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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "said rechargeable battery" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 6 as well as understood, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0113563 A1 to (Gabb) in combination with US 7,878,482 B2 to (Hernandez, Jr.), and further in view of US 2008/0173013 A1 to (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), and demonstrated by US 2017/0043751 A1 to (Saltzman et al.) and US 2010/0085010 A1 to (Suzuki et al.).
Regarding claim 1, (Gabb) provides a kit that provides one or more power assisted devices that make the changing of a vehicle's tire less strenuous (para. [0004]). The kit of (Gabb) includes: a jack (a scissors jack 100); an impact driver (electric impact wrench 120) having an output chuck… (Fig. 6) that is matable to a socket (impact wrench adapter 200D)(four versions of impact wrench adapters 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D (paras. [0027]-[0033])) for mating with an end of the jackscrew 104 of the jack for rotating the input socket (adapter 200D) in either said first direction or said second direction (para. [0026]); a plurality of impact sockets (lug nut sockets 118; Figs. 2B and 6), a respective one of the impact sockets being releasably matable to the output chuck of the impact driver 120 wherein the respective impact socket is configured to engage lug nuts on a respective tire on the vehicle for removing the respective tire from the vehicle, each of the plurality of impact sockets having a unique size with respect to each other wherein the plurality of impact sockets is configured to accommodate a wide range of sizes of lug nuts (para. [0026] – see sentences 6 and 7); and suggests the option of providing blocks (i.e., a pair of wheel chocks) for preventing the vehicle from rolling (para. [0038]).
Thus, (Gabb) provides a vehicle tire change kit for assisting with jacking a vehicle and changing a tire on the vehicle as claimed, except for failing to provide a jack stand in addition to the other components, and the jack that (Gabb) provides is a scissors jack instead of a hydraulic jack.
(Hernandez, Jr.) provides both a hydraulic jack (bottle jack 12) and a jack stand (10, 10a, 10b for the purpose of raising automobiles. The various embodiments (10, 10a, 10b) of the jack stand have a support member (column 16) being retainable at a variety of heights wherein said jack stand is configured to be positioned beneath the vehicle when the vehicle has been jacked for safely retaining the vehicle in a jacked position. The hydraulic jack 12 in (Hernandez, Jr.) is lever actuated, i.e., its hydraulically actuated piston 14 elevates a load in response to operating its piston raising and lowering mechanism 12a by manually manipulating its detachable handle 17 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1., rather than having an input socket that is rotated to actuate the movement of the piston 14. A head end 14a of the piston 14 has a knurled surface (serving as a “lifting plate.”
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(HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) provides a hydraulic jack having an input socket (nuts 56 are engaged via a mating hex head socket (not shown) that is coupled to a driver; see Col. 3, lines 34-40) wherein said input socket is rotated in a respective first direction or second direction to raise or lower the ram pistons 24, 26 of the hydraulic jack which is configured to jack a vehicle; and, teaches that a driver, which may be a pneumatic driver, a power cord driver, or a rechargeable battery powered driver, or the like (para. [0022]) may engage the input socket (not shown) and rotate in a first direction or a second direction to raise or lower the ram piston 24, 26.
In view of the references above, considering that (Gabb) demonstrates providing a vehicle tire change kit for assisting with jacking a vehicle and changing a tire on the vehicle; that (Hernandez, Jr.) demonstrates providing both a hydraulic jack and a height adjustable jack stand; and, (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) teaches providing a hydraulic jack that has a rotating force application member (camshaft 44) to apply force to the plunger (push rod 36) in the small cylinder 30, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the kit of (Gabb) by providing a height adjustable jack stand and, alternatively, to use a hydraulic jack rather than a scissors jack, such as a hydraulic jack and adjustable jack stand as taught by (Hernandez, Jr), and further, to provide a hydraulic jack having an input socket (nuts 56) wherein said input socket (not shown) is rotated in a respective first direction or second direction to raise or lower the hydraulic pistons of the hydraulic jack via an impact driver that is coupled to the input socket (nuts 56) via a socket as demonstrated in (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, in the combination of (Gabb) with (Hernandez, Jr,), further in view of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), in (Gabb), as described above, impact wrench adapter 200D has a well at an impact wrench socket end 208 designed to mate to drive shaft 128 of electric impact wrench 120 (Figs. 5A and 6); and the output chuck (drive shaft 128) of said impact driver 120 has an exterior surface which has a plurality of perpendicularly oriented sides such that said output chuck has a rectangular shape thereby facilitating said output chuck (drive shaft 128) to conform to the shape of said well in said distal end 208 of said input socket (impact wrench adapter 200D)(Fig. 6 illustrates the drive shaft 128 of the electric impact wrench
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120 as having a square cross-section).
