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
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: “through apexes of at least two the plurality of crests” should read “through apexes of at least two of the plurality of crests” on claims page 3 line 2. 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.
Claims 9 and 10 are 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 9 recites the limitation "an inner diametric dimension" twice in claim 9, lines 5-6 . Each limitation should possess its own antecedent basis to clearly define the claim. For the purpose of examination, examiner has assumed the first recitation to be “a first inner diametric dimension” and the second to be “a second inner diametric dimension.”
Claim 10 recites the limitation "an inner diametric dimension" twice in lines 12-14. Each limitation should possess its own antecedent basis to clearly define the claim. For the purpose of examination, examiner has assumed the recitation on line 12 and following recitation “the inner diametric dimension” on line 14 to be “a first inner diametric dimension,” on line 13 and following recitation “the inner diametric dimension” on line 16 to be “a second inner diametric dimension,” and on line 15 and following recitation “the inner diametric dimension” on line 21 to be “a third inner diametric dimension.”
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christensen US 10513147 B1 in view of Minton US 4562329 A.
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Christensen Figure 4
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Christensen Figure 5
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Christensen Figure 7, (annotated herein Annotated Figure 1)
Regarding claim 1, Christensen teaches a fastener removal tool (Abstract) including: a collet (40) including an outer inclined surface (48), a first threaded section (58), a first end portion (46) of the collet (40) including an opening (50) and an outer sleeve (70) including a through hole (74) and an urging portion (See Annotated Figure 1), the urging portion (See Annotated Figure 1) being located in the through hole (74), the urging portion (See Annotated Figure 1) including a second threaded section (84), the second threaded section (84) being located in the through hole (74), the second threaded section (84) being selectively screwed to the first threaded section (58), the collet (40) being disposed through the through hole (70); wherein when the second threaded section (84) is screwed to the first threaded section (58) and the outer sleeve (70) and the collet (40) are relatively rotated, the outer inclined surface (48) is urged and the first end portion (46) of the collet (40) is radially contracted (col 2, ln 19-20). Christensen does not teach the first threaded section on an outer inclined surface of the collet.
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Minton Figure 3 However, in a related device, Minton teaches a collet (10) comprising an outer inclined surface (16) including a first threaded section (22) which advantageously allows to tool to interface with a narrow opening in a fourpiece for supporting the tool to which it is attached (col 6, ln 25-29). A person reasonably skilled in the art would have been able, before the filing date of the application, to apply the outer inclined surface of Minton to the fastener extractor of Christensen in order to advantageously allow the tool to access fasteners within narrow openings like the fourpiece in Minton (col 6, ln 25-29). Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions such that the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 2, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the first end portion (46) further includes a flange (52 of Christensen) extending radially inward.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the outer inclined surface is a conical surface (16 of Minton) tapered in a direction away from the opening (50 of Christensen). Regarding claim 4, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the collet (40 of Christensen) further includes an axial hole (44 of Christensen), the first end portion (46 of Christensen) further includes a plurality of slits (54 of Christensen) arranged in intervals, and the axial hole (44 of Christensen) is in communication with the opening (50 of Christensen).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches a second end portion (56 of Christensen) of the collet (40 of Christensen) includes a perforation (62 of Christensen) disposed therethrough. Regarding claim 6, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the collet (40 of Christensen) includes an axial hole (44 of Christensen), the axial hole in communication with the perforation (62 of Christensen).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the collet (40 of Christensen) further includes an inner thread section (60 of Christensen) located in the axial hole (44 of Christensen).
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Christensen Figure 7, annotated (herein Annotated Figure 2)
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the outer sleeve (70 of Christensen) defines an axial axis (See Annotated Figure 2) and a reference line (See Annotated Figure 2), the second threaded section (84 of Christensen) includes a plurality of crests (See Annotated Figure 2), the plurality of crests (See Annotated Figure 2) extend around the axial axis (See Annotated Figure 2), the reference line (See Annotated Figure 2) extends through apexes (See Annotated Figure 2) of at least two the plurality of crests(See Annotated Figure 2), and the reference line (See Annotated Figure 2) is parallel to the axial axis (See Annotated Figure 2).
