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
1. 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.
2. Claims 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unnamed (JP 2810163 B2) in view of Deng et al. (CN 111482654 A), hereinafter Deng. Regarding claim 1, Unnamed teaches a device 27 for at least one of mounting and dismounting a band-saw blade 21 onto or from a band-saw 5, the band-saw blade having, when mounted on the band-saw, a closed contour and comprises two opposing narrow sides, at least one of which is provided with a plurality of saw teeth or a cutting material, and comprises two opposing flat sides interconnecting the narrow sides, one of the two opposing flat sides is an outwardly facing outer flat side and the other one is an inwardly facing inner flat side, the device 27 comprising: a support frame 55; a support structure 31 configured to support and move the support frame 55 along at least two axes (defined by the rotation axis of the shaft 33 that rotated the support frame 55 and the support structure 31, and a horizonal axis on which support frame 55 moves by cylinder 61; Figs. 1-3) aligned transversely to each other one of which at least two axis being a horizontal axis; and a plurality of retaining elements 53 distributed on the support frame 55 and configured to selectively attach to the outer flat side of the band-saw blade at various locations along the closed contour of the band-saw blade, thereby exerting an outwardly directed retaining force on the outer flat side of the band-saw blade; wherein the support frame 55 is suspended from the support structure 31; wherein the support structure comprises a cantilever beam 63 (defined by the piston of the cylinder which is connected to the support frame 55 in a cantilever manner; Fig. 3) having a free end extendable along the horizontal axis one of the axes; and wherein the support frame 55 is mounted on the free end. See Figs. 1-4c in Unnamed.
Unnamed does not explicitly teach that the support structure is configured to rotate the support frame about the horizontal axis. However, Deng teaches a frame or a holding member 45, connected to a free end of a cantilever expandable beam 41 about an axis. Deng further teaches that the cantilever beam 41 is rotatable (via motor 40) to rotate the frame 45. Thus, the cantilever beam both extends the holder 45 along a horizontal axis and rotates the holder 45 about the same horizontal axis. See Figs. 1-6 in Deng. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide Unnamed’s cantilever beam with a mechanism to rotate the cantilever beam, as taught by Deng, in order to further adjust the position of the frame at a desired angle and to provide an additional degree of movement and flexibility for adjusting the position of the retainers relative to the bandsaw blade.
Regarding claim 2, Unnamed teaches everything noted above including that the support structure 31 is moveable relative to the band-saw 5.
Regarding claim 4, Unnamed teaches everything noted above including that the retaining elements 53 each are configured to adhere exclusively to the outer flat side of the band-saw blade 21 (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 5, Unnamed teaches everything noted above except that
the retaining elements each comprise at least one of a vacuum lifter, a suction cup, a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or a temporarily sticking retaining element. However, Unnamed teaches, in another embodiment in Fig. 4b, that the retaining elements (43, 45; Fig. 4b) may be electromagnets. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to replace Unnamed’s retainer mechanism with electromagnetic retainer elements, as taught in this alternative embodiment of Unnamed, because both retainer mechanisms are art-recognized equivalents that perform the same retaining function.
3. Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Unnamed in view of Deng or Song et al. (CN 209455972 U), hereinafter Song. Regarding claim 8, Unnamed teaches a device 27 for mounting or dismounting a band-saw blade 21 which, when mounted on a band-saw, has a closed contour and comprises two opposing narrow sides, at least one of which is provided with a plurality of saw teeth or a cutting material, and comprises two opposing flat sides interconnecting the narrow sides, one of the two opposing flat sides being an outwardly facing outer flat side and the other one being an inwardly facing inner flat side, the device comprising: a movable support frame 31; and a plurality of retaining elements (43, 45; Fig. 4b) distributed on the support frame 31 and configured to temporarily adhere to the outer flat side of the band-saw blade 21 (Fig. 4b) at various locations along the closed contour of the band-saw blade, thereby exerting an outwardly directed retaining force (by the force of electromagnets 43) on the outer flat side of the band-saw blade; wherein the support frame 31 is mounted on a free end of a cantilever beam 33 along an axis; wherein an actuator for rotating the support frame 31 about the axis is provided in the cantilever beam. See Figs. 1-4c in Unnamed. It should be noted that the support frame which includes the plurality of retaining elements (43, 45; Fig. 4b) is connected to the cantilever beam 33 (Fig. 3) and rotates (via a drive motor (not shown) about the axis of the cantilever beam 33.
Unnamed does not explicitly teach that the cantilever beam 33 is extendable along its axis. However, Deng teaches a frame or a holding member 45, connected to a free end of a cantilever expandable beam 41 about an axis. Deng further teaches that the cantilever beam 41 is rotatable (via motor 40) to rotate the frame 45. See Figs. 1-6 in Deng. Song similarly teaches a frame 6 connected to a free end if a cantilever expandable beam 11 about an axis, and further teaches that the cantilever beam 11 is rotatable to rotate the frame 6. See Figs. 1-2 in Song. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide Unnamed’s cantilever beam with a mechanism for rotating the beam, as taught by Deng or Song, in order to enable adjustment of the position of the frame along a vertical axis and to provide an additional degree of movement and flexibility for positioning the frame.
Regarding claim 9, Unnamed teaches everything noted above including that the retaining elements each are configured to adhere exclusively to the outer flat side of the band-saw blade. See Fig. 4 in Unnamed.
Regarding claim 10, Unnamed teaches everything noted above including that the retaining elements (43, 45) each comprise at least one of a vacuum lifter, a suction cup, a permanent magnet, an electromagnet (as being electromagnets), and/or a temporarily sticking retaining element.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
5. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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.
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/GHASSEM ALIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
January 22, 2026