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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/20/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive to the extent they apply to the current rejection. The chamfers are taught by the newly added reference. While Behle does not explicitly disclose the gap size of claim 21, Behle clearly discloses gap size as a results effective variable. Alternatively, this would also just be a change in size, see MPEP 2144.04 IV.
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.
Claims 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Behle (US 2004/0081533) in view of Nagano (US 2007/0218161) and Dominguez (US 10125800).
As to claim 9, Behle teaches an assembly comprising: a spacer (6) disposed between 2 plates [Fig 4, 6], the spacer having an aperture (10) with an inner diameter sized to be press fitted on an unthreaded portion (see the portion corresponding to 19 in Fig 6) of an outer surface of a fastener [Fig 6], for positioning and/or aligning the fastener within the aperture of the plate and/or for aligning a threaded portion of the fastener with a corresponding threaded aperture of the opposite plate[Fig 6, 0028, 0037]. Behle does not explicitly state the use of this threaded bolt/spacer configuration within a cavity block and backing plate. Behle teaches the spacer has a top surface with an inner portion (19) and an outer portion (7) with a channel between the inner portion and the outer portion (occupied by 3) [Fig 4, 0028, 0037]. Behle teaches the inner portion has an inner biasing force, and the outer portion has an outer biasing force that is different from the inner biasing force due to their different dimensions and shape [Fig 4, 0028, 0037]. Behle teaches the in a vertical direction the inner portion (19) is raised above the outer portion (7) [Fig 4].
Nagano teaches a molding apparatus [Abstract] wherein threaded bolts (23) are utilized to fasten/retain cavity blocks (19a) to backing plates (21, 22c,22b) [Fig 1, 5-7] with unthreaded portion 23a and threaded portion 23b which allow for the cavity block to be retained and secured while allowing movement of the cavity block relative to the other mold [0026-0028, 0036]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have altered the invention of Behle and utilized the spacer and threaded bolts of Behle within a mold assembly between the backing plate and cavity block, as suggested by Nagano, as these bolt configurations had proven successful at retaining the cavity block and secured while allowing movement of the cavity block relative to the other mold.
Behl does not explicitly state an internal chamfer, ie extending outward away from the fastener
Dominguez teaches a assembly for bolting a machine [Claim 8] to a foundation wherein the washer for a bolt has internal chamfers that extend away from the fastening bolt to allow for the bolt to be tightened flush [col 6 line 27-40, Claim 8, Fig 3H]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have altered the invention of Behl and had the spacer have an internal chamfer extending outward away from the fastener, as suggested by Dominguez, in order to allow the bolt to be tightened flush.
As to claim 10, Behle teaches the back-up plate or the cavity block has a recess for receiving the spacer (either the recess that receives 18 or the recess receives 19), and the recess has a dimension that creates a press-fit with an outer surface of the spacer [Fig 6, 0028, 0037].
As to claim 11, Behle teaches the recess in the back- up plate or the cavity block has an inner diameter that creates a press fit with an outer diameter of the spacer (either the recess that receives 18 or the recess receives 19)[Fig 6, 0028, 0037].
As to claim 15, Behle teaches the spacer is of a material that provides a spring-like or biasing force when the spacer is compressed and/or moved as the washer is capable of being compressed and is soft but resilient material [0013, 0011, Fig 6] and these washers are commonly made of rubber [0013, 0002].
As to claim 16, Behle in combination with Dominguez as explained above teaches the spacer has a top surface with a chamfer (the sloped portion of 19 on the exterior surface) encircling the aperture such that the bottom portion of the chamfer is adjacent to the fastener.
As to claim 21, Behle teaches that the height of the washer determines the gap between the components and that its size is configured to allow for tolerances between the components and avoid inaccuracy [0010, 0011]. In other words, the gap size is results effective variable on component tolerance and fitting accuracy. It is well settled that the determination of the optimum value of a result effective variable, in this case gap size, is within the skill of one practicing art, see MPEP § 2144.05 II. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to optimize the gap size to an exact value of 0.003 inch in order to allow for component tolerance and minimize fitting inaccuracy. Furthermore, changes in size, in this case the height of the spacer/washer, are generally recognized to be obvious, see MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
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.
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/ARMAND MELENDEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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