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 .
Examiner’s note: In the response filed February 25, 2026 the previously withdrawn claims 8-20 have been amended to depend from elected claims and therefore have been rejoined. Claims 1-20 are now pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 112400046 (‘046).
Regarding claim 1: ‘046 discloses a retaining mechanism (as seen in figures 4-7) comprising:
a retainer (as seen in figure 5, generally 500) including:
a skirt (as seen in figure 5, area of 514’) including a surface of revolution with an axis of rotation (as seen in figure 5, as defined thru 504), and defining a circumferential direction,
the skirt having a protruding portion extending 180.0 degrees or less about the axis of rotation (as seen in figure 5, at 508), the skirt forming a thru-slot (as seen when the retainer is placed on member 418, in figure 7, area of 510’);
a drive portion extending axially from the skirt (as seen in figure 7, area of 606); and
a detent (as seen in figure 5, area of 520’) positioned, in an axial direction, between the drive portion and the protruding portion of the skirt.
Regarding claim 3: ‘046 discloses the retaining mechanism of claim 1. Further, ‘046 discloses wherein the skirt lacks a peripheral angled or contoured material ejection surface that at least partially borders the thru-slot (as seen in figure 5, area of 510).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 7 are allowed.
Claims 4-6 and 8-20 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 does not disclose or fairly suggest in combination with other claimed features/limitations a retaining mechanism comprising: a retainer including:
a skirt including a surface of revolution with an axis of rotation, the skirt forming a thru-slot and wherein the surface of revolution is a conical surface or a cylindrical surface, and the thru-slot of the retainer includes a straight surface extending from a floor of the thru-slot extending to a first circumferential end of the skirt and to a second circumferential end of the skirt.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 3 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new grounds 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.
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/ROBERT E PEZZUTO/Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/Matthew Troutman/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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