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 .
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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wilson (US 3,232,145).
Claim 1:
Wilson discloses a chamfer tool (figs. 1-5, col. 1, lines 28-31), comprising:
a main body (12), which rotates along an axis, having an inner surface (32) and an outer surface (30) located on opposite sides thereof (figs. 1-5, col. 2, lines 59-66);
wherein the main body (12) further has a plurality of mounting portions (44), each of which is connected to the inner surface (32) and outer surface (30) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 1-3);
a driving shaft (18) fixed to the main body (12) to drive the main body (12) to rotate (figs. 1-5, col 2, lines 36-45); and
a plurality of milling members (14, 16) each having a first blade (61) and a second blade (59), wherein the milling members (14, 16) are mounted on the mounting portions (44) of the main body (12) with the first blades (61) protruding from the outer surface (30) of the main body (12) and the second blades (59) protruding from the inner surface (32) of the main body (12) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 42-43).
Claim 3.
Wilson discloses the chamfer tool of claim 1, further comprising a fixing member (36) detachably connected to the main body (12) and resting against at least one of the milling members (14, 16) to secure the milling members (14, 16) to the main body (12) (figs. 1-5, col. 2, line 66 bridging col. 3, line 8).
Claim 6:
Wilson discloses the chamfer tool of claim 1, wherein a plurality of chip removal surfaces (30) are formed between each of the neighboring mounting portions (44) respectively, and at least two of the chip removal surfaces (30) are non-coplanar (figs. 1-5, col. 2, lines 59-66).
Claim 7.
Wilson discloses a chamfer tool, (figs. 1-5, col. 1, lines 28-31), comprising:
a main body (12), which rotates along an axis, having mounting portions (44), wherein a chip removal surface (30) is formed between two of the neighboring mounting portions (44) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 1-3 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 2, below);
a driving shaft (18) fixed to the main body (12) to drive the main body (12) to rotate (figs. 1-5, col 2, lines 36-45); and
a plurality of milling members (14, 16) mounted on the mounting portions (44) of the main body (12), wherein each of the milling members (14, 16) has an end protruding from the main body (12); wherein the chip removal surface (30) is inclined from one of the mounting portions (44) towards the other (figs. 1-5, col. 2, lines 36-53).
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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.
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.
Claims 1, 5, 7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brinko (DE 20 2009 002 719 U1) as provided by (DE 20 2009 002 719 U1) machine translation as an English language equivalent in view of Wilson (US 3,232,145).
Claim 1:
Brinko discloses a deburring tool ([0001]), comprising:
a main body (2), which rotates along an axis, having an inner surface (conical inner surface) and an outer surface (conical outer surface) located on opposite sides thereof (figs. 1-2, [0012]);
a driving shaft (12) fixed to the main body (2) to drive the main body (2) to rotate (figs. 1-4, [0013]); and
a plurality of milling members (4, 6) each having a first blade (8) and a second blade (8), (figs. 1-4, [0012]), wherein the milling members (4, 6) are mounted on the main body (2) with the first blades (8) protruding from the outer surface (conical outer surface) of the main body (2) and the second blades (8) protruding from the inner surface (conical inner surface) of the main body (2) (figs. 1-4, [0012]).
Brinko fails to disclose mounting portions. Instead, Brinko discloses a main body (2, deburring cone) designed as a hollow cone which forms a milling member (4, external deburrer) on its conical inner surface and a milling member (6, internal deburrer) on its conical outer surface (Brinko, figs. 1-4, [0012]).
Wilson discloses a chamfer tool (figs. 1-5, col. 1, lines 28-31), comprising:
a main body (12), which rotates along an axis, having an inner surface (32) and an outer surface (30) located on opposite sides thereof (figs. 1-5, col. 2, lines 59-66);
wherein the main body (12) further has a plurality of mounting portions (44), each of which is connected to the inner surface (32) and outer surface (30) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 1-3); and
a plurality of milling members (14, 16) each having a first blade (61) and a second blade (59), wherein the milling members (14, 16) are mounted on the mounting portions (44) of the main body (12) with the first blades (61) protruding from the outer surface (30) of the main body (12) and the second blades (59) protruding from the inner surface (32) of the main body (12) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 42-43).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to support the milling members of Brinko by providing mounting portions on the main body of Brinko as taught by Wilson to provide for the predictable insertion and removal of the milling members (Wilson, col. 1, lines 50-60). See MPEP §2143 A which describes the prima facie obviousness of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim 5:
Brinko in view of Wilson renders obvious the chamfer tool of claim 1, further comprising a shaft fixing member (Brinko, 10) mounted on the main body (Brinko, 2) wherein the shaft fixing member (Brinko, 10) having a non-circular shaft hole (polygonal) for the driving shaft (Brinko, 12) to pass through; a shape of the shaft hole corresponds to that of the driving shaft to prevent the driving shaft from rotating relative to the shaft fixing member (Brinko, figs. 1-4, [0012] and [0013]).
