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 .
Response to Amendment
This Final Rejection is in response to the Amendment dated March 5, 2026 filed in response to the Non-final Rejection dated December 5, 2026.
Cancelation of claims 40 and 47-56 is acknowledged.
The claim objection in the previous Office action is withdrawn in view of the claim’s cancelation.
The 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection in the previous Office action is maintained for the reasons given below.
Claim Objections
Claim 39 is objected to because of the following informalities: the word “at” appears to be missing between the word “the” and the word “least” in the last line of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant first argues, starting near the bottom of page 7 of the Amendment, Gronvall’s fill spider 17 is a wholly separate component which is not “connected to or integrally formed with the body” of fastening spider 1a. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Claims 39 and 57 each use the phrase “connected to” without further limitation. Gronvall may reasonably be interpreted as disclosing fill spider 17 is at least “connected to” fastening spider 1a because Gronvall discloses fill spider 17 is brought together into contact with fastening spider 1a as shown in Fig. 2.
Applicant then argues, starting in the middle of page 8, Gronvall’s fill spider 17 extends radially and not “in the direction of the axis from the body to the trailing end” as required by claims 39 and 57. Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s premise Gronvall’s fill spider 17 may not both extend radially while also extend in the direction of the axis from the body to the trailing end to anticipate the limitation at issue. While it is true Gronvall’s fill spider 17 extend radially outward, fill spider 17 also extends in the axially direction upward from the upper surface of spider 1a’s body where fill spider 17’s upper surface defines the trailing end of the head nut. Neither claim 39 nor claim 57 contain limitation where the engaging portion may only extend in the axial direction.
Applicant lastly argues, starting in the upper portion of page 9, Gronvall does not disclose the limitation the engaging portion is “formed of a deformable material that is arranged to deform when the head nut is disposed within the at least one passage to retain the head nut within the at least one passage.” Examiner does not find the argument persuasive for two reasons.
First, the limitation at issue is recitation with respect to the manner in which the claimed apparatus is intended to be employed which does not differentiate the claimed apparatus when Gronvall’s prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. See M.P.E.P. 2114,II.
Second, assuming arguendo the limitation does further limit claim 39, Gronvall anticipates the limitation. Fill spider 17 is “arranged to deform when the head nut is disposed within the at least one passage to retain the head nut within the at least one passage” because fill spider 17 may reasonably be interpreted as being part of the head nut itself and fill spider 17 is made of deformable material such that it is capable of deforming when it is placed in the recess. Applicant’s argument is based upon the premise Gronvall does not anticipate claim 39 because fill spider 17 is disclosed as being a separate component. Yet claim 39 does not include limitation which requires this interpretation. Claim 39 only requires the engaging portion to be “connected to” the body of the head nut. Gronvall discloses this by showing fill spider 17 being brought together into contact with body 5.
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 39, 41-46 and 57-58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0173857 A1 by Grönvall, hereinafter “Gronvall”.
Regarding claim 39, Gronvall discloses a mill liner assembly for a grinding mill (assembly shown in Fig. 2; ¶[0047]) comprising a mill liner having a wear surface and an opposite inner surface (wear resistant lining element 2 in Fig. 2 with upper wear surface and opposite inner surface positioned against a support surface (3 in Fig. 2) which ¶[0003] discloses may be a drum, i.e. a grinding mill drum), and a head nut forming part of a coupling for use in removably mounting the mill liner to an interior surface of the grinding mill (head nut fastening spider 1a in Figs. 2-4 with fill spider 17 in Fig. 2; ¶[0048]-[0052]), the mill liner further comprises at least one passage having an interior wall extending in the liner for receiving the head nut (passage recesses 15 in Fig. 5; ¶[0049]),
wherein the head nut comprises a leading end (leading end under sides 6 and 9 in Fig. 4; ¶[0048]) and a trailing end being spaced apart along an axis (the upper surface of fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 is a trailing end; ¶[0052]):
a body having an interior bore extending along the axis operative to receive a shank (body mounting portion 5 in Fig. 3 with interior bore through hole 7 receives the shank of bolt 13 as shown in Fig. 2; ¶[0048]), the shank forming part of the coupling (the shank of bolt 13 couples spider 1a to support surface 3 which fastens liner element 2 to surface 3); and
an engaging portion connected to or integrally formed with the body to engage the interior wall of the passage to retain the head nut in the at least one passage in the mill liner (engaging portion fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 is shown in contact connection with body mounting portion 5 and engaging the interior wall of passage recesses 15 of Fig. 5 retaining spider 1a in passage recesses 15 of liner 2), wherein the engaging portion extends in the direction of the axis from the body to the trailing end (engaging portion fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 extends in the axial direction from body 5 to the trailing end upper surface of fill spider 17), and the engaging portion is formed of a deformable material that is arranged to deform when the head nut is disposed within the at least one passage to retain the head nut within the least one passage (¶[0055] discloses fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 may be made of flexible materials such as rubber or polyurethane. Fill spider 17, as the engaging portion of the head nut, is arranged to deform when it is disposed within fill recess 15 in that is conforms to the size and shape of the recess as shown in Fig. 2.).
