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 § 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.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-172001 A to NHK (NHK) (UPSN 2022/0193932 referenced as an English translation of NHK) in view of United States Patent No. 5960142 to Shimizu (Shimizu).
With regard to claim 1, NHK discloses a bending structure (NHK, title, abstract) comprising:
a bending part (1, fig. 3, flexible member of paragraph 0035) that is elastically bendable with respect to an axial direction;
an end member (17, fig. 3, paragraph 0035) that is attached to an end of the bending part in the axial direction (shown in fig. 3);
a thin part that is formed at the end member and is thinner than the end member in the axial direction (not disclosed);
an exposing part (not disclosed) that is provided at the end member and exposes the thin part in the axial direction in a manner capable of being irradiated with a laser light of laser welding; and
a welding part (paragraph 0063) that is formed at the thin part by the laser welding and joins the thin part to the bending part (not disclosed).
The NHK device is by the same applicant of and differs from the claimed device by lacking the exposing part to create the welding part.
Shimizu discloses the use of an exposing part that is a notch that opens the thin part to outside the end member and that allows the frame to be through welded as noted at column 5, lines 5-17. Shimizu recognizes the advantage of a cutout for welding purposes by noting no allowances must be made to provide a laser welding beam at a slant to ensure a proper weld. The cutout of Shimizu simplifies the welding process by removing these calculations and allows the device to be made smaller as noted at column 5, lines 30-32.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the device of NHK with a notch and a thin part in the end member as taught by Shimizu to allow a welded attachment of the end member to the bending part by laser welding wherein a YAG laser beam is incident on the thin part and passes through to melt the substrate of the bending part.
With regard to claim 2, NHK in view of Shimizu discloses the bending structure according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the exposing part is a notch that opens the thin part to outside the end member (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1, the notch of Shimizu is taught as advantageous for a secure welding attachment).
With regard to claim 6, NHK discloses a method for producing a bending structure, which attaches an end member by laser welding to an end in an axial direction of a bending part that is elastically bendable with respect to the axial direction to produce a bending structure (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above), the method for producing a bending structure comprising:
forming a thin part, which is thinner than the end member in the axial direction, at the end member, and exposing the thin part by an exposing part provided at the end member in a manner capable of being irradiated with a laser light of the laser welding (not disclosed);
positioning the end member with respect to the bending part (shown in the figures of NHK) to cause the thin part to be located on a bending part side (not disclosed); and
joining the thin part to the bending part by the laser welding via the exposing part and wherein the exposing part is a notch or a hole that opens the thin part to outside the end member (not disclosed).
Shimizu discloses the use of an exposing part that is a notch that opens the thin part to outside the end member and that allows the frame to be through welded as noted at column 5, lines 5-17. Shimizu recognizes the advantage of a cutout for welding purposes by noting no allowances must be made to provide a laser welding beam at a slant to ensure a proper weld. The cutout of Shimizu simplifies the welding process by removing these calculations and allows the device to be made smaller as noted at column 5, lines 30-32.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the device of NHK with a notch and a thin part in the end member as taught by Shimizu to allow a welded attachment of the end member to the bending part by laser welding wherein a YAG laser beam is incident on the thin part and passes through to melt the substrate of the bending part.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 8-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record fails to teach or suggest a bending structure wherein the thin part is composed of a plate material that is laminated and joined to the end member and wherein the bending part comprises a plurality of wave washers that are laminated in the axial direction and of which a laminated state is maintained by the laser welding, and the thin part is composed of an end wave washer that is laminated on the end member and joined by the laser welding, and the thin part is joined by the welding part to the end wave washer located at an end of the plurality of wave washers to constitute an end of the bending part with the end wave washer forming the thin part, together in combination with the other elements of claims 3 and 4. The prior art of record further fails to disclose a method producing the apparatus of claims 3 and 4, together in combination with the other steps claims 8 and 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following reference disclose similar bending structures: USPN 4901987 discloses a similar wave spring configuration. USPN 2004/0236316 discloses an articulated binding structure with similar fastening rods around a central axis. USPN 2010/0106735 discloses a bending structure connected to an end part. USPN 9570968 discloses a notched configuration that allows welding operations. USPN 10624530 discloses a flexible structure using wave springs. USPNs 2022/0145956, 11576740 and 2024/025325 disclose applicant’s other surgical devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID R DEAL whose telephone number is (469)295-9216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8-4 pm CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached at: Craig M Schneider (571) 272-3607 and Ken Rinehart (571) 272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID R DEAL/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753