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Regarding claim 4, in the combination of (Gabb) with (Hernandez, Jr,), further in view of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), in (Hernandez, Jr.), the jack stand in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 13-16, is described as having a support frame (base 11) and a locking mechanism (ratchet mechanism 60 including a manually operated handle 64 connected to a pawl 62)) being movably integrated into said support frame (via receptacle 13), said support member (column 16) having a plurality of teeth 66 being integrated into a rear surface of said support member 16, said locking mechanism releasably engaging a respective one of
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said plurality of teeth for retaining said support member at a selected length with respect to said support frame (Col. 8, lines 44-67). FIG. 5A illustrates a fourth version of impact wrench adapter 200D. It has a first end 242 that 208, designed to mate to drive shaft 128 of electric impact wrench 120, and a second end 244 that has a square socket cavity 246. Impact wrench adapter 200D is designed to mate with a scissors jack that has a male jackscrew connector part 106C shaped as a rectangular shaft with a square cross section.
Regarding claim 5, in the combination of (Gabb) with (Hernandez, Jr,), further in view of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), (Gabb) suggests the option of providing blocks (i.e., a pair of wheel chocks) but does not explicitly provide any particular structural features of said blocks. However, wheel chocks having a plurality of intersecting outer surfaces being oriented acute angles with each other; said plurality of intersecting sides of each of said pair of wheel chocks includes a front side and a back side and a bottom side; each of said front side and said back side comprises a series of steps being evenly spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said bottom side and a peak defined by said front side and said back side wherein said series of steps is configured to facilitate the respective wheel to frictionally engage either said front side or said back side, such as the wheel chocks as demonstrated in (Saltzman et al.) were well-known (or publicly available) at the time of the effective filing date of the
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invention. Thus, providing such chocks for the blocks of (Gabb) would have been an obvious choice for the kit of (Gabb), where the steps on the first and second faces of the chock(s) serve as traction members for gripping a tread of a tire (or tires).
Regarding claim 6, as well as understood, in the combination of (Gabb) with (Hernandez, Jr,), further in view of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), (Gabb) teaches that the electric impact wrench 120 has a trigger 122 for operating the electric impact wrench 120, a power cord 124 that is attached to the case 126 of the electric impact wrench (The power cord 124 has a plug 127 that is received by a 12-volt accessory power source inside the vehicle that provides power to electric impact wrench 120 (para. [0026])); and, (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) teaches that “axial extremities of the camshaft terminate in at least one, preferably two, nuts 56 which are preferably hexagonal head (hex head). These nuts 56 protrude from the camshaft to provide an unimpeded and convenient point of coupling for a mating hex head socket (not shown) attached to a driver which may be a pneumatic driver, a power cord driver, or a rechargeable battery powered driver, or the like.” – Col. 3, lines 34-40). Such an electric impact wrench having a removable, rechargeable battery and a charger having a charge port and a cigarette adapter were well-known (or publicly available) at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, such as the battery pack for power tool and a power tool operated by the battery pack as demonstrated by (Suzuki et al.); see, e.g., para. [0058]).
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Therefore, replacing the electric impact wrench of (Gabb) with a rechargeable battery powered driver, as taught by (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.); or, providing the suggested rechargeable battery powered driver of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) with a charger having a charge port and a cigarette adapter, such as that demonstrated by (Suzuki et al.), would have been an obvious choice to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention.
