DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 3-23-2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is not a serious search burden. This is not found persuasive because Groups I,II and III require diverse search areas, the Group II fan blade fixture search requires a workholding search in B25B which is not required in the Group I roller tool search in B21H and B24B and the Group III tool assembly search in Y10T29 is not required in the Group I roller tool search in B21D and B24B.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 2-7 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 1, line 1 sets forth "for deep rolling a workpiece" in the preamble and claims 2-7 recite "for deep rolling a fan blade", no fan blade is claimed in claim 1 and it is not clear if claim 1 is also supposed to recite "fan blade" or if claims 2-6, line 1 are supposed to recite "workpiece" to align with claim 1.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the roller disk receiver" in lines 3 and 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 1-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tomioka et al. (8,250,720). Regarding claim 1, Tomioka discloses a system comprising a roller tool (52; Fig. 1) for rolling a workpiece (10) and a fixture (28,36; col. 11, lines 40-43). The roller tool comprising an adaptor plate (turret plate, 40; col. 9, line 27) proximate an adapter end (axial end portion; col. 9, line 28), an arm (56,74) attached to the adaptor plate (40) at an arm adapter end at an end portion (58,60; Fig. 1, col. 9, lines 54-57) of the arm part (56) proximate the adaptor plate (40; Fig. 3). The arm (56,74) comprises a roller end (80; Fig. 2) opposite the adapter end (58,60; Fig. 1), the arm comprising a midspan portion (Fig. 1) between the adapter end (58,60) and the roller end (80) and a roller disk (86) is joined to the arm at the roller end (80), the roller disk is configured to contact the workpiece (Fig. 1). The roller disk (86) is connected at the roller end (80) by a roller disk support (84), the roller disk support (84) comprising a pair of forks (bottom portion of support walls 84; Fig. 1) which connect to the roller disk (86) through an axle (88) to support the roller disk between the pair of forks.
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Tomioka discloses an interlock feature comprising two branches (upper portion of support walls 84; Fig. 1) that is a connector portion formed in the roller disk support (84) that spans a Y-shape and connects to the arm through a connector comprising screws (110,112; col. 10, lines 66-67 and col. 11, lines 1 and 5-8) which is configured to mate the roller disk support (84) with the arm (56,74) at a top end of the roller disk support (84). From Applicant’s Fig. 41 the claimed interlock feature (430) appears to be an integral top portion of the forks and this is the Examiner’s reading of the upper fork branches of the support walls (84) of Tomioka being an interlock feature.
Regarding claim 4, the roller disk support (84) comprises an axle (88) spanning the pair of forks (bottom portion of support walls 84; Fig. 1), the axle is configured to support the roller disk (86; col. 10, lines 10-12).
Regarding claim 6, the roller disk support (84) includes a bore (Fig. 1; col. 11, lines 4-6) to accept the screw (110) and the setscrew (112) wherein the screws (110,112) are screwed into the roller end (80).
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomioka (8,250,720) in view of Wilson (5,099,558). Applicant is claiming a fluted portion as described in the specification [00117] which appears to be a thickened support portion of the forked roller support in the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39, and Wilson teaches a forked roller support (32,33,34; Fig. 3) including a fluted portion (32) which is a thickened portion (fluted) of the forked roller support and extends distally from a forked roller disk receiver (33,34), the forked roller disk receiver connects a roller (37) through an axle (35). It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to flute (widen) the roller holder portion of the roller support of Tomioka as taught by Wilson in order to provide a widened roller holder that is thicker and of greater rigidity and strength than the forked roller holder portion.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomioka (8,250,720) in view of Nemoto (5,003,806). Tomioka does not disclose that the pair of forks comprise an outer surface that is hemispherical. Nemoto teaches (Fig. 9) that a forked roller support (38) for holding a roller (37) is hemispherically shaped (three-dimensionally rounded shaped). It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to round the ends of the forked roller support of Tomioka as taught by Wolff in order to provide a smooth, rounded exterior of the roller support as opposed to a rectangular sharper edge.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. RU (199068 U1) teaches a roller support (5) having a forked end for an axle (7) connection to a roller tool (6) and an interlock (2,12) for connecting the roller support to an arm (1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWARD THOMAS TOLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4525. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chris Templeton can be reached at 571-270-1477. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDWARD T TOLAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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