Claim 7:
Brinko discloses deburring tool ([0001]), comprising:
a main body (2), which rotates along an axis, a chip removal surface (conical inner surface and/or conical outer surface); a driving shaft (12) fixed to the main body (2) to drive the main body (2) to rotate (figs. 1-4, [0012] and [0013]); and
a plurality of milling members (4, 6) mounted on the main body (2), wherein each of the milling members (4, 6) has an end (edges 8) protruding from the main body (2) (figs. 1-4, [0012] and [0013]); wherein the chip removal surface is inclined from one end towards the other (conical surfaces) (figs. 1-4, [0012] and [0013]).
Brinko fails to disclose mounting portions. Instead, Brinko discloses a main body (2, deburring cone) designed as a hollow cone which forms a milling member (4, external deburrer) on its conical inner surface and a milling member (6, internal deburrer) on its conical outer surface (Brinko, figs. 1-4, [0012]).
Wilson discloses a chamfer tool, (figs. 1-5, col. 1, lines 28-31), comprising:
a main body (12), which rotates along an axis, having mounting portions (44), wherein a chip removal surface (30) is formed between two of the neighboring mounting portions (44) (figs. 1-5, col. 3, lines 1-3 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 2, below); and
a plurality of milling members (14, 16) mounted on the mounting portions (44) of the main body (12), wherein each of the milling members (14, 16) has an end protruding from the main body (12); wherein the chip removal surface (30) is inclined from one of the mounting portions (44) towards the other (figs. 1-5, col. 2, lines 36-53).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to support the milling members of Brinko by providing mounting portions on the main body of Brinko as taught by Wilson to provide for the predictable insertion and removal of the milling members (Wilson, col. 1, lines 50-60). See MPEP §2143 A which describes the prima facie obviousness of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim 10:
Brinko in view of Wilson renders obvious the chamfer tool of claim 7, further comprising a shaft fixing member (Brinko, 10) mounted on the main body (Brinko, 2) wherein the shaft fixing member (Brinko, 10) has a non-circular shaft hole (polygonal) for the driving shaft (Brinko, 12) to pass through; a shape of the shaft hole corresponds to that of the driving shaft (Brinko, 12) to prevent the driving shaft (Brinko, 12) from rotating relative to the shaft fixing member (Brinko, figs. 1-4, [0012] and [0013]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, and 8-9 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:
Claim 2:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or fairly suggest the chamfer tool of claim 1, wherein the main body has a plurality of edge portions adjacent to ends of the mounting portions individually; each of the milling members has a first connecting groove corresponding to the edge portions respectively, and each of the first connecting groove further has a notch on a sidewall thereof; the edge portions enter the notches along the first connecting grooves without contacting the inner surfaces of the notches when the milling members is mounted on the mounting portions.
Claim 4:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or fairly suggest the chamfer tool of claim 3, wherein each of the milling members has a peak and a second connecting groove adjacent to the peak, allowing an end of the fixing member resting against the second connecting grooves of the milling member and surrounding the peaks when the fixing member is secured to the main body.
Claim 8:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or fairly suggest the chamfer tool of claim 7, wherein the main body has a plurality of edge portions adjacent to ends of the mounting portions individually; each of the milling members has a first connecting groove in an end corresponding to the edge portions respectively, and each of the first connecting groove further has a notch; the edge portions enter the notches along the first connecting grooves without contacting the inner surfaces of the notches when the milling members is mounted on the mounting portions.
Claim 9:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or fairly suggest the chamfer tool of claim 7, further comprising a fixing member detachably connected to the main body wherein each of the milling members has a peak and a second connecting groove adjacent to the peak; thereby when the fixing member is secured to the main body ends of the fixing members rest against the corresponding second connecting grooves of the milling members and surround the peaks to secure the milling members to the main body.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Philipp (US 1,662,936) discloses a milling member including a connecting groove corresponding to an edge portion of a mounting portion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lee Holly whose telephone number is (571)270-7097. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 to 5:00 EST.
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/Lee A Holly/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726