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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18-26 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 18, line 5, “the wire processing machine” lacks proper antecedent basis.
In claim 23, line 2 and claim 32, line 3, “the workpiece” lacks proper antecedent basis.
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 –
Claims 18, 20-22, 24, 27-31, 33 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guercioni (US7480987B1).
Guercioni discloses the claimed invention as follows:
Claim 18. A method of producing straight or bent shaped parts from insulated flat material having an electrically conducting carrier material sheathed by an electrically insulating insulation layer, comprising:
1) drawing the insulated flat material (wire 38; “rectangular insulated wire” col. 3, ln. 16) from a material supply (supply spool; see col. 3, lns. 8-16) by a draw-in device (feeder 58, Figs. 3 and 4; see col. 4, lns. 9-391) and processing in the wire processing machine (see “Straighten” in Fig. 2; see straighteners 28 and 30 in Figs. 3 and 4; see col. 3, lns. 23-34) to form a straight or bent shaped part of insulated flat material;
2) separating the shaped part from the supplied insulated flat material in a cutting operation (“Cut” in Fig. 2; see cutter 74; see col. 4, ln. 40 to col. 5, ln. 8), wherein before the shaped part is separated from the supplied flat material, part of the insulation layer is removed from the electrically conducting carrier material in at least a portion of the insulated flat material in a stripping operation (see “Strip” in Fig. 2; see stripper 32 in Fig. 3 and 4; see col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8), stripping tools (upper and lower 36, in Fig. 7) on opposite side faces of the flat material are fed in the direction toward the side faces to a working position in which the stripping tools are in engagement with the insulation layer, and the stripping tools and the flat material are moved relative to one another parallel to a passage axis (see col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8); and
3) synchronously with the feeding of the stripping tools on each side of the flat material, feeding at least one supporting element of a supporting device (for claims 20-22 and 24: 54; for claim 19: L and R in annotated Fig. 7 below ) in the direction toward the flat material and bearing with a supporting face against the flat material in an immediate vicinity of an engagement position of the stripping tool when the stripping tool is in working position.
Claim 19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the supporting device has a first (L) and a second (R) supporting element, and the first supporting element bears in front of and the second supporting element bears behind the engagement position of the stripping tool when the stripping tool is in the working position.
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Claim 20. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein supporting elements (54) are configured as rotatably mounted supporting rollers (see Fig. 7) and roll on the flat material when the stripping tools and the flat material are moved relative to one another parallel to the passage axis during the stripping operation.
Claim 21. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein one supporting element (54) is fixedly coupled with the associated stripping tool (36) such that a supporting face of the supporting element is fixed or can be fixed in a specifiable position relative to the stripping tool, based on the feed direction, and the supporting element serves as a stop or an adjustable stop, to mechanically limit the feeding of the associated stripping tool. See Fig. 7 and col. 4, lns. 1-8. Supporting element 54 is a backing roller. It is understood from col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8 that the backup roller 54 supports the opposite side of the wire during stripping of the insulation by the wheel 36, thereby acting as a stop mechanically limiting the motion of the wheel 36.
Claim 22. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein at least one of the supporting elements is resiliently flexibly mounted2 and bears against the flat material with the build-up of a restoring force when the associated stripping tool is in the working position, and a deflection of the supporting element is mechanically limited.
Claim 24. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the stripping operation comprises a milling operation carried out by a milling device, two milling tools (36) have peripheral cutting edges and are rotatable about axially parallel rotational axes, on opposite side faces of the flat material are fed in the direction toward side faces into a working position in which peripheral cutting edges are in engagement with the insulation layer, and the milling tools and the flat material are moved relative to one another parallel to the passage axis. See Fig. 7, as well as col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8.
Claim 27. A wire processing machine that produces straight or bent shaped parts from insulated flat material, comprising:
a draw-in device (feeder 58) that draws the flat material from a material supply and conveys the flat material parallel to a passage axis;
an alignment device (straightening wheels 28 and 30) that aligns the flat material;
a cutting device (74) that separates the shaped part from the supplied insulated flat material;
an integrated stripping device (32) that strips portions of the insulated flat material before the shaped part is separated from the supplied flat material,
wherein the stripping device has on opposite sides of a passage axis at least one stripping tool (36) that can be fed by a feed axis of the wire processing machine from a neutral position (see right 36 of Fig. 7) into a working position (see left 36 of Fig. 7) in which it is in engagement in a material-removing manner with the insulation material (col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8), on each side of the passage axis there is arranged at least one supporting element (for claims 29-31 and 33: 54; for claim 28: L and R in annotated figure 7, above) of a supporting device, which supporting element can be fed in the direction toward the flat material by the feed axis synchronously with feeding of an associated stripping tool and is configured to bear with a supporting face against the flat material in an immediate vicinity of the engagement position of the stripping tool when the stripping tool is in the working position (see col. 4, lns. 1-8).