Regarding claim 41, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 39 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses the engaging portion is operative to align the bore of the head nut relative to the at least one passage for locating the shank therein (fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 operates to align bore through hole 7 of head nut fastening spider 1a relative to passage recesses 15 to locate the shank of bolt 13 therein).
Regarding claim 42, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 39 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses the body (body 5 in Fig. 3) includes a seating surface (seating surface supporting points 12 in Fig. 4; ¶[0050]) forming the leading end and allowing the head nut to move relative to an opposed seat formed in the interior wall of the at least one passage (opposed seat through holes 16 in Fig. 5 in the interior wall of passage recesses 15; ¶[0049]) to self-centre and align the interior bore of the body relative to an opening of the passage for receipt of the shank in use (supporting points 12 co-operate with holes 16 to center bore 7 in Fig. 3 relative to the center opening of recess 15 which receives the shank of bolt 13 in use).
Regarding claim 43, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 39 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses the engaging portion comprises a radial extension defining a shoulder that extends at least a portion of the external surface of the head nut (Engaging portion fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 comprises a radial extension, see “Radial Extension” annotation to Fig. 2 of Gronvall reproduced below, defining a shoulder extending a portion of the external surface. See “Shoulder” annotation below.), and, the interior wall of the mill liner comprises a corresponding shoulder (see “Corresponding Shoulder” annotation below) and wherein in use, the shoulder is arranged to engage a corresponding shoulder defined in the interior wall of the passage (the Shoulder arranges to engage the Corresponding Shoulder as shown below).
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Regarding claim 44, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 39 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses the engaging portion includes external profiling formed on its external surface protruding in the radial direction from the external surface of the body. Engaging portion fill spider 17 is shaped in the same shape as recess 15 to provide a substantially flat and even surface with the wear surface of liner element 2 as shown in Fig. 2. See paragraph [0052]. Therefore, fill spider 17 has external profiling formed on its external surface protruding radially from its center which correspond to legs 8a-8d of spider 1a shown in Fig. 3.
Regarding claim 45, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 44 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses the external profiling includes one or more ribs extending in the direction of the axis of the at least one passage. Legs 8a-8d of fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 may reasonably be interpreted as “ribs” which extend in the axial direction.
Regarding claim 46, Gronvall anticipates the mill liner assembly according to claim 39 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses a retainer (see “Retainer” annotation to Fig. 5 of Gronvall reproduced below) arranged about an internal surface of the interior bore (the Retainer is arranged about the internal surface of interior bore through hole 7) for releasably retaining the shank therein (the Retainer releasably retains the shank of bolt 13 in passage recess 15).
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Regarding claim 57, Gronvall discloses a method of installation of a head nut within a passage of a mill liner (Fig. 2 shows head nut fastening spider 1a and fill spider 17 installed within passage recess 15 of mill liner element 2), the passage being defined by an interior wall and extending to an opening in the mill liner (passage recess 15 in Fig. 5defines an interior wall extending to an opening in mill liner element 2a), the head nut forming part of a coupling for use in removably mounting the liner to an interior surface of a grinding mill (fastening spider 1a and fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 form part of the coupling shown in Fig. 2 which removably mounts liner element 2 to interior surface support 3 of a grinding mill drum),
the method comprising:
providing a head nut comprising a body having an interior bore extending along an axis operative to receive a shank, the shank forming part of the coupling (heat nut fastening spider 1a comprising body 5 with interior bore 7 which receives the shank of bolt 13), and an engaging portion connected to or integrally formed with the body and extending in the direction of the axis from the body to a trailing end, the engaging portion being formed of a deformable material (engaging portion fill spider 17 in Fig. 2 is in contact connection with body mounting portion 5 and extends in the direction of the axis from body 5 to the trailing end which is the upper surface of fill spider 17);
locating a leading end of the body in the passage such that the body is held in a locating position such that the leading end is spaced apart from the opening of the passage (the leading end of body 5 is located within passage recess 15 as shown in Fig. 2 such that body 5 is held in a locating position such that the leading end is spaced apart from the opening of the passage before body 5 is fully seated as shown in Fig. 2);
applying force to the head nut to move the head nut to a seated position where the leading end abuts the interior wall of the passage, and the interior bore is aligned with the opening of the passage (fastening spider 1a and fill spider 17 are pressed into passage recess 15 such that interior bore 7 in Fig. 3 is aligned with opening fastening point 4 as shown in Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 58, Gronvall anticipates the method according to claim 57 as explained above. Gronvall further discloses applying force to the trailing end of the head nut to move the head nut to the seated position (force is applied to the top surface trailing end of fill spider 17 to seat spider 1a and fill spider 17 within recess 15 as shown in Figs. 2 and 9).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL DEREK PRESSLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-6658. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am to 3:30pm Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Templeton can be reached at (571) 270-1477. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/P DEREK PRESSLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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