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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “the front surface of the slidable body comprises a face surface and one or more angled surfaces that are angled at an acute angle relative to the face surface” as recited in claim 15 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The acute angled face surface appears to be shown in the embodiment of the block body (Figs. 1-19) but is not shown for the adjustable block component and its slidable body which is shown in Figs. 31-49. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 10-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Reed US 10357859.
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Reed discloses an adjustable block component (104) configurable to attach to an interface component (128), the adjustable block component comprising: a mounting body (136) with an angled front surface (138) and a rear surface, the rear surface including a mounting interface (124b, 182) that is attachable to a corresponding mounting interface (164 and 186) of the interface component (128), the angled front surface including a first slidable mounting interface (190); a slidable body (148) with a front surface (156) and an angled rear surface (152), the angled rear surface including a second slidable mounting interface (188) to adjustably connect the slidable body to the mounting body with the angled rear surface at least partially engaged with the angled front surface (col. 8, lines 18-31), the rear surface configured to, when attached to the interface component, remain substantially perpendicular to a plane defined by a top surface of the interface component; and an actuation component (172) configured to control a position of the slidable body relative to a plane defined by the angled front surface (col. 9, lines 42-67 and col. 10, lines 1-5).
As for claim 11, Reed discloses wherein the second slidable mounting interface (188) includes one or more grooves (188) that extend along a face of the angled rear surface and the first slidable mounting interface (190) includes one or more protrusions along a face of the angled front surface to conform to the one or more grooves to support movement of the slidable body along an axis defined by the angled front surface (see Figs. 6-7; col. 8, lines 18-31).
As for claim 12, Reed discloses wherein the actuation component (172) includes a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end including a threaded component, the angled rear surface of the slidable body including a recessed cavity (168) to house at least a portion of the threaded component (172), and the angled front surface of the mounting body including a tapped semicylindrical aperture (170) along an axis defined by the angled front surface to engage with the threaded component (col. 9, lines 42-56).
As for claim 13, Reed discloses wherein the proximal end of the actuation component (172) includes an actuator (threaded bolt head) configured to control the position of the slidable body relative to the plane defined by the angled front surface when actuated by rotating the threaded component (col. 9, lines 42-67 and col. 10, lines 1-5).
As for claim 14, Reed discloses in Fig. 1 wherein the angled front surface (138) is a downward sloping surface defined by a substantially consistent angular deviation from a plane defined by the rear surface of the mounting body (136) and the angled rear surface (152) of the slidable body (148) is an upward sloping surface substantially parallel to the angled front surface.
As for claim 16, Ree discloses wherein the interface component (126) includes an interface rear surface, an interface top surface, an interface bottom surface, and an interface front surface (see Fig. 1 above), the interface front surface including the corresponding mounting interface (164, 184, 186) and at least one of the interface rear surface, the interface top surface, or the interface bottom surface including an additional mounting interface (164, 184, 186) that is attachable to one or more block bodies. The mounting interfaces extends from the front to the rear (see Fig. 1).
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) 1-3, 5-6, 8 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marino US 5324013 in view of Engibarov US 6126158 and Swenson US 3506253.
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Marino discloses an adjustable length block assembly (19) comprising: a block body (26) including a top surface, a bottom surface, and a front surface that includes a first mounting interface (flat side surface for engaging workpiece (58, see fig. 2 above), the bottom surface including a body tooth surface (34) with an arrangement of teeth that extend downwardly relative to the bottom surface; a plate member (20) including a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the plate member including a plate tooth surface (32) with an arrangement of teeth that extend upwardly relative to the top surface such that the plate tooth surface at least partially engages with the body tooth surface and the plate member is positionable at multiple different positions along a longitudinal length of the block body.
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Marino does not specify an adjustable block component as claimed. However, Engibarov teaches a block body (20) including a first mounting surface (28, 32) and an adjustable block component (34) to adjust a length of the adjustable length block assembly, the adjustable block component including: a mounting body (34) with a rear surface (36) and an angled front surface (68, 90º), the rear surface including a second mounting interface (38) attachable to the first mounting interface (32) of the block body (20).
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The prior art of Swenson further teaches an adjustable block component including: mounting body (10) with a rear surface and an angled front surface (22), the angled front surface including a first slidable mounting interface (22); and a slidable body (50) with an angled rear surface (56) and a front surface (58), the angled rear surface including a second slidable mounting interface (56) to adjustably connect the slidable body (via 56 and 22 with adjustable screw 60) to the mounting body (10) with the angled rear surface at least partially engaged with the angled front surface, the front surface configured to remain substantially perpendicular to a plane defined by the top surface of the block body (see Swenson, Figs. 1 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the block body of Marino to further include an adjustable block component having a mounting interface and slidable wedge clamping face as taught by Engibarov and Swenson in order to provide additional adjustments to the clamping interface of the adjustable length block assembly to accommodate different size workpieces.
As for claim 2, the modified Marino teaches wherein the block body (Marino, 26) includes a pin slot (Marino, bolt 28 passes through slot, see Fig. 2) formed at least partially along the top surface and extending through an interior of the block body to the bottom surface and the plate member (Marino, 20) includes one or more apertures (Marino, 30) that align with the pin slot of the block body with the plate tooth surface (Marino, 32) at least partially engaged with the body tooth surface (Marino, 34, see Figs. 1-4).
As for claim 3, the modified Marino teaches wherein the bottom surface of the plate member (Marino, 20) includes one or more apertures (Marino, 21) to house one or more removable studs located an offset distance from a rear surface of the plate member (see Marino, Fig. 2, col. 2, lines 29-31).
