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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 8-20 in the reply filed on 1/6/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 10, line 3 “1018” should be deleted or included in parenthesis. Appropriate correction is required.
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 18 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 18 recites “groups of battery packs” and “a power tool”; however, it is not clear how there are “groups of battery packs” since claim 8 recites a “first battery” and a “second battery”; line 2 recites “a power tool”; however, it is not clear which power tool the claim is referring to.
Claim 8 is also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph for indirectly including the above noted deficiencies.
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.
Claim(s) 8-14, 16-17, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over POOLE et al. (US 2020/0236875) in view of Haneda et al. (US 9,713,880).
With respect to claim 8, POOLE discloses a battery pack powered power tool (battery powered backpack blower 100) comprising: a backpack portion configured to be supported by a user (back support assembly 114), the backpack portion including a backing plate (back plate 106), a first battery pack interface coupled to the backing plate for receiving a first battery, and a second battery pack interface coupled to the backing plate for receiving a second battery pack (battery interface 124 receives a first battery 126a and a second battery 126b), the second battery pack interface positioned below the first battery pack interface (figure 1B discloses that the second battery interface holding battery 126b is positioned below the first battery interface holding first battery 126a); and an arm portion including a rigid conduit and a flexible conduit coupling the rigid conduit to the backpack portion, and a handle having a user input and interface configured to control operation of the battery pack powered power tool. Figure 1 discloses that the backpack blower comprises flexible conduit 156 couple to a rigid conduit, and a handle 170 with user input and interface to control operation of the blower.
POOLE; however, does not expressly disclose wherein the first battery pack interface is angled relative to the second battery pack interface by an angle between 45 and 90 degrees.
Haneda discloses a battery powered power tool (chainsaw) with a first and second batteries 31, figures 4, 15 disclose a second battery interface 24b position below a first battery interface 24a, figure 15 discloses that the first battery interface 24a is position at an angle between 45 and 90 degrees with respect to the second battery interface 24b.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention, to have modify POOLE and include the battery configuration of Haneda, for the purpose of providing the batteries in a certain position to find the center of gravity of the power tool, for example.
With respect to claim 9, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, wherein the first battery pack interface extends away from the backing plate by a first distance measured perpendicular to the backing plate, wherein the second battery pack interface extends away from the backing plate by a second distance measured perpendicular to the backing plate, wherein the first distance is less than the second distance. Haneda discloses in figure 15 that the first battery pack interface 24a and the second battery interface 24b extend away from the backing plate by a first and second distance, the first distance is less than the second distance.
With respect to claim 10, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, further comprising an L-shaped protrusion having a substantially vertical leg and a substantially horizontal leg, the L-shaped protrusion extending rearward from the backing plate, wherein the first battery pack interface is formed in the substantially vertical leg and the second battery pack interface is formed in the substantially horizontal leg. Haneda discloses in figure 15 an L-shape protrusion 24 having a vertical and horizontal legs comprising the battery interfaces 24a and 24b for receiving the batteries.
With respect to claim 11, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, wherein the backpack portion further comprises an air mover, a motor configured to drive the air mover, an inlet through which the air mover is configured to draw air, and an outlet in communication with the flexible arm portion. Figure 1B, paragraph 0038-0039 discloses that the blower comprises fans, motor, inlets.
With respect to claim 12, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 11, wherein the flexible conduit is coupled to the outlet of the backpack portion to receive airflow from the air mover, wherein the rigid conduit is coupled to the flexible conduit to receive airflow from the flexible conduit, and wherein the rigid conduit includes an outlet for expelling the airflow from the rigid conduit. Figure 1 discloses flexible conduit and tube member 152 for expelling the airflow.
With respect to claim 13, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 12, wherein the handle includes a trigger configured to move from a disengaged position towards a fully engaged position to actuate the air mover. Trigger 172.
With respect to claim 14, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 13, wherein the handle includes a power hold actuator having a locking cam configured to selectively engage the trigger such that in an unlocking position, the locking cam does not limit the movement of the trigger and in a locking position, the locking cam engages the trigger to maintain the current position of the trigger. Figure 1B, paragraph 0063 discloses momentary switch 174 to lock the motor at the selected speed.
With respect to claim 16-17, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, wherein the first battery pack interface is angled relative to the second battery pack interface by less than 90 degrees, wherein the first battery pack interface is angled relative to the second battery pack interface by an angle between 75 and 85 degrees. Haneda discloses that the first battery interfaced is angled with respect to the second battery pack interfaces; it would have been obvious to have made the angle between the battery interfaces to be less than 90 degrees or at an angle between 75 and 85 degrees, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With respect to claim 19, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, further comprising a controller mounted to the backpack portion and programmed to receive signals from the user input and interface via a cable, wherein the cable is external to the rigid conduit and the flexible conduit. Controller 180 receives signals from the user via the interface, note that the control assembly 170 and the controller 180 must be connected via cables.
With respect to claim 20, POOLE in view of Haneda disclose the battery pack powered power tool of claim 8, wherein the handle is repositionable along a length of the rigid conduit between a plurality of positions. Figure 9, paragraph 0062 discloses that the handle is reposition along the tube assembly 148.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim15 is 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.
Claim 15 is allowable over the prior art of record, because the prior art of record does not disclose wherein the first battery pack interface is one of a plurality of first battery pack interfaces spaced apart from one another along the backing plate, and wherein the second battery pack interface is one of a plurality of second battery pack interfaces spaced apart from one another along the backing plate, wherein the plurality of first and second battery pack interfaces form a rectangular array.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. KOIDE et al. (US 2020/0390041) discloses a battery powered blower.
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/CARLOS AMAYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836