.
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/BRIAN W JENNISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 2/4/2026