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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Australia on November 10, 2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 2022903369 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55. The electronic retrieval was unsuccessful.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7-8 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Appl (3,371,723).
Regarding claim 1, Appl discloses an earth working tool assembly comprising:
A tool shank (10) having a leading end portion (10a)
An earth working tip (11) having a trailing end portion (11b) that is detachably engageable with the leading end portion (10a) of the tool shank (10)
A fastening assembly (12) for detachably fastening the earth working tip to the tool shank, the fastening assembly comprising:
A trailing connector (16) that is connectable to the tool shank
A leading connector (19) that is connectable to the earth working tip (by connecting to element 13 located on the tip – column 2 line 27-31)
A spring mounting mechanism (15,27,30,31) interposed between the trailing and leading connectors, the spring mounting mechanism being configured so that the trailing and leading connectors can be driven away from each other against a bias of the spring mounting mechanism, into and out of an operative condition in which the spring mounting mechanism acts to retain the earth working tip and the tool shank in engagement with each other (column 3 lines 5-55)
Regarding claim 2, Appl discloses that the leading connector (19) includes a catch body with a leading side and a trailing side.
Regarding claim 3, at least one catch formation (18) is arranged on the catch body (19) and is releasably engageable with at least one complementary catch formation (13b) on the earth working tip.
Regarding claim 7, the trailing connector (16) is connected to the tool shank to facilitate limited pivotal movement of the trialing connector and thus the fastening assembly with respect to the tool shank.
Regarding claim 8, the catch body (19) includes a floor wall and two opposed side walls that project from the floor wall and extend between the leading and trailing sides (Figure 5).
Regarding claim 18, Appl discloses a method of detachably fastening an earth working tip (11) to a tool shank (10) with a fastening assembly (12), the method including steps of:
Connecting a trailing connector (16) of a fastening assembly with a tool shank (10)
Connecting a leading connector (19) of the fastening assembly with an earth working tip (11)
Retaining the trailing connector and the leading connector in an operative condition using a spring mounting mechanism (15,27,30,31) of the fastening assembly interposed between the trailing connector and the leading connector, wherein the spring mounting mechanism retains the earth working tip and the tool shank in engagement with each other (column 3 lines 5-55)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 9-17 and 19 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Rol Corredor (2018/0044895) also discloses a spring loaded catch mechanism for the mounting of a wear tip on an excavating tooth.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamie L McGowan whose telephone number is (571)272-5064. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00-5:00 CST.
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/JAMIE L MCGOWAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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