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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3, lines 2-3 “extends the rearward” should be –extends rearward--.
Claim 3, line 5 “at the both of end portions” should be –at both of the end portions--.
Claim 7, lines 2-3 “an another rear end portion” should be –another rear end portion--.
Claim 7, line 5 “toward the rearward” should be –toward the rear end portion--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurioka et al. (US 20150271997 A1) in view of Nelson (US 5021696 A).
Regarding independent claim 2, Kurioka discloses a mower (10, Fig. 1), comprising:
a housing with an open bottom (“downwardly-opening housing 11”, para. [0029]);
a rotary shaft (16a) supported in a vertical direction inside the housing (Fig. 1); and
a cutter blade (15) which is housed inside the housing to be rotatable with the rotary shaft as a rotation center (SC) and extends from the rotary shaft to both of opposing sides of the housing in a radial direction (Fig. 3);
wherein the cutter blade has
a wing portion (44) which overhangs upward and rearward that is an opposite side in a rotational direction (Ra) of the cutter blade from a rear end portion located on the opposite side in the rotational direction of the cutter blade (as seen in Fig. 3), at both of end portions of the cutter blade in a longitudinal direction (“longitudinally-opposite end sections 41”, para. [0041]).
Kurioka at Para. [0005] teaches that it is desirable to design blades to optimize noise suppression performance, but does not explicitly teach a wing chamfered portion at which a wing outer end portion located on an outer side in the radial direction of the wing portion is chamfered to be inclined from an upper surface to a lower surface toward the outer side in the radial direction and is chamfered in tapered cross section to decrease in thickness.
However, in the same area of reducing noise in blades, Nelson at Fig. 3b, C5, L16-25 teaches that improvements to noise performance in blades can be achieved by the addition of a chamfer (60) at the radial outermost edge (57) of blade (46), as this structure avoids sharp corners and helps to reduce any additional flow separation caused at the blade termination.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to chamfer the radial outermost edge of Kurioka (circled below), as taught by Nelson, in order to reduce noise generated by rotation of the blade and improve noise performance.
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Regarding claim 3, Kurioka/Nelson discloses the mower according to claim 2. Kurioka further discloses wherein the cutter blade (15) has a blade outer end portion (radial outermost portion of the cutter blade extending from front edge 43 toward the wing portion) which extends rearward from an outer edge (42) in the radial direction at a front end portion located on a front side in the rotational direction to the wing outer end portion and continuous with the wing outer end portion (blade outer end portion continuous with wing outer end portion, as circled above), at both of the end portions of the cutter blade, and wherein the blade outer end portion and the front end portion intersect to form a corner portion (Fig. 3, circled below).
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Regarding claim 4, Kurioka in view of Nelson discloses the mower according to claim 3, wherein the cutter blade (15) has a blade chamfered portion at which the blade outer end portion is chamfered to be inclined from the upper surface to the lower surface toward the outer side in the radial direction and is chamfered in tapered cross section to decrease in thickness (inherent from combination, chamfer extends along entire outer end portion of blade).
Regarding claim 5, Kurioka in view of Nelson discloses the mower according to claim 2. Kurioka further discloses wherein the rotary shaft is provided with the cutter blade (15) and an upper cutter blade (14) located above the cutter blade.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurioka in view of Nelson as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Clark (US 3014333 A).
Regarding claims 6-7, Kurioka in view of Nelson discloses the mower according to claim 5. Kurioka further teaches:
wherein the upper cutter blade (14) has a blade outer beveled portion (33) at which an outer end portion located on an outer side in the radial direction is beveled to be inclined toward the outer side in the radial direction and is beveled in tapered cross section to decrease in thickness (Fig. 2D and Fig. 5, edges 33 slope radially outward), at both of end portions of the upper cutter blade in a longitudinal direction (Fig. 2A-2B, beveled portion 33 at each longitudinal blade end), as per claim 6, and
wherein the upper cutter blade has a blade rear beveled portion (34, Fig. 4) at which another rear end portion located on an opposite side in a rotational direction (Ra) of the upper cutter blade is beveled to be inclined from a lower surface (14b) to an upper surface (14a) toward the rear end portion and is beveled in tapered cross section to decrease in thickness (Fig. 5, para. [0036]), as per claim 7.
Kurioka further teaches wherein the blade outer beveled portion (33) is inclined from an upper surface (14a) to a lower surface (14b) instead of from a lower surface to an upper surface, as recited in claim 6.
Clark in a similar field of endeavor teaches a cutter for a rotary lawn mower wherein a blade outer end portion (62) is inclined from a lower surface to an upper surface in the radial direction (Fig. 2) in order to deflect a radially outwardly directed flow of air upwardly (see arrows 63, 65 in Fig. 2, col. 3 lines 34-42).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the blade outer beveled portions of Kurioka to be inclined from the lower surface to the upper surface, as taught by Clark, in order to creates an updraft/suction radially outwardly thus causing the blades of grass to stand upright whereby they can be effectively engaged and severed by the lower cutter element (Clark at col. 3 lines 43-48).
Kurioka further teaches wherein the blade outer portion (33) and the blade rear portion (34) are beveled instead of chamfered, as recited in claims 6 and 7.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to chamfer instead of bevel the blade outer and rear portions of the cutting blade, as Nelson at C5, L20-25 teaches that a bevel and chamfer are functional equivalents for reducing flow separation caused at the blade termination to improve noise performance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Pace (US 5179823 A) discloses an upper cutting blade with a cutting edge beveled from a lower to upper surface to drive clipping particles downwardly towards the path of the lower blade to be cut again into even finer particles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA C TRAN whose telephone number is (571) 272-8758. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 EST.
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/JULIA C TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/JOSEPH M ROCCA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3671