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Christensen Figure 7, annotated (herein Annotated Figure 3)
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the through hole (70 of Christensen) includes a first section (See Annotated Figure 3) and a second section (See Annotated Figure 3), the first section (See Annotated Figure 3) is disposed on an end portion (80 of Christensen) of the outer sleeve (70 of Christensen), the second section (See Annotated Figure 3) is next to the first section (See Annotated Figure 3), the first section (See Annotated Figure 3) includes the second threaded section (84 of Christensen), and the first section (See Annotated Figure 3) has a first inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 3) smaller than a second inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 3) of the second section (See Annotated Figure 3).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christensen US 10513147 B1 in view of Minton US 4562329 A in further view of Blake US 2374725 A.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Christensen and Minton teaches the first end portion (46 of Christensen) further includes a flange (52 of Christensen) extending radially inward; the outer sleeve (70 of Christensen) further includes a knob (82 of Christensen); the first end portion (46 of Christensen) further includes a plurality of slits (54 of Christensen) arranged in intervals, and the axial hole (44 of Christensen) is in communication with the opening (50 of Christensen).
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Blake Figure 1
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Blake Figure 1, annotated (herein Annotated Figure 4)
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Blake Figure 1, annotated (herein Annotated Figure 5)
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Blake Figure 1, annotated (herein Annotated Figure 6)
The combination of Christensen and Minton does not teach the three sections of the outer sleeve as claimed.
However, in a related tool, Blake does teach an outer sleeve (See Annotated Figure 4) wherein the outer sleeve (See Annotated Figure 4) defines an axial axis (See Annotated Figure 5) and a reference line (See Annotated Figure 5), the second threaded section (18) includes a plurality of crests (See Annotated Figure 4), the plurality of crests (See Annotated Figure 4) extend around the axial axis (See Annotated Figure 5), the reference line (See Annotated Figure 5) extends through apexes (See Annotated Figure 4) of at least two the plurality of crests (See Annotated Figure 4), and the reference line (See Annotated Figure 5) is parallel to the axial axis (See Annotated Figure 5); the through hole (8) includes a first section (See Annotated Figure 5) and a second section (See Annotated Figure 5), the first section (See Annotated Figure 5) is disposed on an end portion (See Annotated Figure 5) of the outer sleeve (See Annotated Figure 4), the second section (See Annotated Figure 5) is next to the first section (See Annotated Figure 5), the first section (See Annotated Figure 5) includes the second threaded section (18), and the first section (See Annotated Figure 5) has a first inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) smaller than a second inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the second section (See Annotated Figure 5); the through hole (8) further includes a third section (See Annotated Figure 5), the third section (See Annotated Figure 5) has a third inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) smaller than the first inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the first section (See Annotated Figure 5) and the second inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the second section (See Annotated Figure 5), the second section (See Annotated Figure 5) is located between the first section (See Annotated Figure 5) and the third section (See Annotated Figure 5), the collet (2) further includes a middle section (See Annotated Figure 4), the middle section (See Annotated Figure 5) is located between the first end portion (See Annotated Figure 4) and the second end portion (See Annotated Figure 4), the middle section (See Annotated Figure 4) is inserted in the third section (See Annotated Figure 5), and the third inner diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the third section (See Annotated Figure 5) is larger than an outer diametric dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the middle section (See Annotated Figure 4); the outer sleeve (See Annotated Figure 4) further includes a shoulder (See Annotated Figure 4) located in the through hole (8), and the shoulder (See Annotated Figure 4) is located between the second section (See Annotated Figure 5) and the third section (See Annotated Figure 5); the second threaded section (18) has a first axial dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) smaller than a second axial dimension (See Annotated Figure 6) of the second section (See Annotated Figure 5), so that a user can rapidly and simply change the collet and threaded end of the outer sleeve to advantageously allow for different sized openings (col 3, ln 11-15). A person skilled in the art would have been able to, before the filing date of the application, apply the outer sleeve of Blake to the combination of Christensen and Minton to allow for quicker changes in the collet, and to allow for changes in the shape of the end portion (col 3, ln 11-15). Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions such that the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kozak et al. US 20100064863 A1 as related to collets with threads on angled surfaces is made of record.
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/G.D.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723