Claim 28. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein a supporting device associated with a stripping tool has a first supporting element (L in annotated Fig. 7) and a second supporting element (R in annotated Fig. 7, above) arranged on different sides of the stripping tool such that the first supporting element can bear in front of and the second supporting element can bear behind the engagement position of the stripping tool when the stripping tool is in the working position.
Claim 29. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein supporting elements (54) are configured as rotatably mounted supporting rollers. See Fig. 7.
Claim 30. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein one supporting element (54) is fixedly coupled with the associated stripping tool such that a supporting face of the supporting element, based on the feed direction, is fixed or can be fixed in a specifiable position relative to the stripping tool. See Fig. 7 and col. 4, lns. 1-8.
Claim 31. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein at least one of the supporting elements is resiliently flexibly mounted, and an adjustable stop that mechanically limits the deflection of the supporting element is provided. See footnote 2.
Claim 33. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein the stripping device has a milling device having at least two axially parallel milling units (two 36 with corresponding 54, Fig. 7) arranged such that two milling tools (36, Fig. 7) or profile tools rotatable about axially parallel rotational axes on opposite side faces of the flat material can be fed into a working position in which peripheral cutting edges of the milling tools are in engagement with the insulation layer, and the milling units and the flat material are movable relative to one another parallel to a passage axis of the flat material. Compare the left and right 36 in Fig. 7 and see col. 3, ln. 35 to col. 4, ln. 8.
Claim 34. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein a controllable clamping device (fixed wire grabber 60; see col. 4, lns. 32-39) having clamping elements that center the flat material with respect to the passage axis during a stripping operation. It is readily apparent the wire grabber clamps the wire without bending it, i.e. centered on the wire axis, which is also the passage axis, as the wire move in a longitudinal direction through the apparatus.
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(s) 26 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guercioni.
Guercioni discloses fixed wire grabber 60 downstream of the stripper 32 so that the wire is retained (i.e., clamped). See col. 4, lns. 32-39. However, Guercioni does not disclose multiple clamping devices, as claimed in claim 26. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to add an additional fixed wire grabber upstream of the stripper 32, in order to ensure there is no movement of the wire portion being stripped, with predictable results.
Regarding claim 34, to the extent Applicant disagrees the fixed wire grabber 60 necessarily centers the wire with respect to the passage axis, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious the wire should move in a linear path as it passes through the different stations, and it would have been obvious for the wire grabber to grab (clamp) the wire without deviating the wire from the linear path, as this could introduce undesired bends in the wire.
Claim(s) 18-22, 24, 25, 27-31 and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naka (JP2000295822A) in view of Guercioni.
Naka discloses the claimed invention as follows (refer to Figs. 1-4 and 7; limitations not disclosed are crossed out below):
Claim 18. A method of producing straight or bent shaped parts from insulated flat material having an electrically conducting carrier material sheathed by an electrically insulating insulation layer, comprising:
1) drawing the insulated flat material (3) from a material supply (100) by a draw-in device (103; see [0032]) and processing in the wire processing machine (104; see [0033]) to form a straight or bent shaped part of insulated flat material;
2) separating the shaped part from the supplied insulated flat material in a cutting operation (at 108; see [0035]), wherein before the shaped part is separated from the supplied flat material, part of the insulation layer is removed from the electrically conducting carrier material in at least a portion of the insulated flat material in a stripping operation (at 106 and 107), stripping tools (1 and 2; 8 and 9) on opposite side faces of the flat material are fed in the direction toward the side faces to a working position in which the stripping tools are in engagement with the insulation layer (see [0022]-[0024] and [0034]), and the stripping tools and the flat material are moved relative to one another parallel to a passage axis (see [0034]); and
Claim 24. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the stripping operation comprises a milling operation carried out by a milling device, two milling tools (1, 2; 8, 9) have peripheral cutting edges and are rotatable about axially parallel rotational axes, on opposite side faces of the flat material are fed in the direction toward side faces into a working position in which peripheral cutting edges are in engagement with the insulation layer, and the milling tools and the flat material are moved relative to one another parallel to the passage axis. See [0034].