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Regarding claim 7, in view of the teachings of (Gabb) in combination with (Hernandez, Jr.), and further in view of (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) as discussed regarding claim 1-6 above, considering that all of the claimed components were known and/or publicly available at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to provide a vehicle tire change kit for assisting with jacking a vehicle and changing a tire on the vehicle, wherein the kit comprises: a hydraulic jack having an input socket and a lifting plate (Hernandez, Jr. and HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.), said lifting plate (head end 14a of the piston 14 in Fig. 1 of Hernandez, Jr.) being raised or lowered when said input socket (socket (not shown) in HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) is rotated in a respective first direction or second direction wherein said hydraulic jack is configured to jack a vehicle, said hydraulic jack including a housing (large hydraulic cylinder 22) and a telescopic piston (ram piston 24, 26) extending upwardly from a top wall of said housing, said lifting plate 14a being attached to a top end of said telescopic piston 14, said telescopic piston lengthening when said input socket is rotated in the first direction, said telescopic piston shortening when said input socket is rotated in the second direction, said input socket being disposed on a front wall of said housing, said input socket (socket (not shown) in HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al; and/or impact wrench adapter 200D in Gabb) having a well extending into a distal end of said socket with respect to said front wall of said housing, said well having a bounding surface which has a plurality of perpendicularly oriented sides such that said well has a rectangular shape (See Gabb in reference to claims 2 and 3 above); an impact driver (120 in Gabb; not labeled but suggested in HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al. – (paras. [0022]-[0024]) having an output chuck being matable to said input socket of said hydraulic jack (HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) for rotating said input socket in either said first direction or said second direction, said output chuck having an exterior surface which has a plurality of perpendicularly oriented sides such that said output chuck has a rectangular shape thereby facilitating said output chuck to conform to the shape of said well in said distal end of said input socket, said impact driver having a rechargeable battery (see HERNANDEZ, Jr. et al.) being removably matable to said impact driver; a plurality of impact sockets (see Gabb), a respective one of said impact sockets being releasably matable to said output chuck of said impact driver wherein said respective impact socket is configured to engage lug nuts on a respective tire on the vehicle for removing the respective tire from the vehicle, each of said plurality of impact sockets having a unique size with respect to each other wherein said plurality of impact sockets is configured to accommodate a wide range of sizes of lug nuts; a jack stand (see Hernandez, Jr.) having a support member being retainable at a variety of heights wherein said jack stand is configured to be positioned beneath the vehicle when the vehicle has been jacked for safely retaining the vehicle in a jacked position, said jack stand having a support frame and a locking mechanism being movably integrated into said support frame, said support member having a plurality of teeth being integrated into a rear surface of said support member, said locking mechanism releasably engaging a respective one of said plurality of teeth for retaining said support member at a selected length with respect to said support frame; a pair of wheel chocks (see Gabb), each of said pair of wheel chocks being structured to have a triangular shape wherein said pair of wheel chocks are configured to be positioned against a respective wheel on the vehicle to inhibit the respective wheel from rolling when the vehicle is being jacked, each of said pair of wheel chocks having a plurality of intersecting outer surfaces being oriented acute angles with each other, said plurality of intersecting sides of each of said pair of wheel chocks including a front side and a back side and a bottom side, each of said front side and said back side comprising a series of steps being evenly spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said bottom side and a peak defined by said front side and said back side wherein said series of steps is configured to facilitate the respective wheel to frictionally engage either said front side or said back side (as demonstrated in Saltzman et al.); and a charger having a cigarette adapter wherein said cigarette adapter is configured to be plugged into a power port in the vehicle thereby facilitating said charger to be in electrical communication with an electrical system of the vehicle, said charger having a charge port which releasably engages said rechargeable battery of said impact driver for charging said rechargeable battery, said charge port being in electrical communication with said cigarette adapter wherein said charge port is configured to be in electrical communication with the electrical system of the vehicle (as demonstrated in Suzuki et al.), would has been an obvious selection of known components (devices) that have been selected for their respective function on the basis of the suitability of each component (device) for the intended use thereof as a matter of obvious choice.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as describing numerous components that are utilized in the changing of a tired wheel for automobiles.
In view of the art referenced above, selecting known components (devices) that have suitability for the intended use and choosing which of those known components (devices) to include or exclude, in the formation of a vehicle tire change kit, lacking any evidence of a particular improvement to any one of those known devices, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/