As for claim 5, the modified Marino teaches wherein the adjustable block component includes an actuation component (Swenson, 60) at least partially engaged with the mounting body (Swenson, 10 at 41) and at least partially engaged with the slidable body (Swenson, 50) to control a position of the front surface of the slidable body along a longitudinal length of the adjustable block component (Swenson, col. 4, lines 9-32).
As for claim 6, the modified Marino teaches wherein the actuation component (Swenson, 60) includes a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end including a threaded component, the angled rear surface (Swenson, 56) of the slidable body (Swenson, 50) including a recessed cavity to house at least a portion of the threaded component (see Swenson, Fig. 4), and the angled front surface (Swenson, 22) of the mounting body (Swenson, 10) including a tapped semicylindrical aperture (Swenson, 41) along an axis defined by the angled front surface to engage with the threaded component.
As for claim 8, the modified Marino teaches wherein the plate member (Marino, 20) includes a first plate tooth surface (Marino, 32) and a second plate tooth surface (Marino, 32) that are substantially parallel to one another (see Marino, Fig. 1), the first plate tooth surface having a first configuration of teeth that is offset from a second configuration of teeth of the second plate tooth surface (see Marino, Fig. 1).
As for claim 17, the modified Marino teaches an adjustable length block assembly as claimed (see claim 1 rejection above) comprising: a block body including a top surface, a bottom surface, and a front surface, the bottom surface including a body tooth surface with an arrangement of teeth that extend downwardly relative to the bottom surface; a plate member including a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the plate member including a plate tooth surface with an arrangement of teeth that extend upwardly relative to the top surface such that the plate tooth surface at least partially engages with the body tooth surface and the plate member is positionable at multiple different positions along a longitudinal length of the block body; and an adjustable block component that includes a rear surface, a front surface, and an actuation component, the rear surface attachable to the front surface of the block body, the actuation component configured to adjust a location of the front surface along a longitudinal length of the adjustable length block assembly.
As for claim 18, the modified Marino teaches wherein the front surface of the adjustable block component is configured to remain substantially perpendicular to a plane defined by the top surface of the block body (see claim 1 rejection above, specifically Swenson teachings).
As for claim 19, the modified Marino teaches wherein the actuation component is configured to restrict movement of the front surface along the longitudinal length of the adjustable length block assembly when not actuated (threaded actuated, see Swenson teachings, the front surface is adjusted/moved by the threaded bolt 60).
Claim(s) 4 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marino US 5324013 in view of Engibarov US 6126158 and Swenson US 3506253 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Reed US 10357859.
As for claim 4, the modified Marino teaches all the limitations as recited above and further wherein the first mounting interface includes a pair of aperture (Engibarov, 38) and the second mounting interface includes a pair of cylindrical protrusions (Engibarov 32) but does not specify wherein the first mounting interface includes an aperture and a tapped aperture, and the second mounting interface includes a cylindrical protrusion insertable into the aperture and a threaded cylindrical protrusion dimensioned to be insertable into the tapped aperture.
However, Reed teaches the use of both a tapped aperture (164) and aperture (186) for a first mounting interface and a cylindrical protrusion (182) and a threaded cylindrical protrusion (124b) for mounting a components. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the first and second mounting interface of Marino to an aperture, threaded aperture, cylindrical protrusion and threaded cylindrical protrusion as taught by Reed in order to provide an alternative means for securing a mounting interface between the block body and the adjustable block component.
As for claim 7, the modified Marino teaches all the limitations as recited above but does not teach wherein one of the first slidable mounting interface or the second slidable mounting interface includes a configuration of grooves and another of the first slidable mounting interface or the second slidable mounting interface includes one or more protrusions to conform to the configuration of grooves to support movement of the slidable body along an axis defined by the angled front surface.
However, Reed teaches an adjustable block component wherein the adjustable block component has a slidable body (148) having a second slidable mounting interface (188) includes one or more grooves (188) that extend along a face of an angled rear surface (152) and a mounting body (136) having a first slidable mounting interface (190) includes one or more protrusions along a face of the angled front surface (138) to conform to the one or more grooves to support movement of the slidable body along an axis defined by the angled front surface (see Figs. 6-7; col. 8, lines 18-31). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the first and second slidable interfaces of Marino to grooves and protrusions as taught by Reed in order to provide a restrictive slidable guide means for the slidable body and mounting body while also preventing debris from entering the mounting body or slidable body.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reed US 10357859.
As for claim 15, Reed discloses wherein the front surface of the slidable body comprises a face surface (158) and further wherein the front face can be machined to any contour of a workpiece to be gripped (Reed, col. 8, lines 32-44). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the shape of the front face of Reed to have one or more angled surfaces that are angled at an acute angle relative to the face surface as claimed to provide a means for gripping a workpiece with difficult contours.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 9 and 20 is/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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 9 and 20 recite “wherein the bottom surface of the block body includes a first recessed region and a second recessed region to house a first modular tooth fitting and a second modular tooth fitting, the first modular tooth fitting and the second modular tooth fitting configured to engage with the first plate tooth surface and the second plate tooth surface, respectively.” The prior art of record teaches a machined toothed surface formed on the block body but fails to disclose, teach or suggest alone or in combination a block body having first and second recessed regions provided for a first and second modular tooth fittings removably attached to the block body. For the above reasons the claims overcome the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYRONE V HALL JR whose telephone number is (571)270-5948. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at (571) 272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYRONE V HALL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723