Claim 25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein profile milling tools have a first portion (e.g. larger diameter part of 1 and 2, in Fig. 1 and 2. ) with a cylindrical enveloping surface and an adjoining second portion (7, in Fig. 2) with an axially varying enveloping diameter, and a planar side face and one of the adjoining edges are stripped by a profile milling tool.
Claim 27. A wire processing machine that produces straight or bent shaped parts from insulated flat material, comprising:
a draw-in device (103) that draws the flat material (3) from a material supply (100) and conveys the flat material parallel to a passage axis;
an alignment device (104) that aligns the flat material;
a cutting device (108) that separates the shaped part from the supplied insulated flat material;
an integrated stripping device (106; 107) that strips portions of the insulated flat material before the shaped part is separated from the supplied flat material, wherein the stripping device has on opposite sides of a passage axis at least one stripping tool (1 and 2; 8 and 9) that can be fed by a feed axis of the wire processing machine from a neutral position into a working position in which it is in engagement in a material-removing manner with the insulation material (see [0022]-[0024] and [0034]),
Claim 33. The wire processing machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein the stripping device has a milling device having at least two axially parallel milling units (1 and 2; 8 and 9) arranged such that two milling tools or profile tools rotatable about axially parallel rotational axes on opposite side faces of the flat material can be fed into a working position in which peripheral cutting edges of the milling tools are in engagement with the insulation layer, and the milling units and the flat material are movable relative to one another parallel to a passage axis of the flat material. See [0034].
Naka discloses the claimed invention, except for the limitations crossed out above, and for the limitations of claims 19-22, 28-31 and 34.
Whereas in one embodiment Naka uses two pairs of diagonally-opposite grinding wheels (1 with 2 and 8 with 9), Naka also discloses the possibility of having grinding wheels provided separately such that the corners 35 to 38 of the rectangular wire 3 are cut sequentially (see [0028]. However, there is no description of how the wire is supported when the grinding wheels are separately sequentially provided.
As discussed above, Guercioni teaches providing grinding wheels 36 and providing corresponding backing wheels 54 to support the material while insulation is removed by the grinding wheels 36. The grinding wheel and backing wheel 54 are actuated using pneumatic actuators, to set the distance between the wheels and the wire being processed. As part of the insulation stripping device, the wire also passes through supports labeled L and R in the annotated Fig. 7 above.
Starting with the Nako embodiment of sequential separate grinding wheel, in view of the teachings of Guercioni, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to provide backing wheels corresponding to each grinding wheel, so as to support the wire 3 while insulation is removed by the corresponding grinding wheel. Such grinding wheels would read on the supporting device as claimed in claims 20-22, 24, 29-31 and 33. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to add guide elements similar to those identified as L and R in the annotated Fig. 7 above, in order to guide and support the wire before and after the insulation stripping section, with predictable results. Such guide elements read on the claimed first and second supporting elements for claims 19 and 28.
Regarding claims 22 and 31, Naka mentions the grinding wheel position is adjustable, without elaborating (see [0027 and [0034]) how this achieved. In view of the teachings of Guercioni, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to provide pneumatic actuators for adjusting the position of the grinding wheels and corresponding backing wheels, as a matter of selecting from conventional suitable mechanisms, with predictable results. See footnote 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23 and 32 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US2018/0083428A1 to Shigematsu et al. discloses an apparatus similar in function to that claimed (wire supplied at left end of Fig. 1 is straightened at 16 and 17, insulation is stripped at 12, then cutting at 14).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
1 It is understood that feeding of the wire using the feeder also causes wire to be drawn from the spool. See col. 6, lns. 24-29.
2 See col. 4, lns. 1-8. Pneumatic actuators inherently act as air springs, with the gas inside the actuator compressing slightly under load. Since wheel 54 is a backing wheel, it opposes the pressure applied by the wheel 36 during the stripping process, i.e. there is build-up of a restoring force. As the load increases, so does the restoring force, thereby limiting the motion of the backing wheel.
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