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 .
Response to Amendment/Arguments
Applicant's amendment filed on 3/17/2026 has been entered. Claims 2-7, 10, and 19 are as previously presented. Claims 11-18 remain withdrawn, with claims 12-15 further being amended to depend on claim 11. Claim 21 has been added. The specification and claims 1, 8-9, and 19 have been amended.
This amendment overcomes the previously set-forth 12/19/2025 objection to the abstract.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the previously set-forth interpretation of “roller assembly” under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) are persuasive [REMARKS pp. 9-10: “…the term "roller assembly" possesses structural modifiers that impart a sufficiently definite meaning to the term. In particular, claims 1 and 19 each recite that the roller assembly includes a housing and a bottom portion with a first protruding peg element. Further, the recitation that the roller assembly "is configured to apply a rolling action to automatically retract the arc shading curtain" embodies a functional limitation that may appropriately be expressed in functional terms (Applicant respectfully submits that features of a claim may be recited functionally pursuant to MPEP § 2114).”].
This amendment overcomes the previously set-forth objection to withdrawn claims 12-15.
This amendment overcomes the previously set-forth rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) of claim 9 and Applicant’s argument regarding amended claim 9 is persuasive [REMARKS p. 10: “Applicant respectfully submits that the amended language is sufficiently clear to define the scope of the claim under§ 112(b) insofar as any arc shading curtain that meets the foregoing characteristics falls within the scope of the claim.”].
This amendment overcomes the previously set-forth rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 of claims 1-10 and 19-20, and Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claims 1 and 19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument [i.e., regarding “wherein the handle assembly comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of an arc shading curtain” in claim 1, and “wherein the rotatable inner shaft comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain.” in claim 19]; Furthermore, this amendment introduces a new rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), see below.
Claims 1-21 are still pending, with claims 1, 11, and 19 being independent; and claims 1-10 and 19-21 considered below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 19 recites “…wherein the roller assembly further includes a rotatable inner shaft located within the internal portion of the housing and has a first side of the arc shading curtain mounted thereto, wherein the rotatable inner shaft comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain”
The limitations “a first side of the arc shading curtain” and “a side of the arc shading curtain” render the claim indefinite because it is unclear if these are intended to be distinct sides or refer to the same side of the curtain [e.g., the side of the curtain opposite the side presumably fastened to the handle assembly]
In view of claim 1 being amended to now require a particular fastening method of the handle assembly to the curtain, wherein the handle assembly comprises two halves sandwiching the curtain at a side [i.e., a “handle” side] relative to an opposite side of the curtain [i.e., a “roller” side; amended claim 8: “wherein the roller assembly further includes a rotatable inner shaft located within the internal portion of the housing and has an opposite side of the arc shading curtain mounted thereto”], since claim 19 seems to now require the same fastening/mounting method applied to the roller assembly to the curtain, Examiner will interpret claim 19 as referring to this singular “roller” side, specifically “…wherein the roller assembly further includes a rotatable inner shaft located within the internal portion of the housing and has a first side of the arc shading curtain mounted thereto, wherein the rotatable inner shaft comprises two halves configured to sandwich [[a]]the first side of the arc shading curtain”.
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.
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-10, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woehrle (DE 202010004494 U1) in view of Dwarka (US 20110094689 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
Woehrle teaches:
An apparatus for blocking arc flash in an arc welding environment [p. 2: “The Protective wall is primarily used as glare protection for welding work thought, as well as protection against welding spatter or flying sparks for grinding or flex work.”], the apparatus comprising:
a roller assembly [fig. 1; including: a rotatable inner shaft: winding tube 5; and rotor spring elements: clock spring 9 and mainspring 12; p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain kept rolled up in a housing… characterized in that that the curtain by means of an integrated spring device in the device can be recovered automatically.”] having a housing [coverings 4 and 5] and a bottom portion [baseplate 1] with a first protruding peg element [pins 7 and 8],
wherein the roller assembly is configured to be mounted [p. 2: “The Device is used to build the protective curtain by means of the adapter bolt stuck in a hole in the welding table, the protective curtain can then manually to the desired length be pulled out. Now the drawbar is also in a hole plugged in, thus creating a protective wall.”] at any of multiple discrete positions on a top portion of a welding table [Woehrle describes a conventional welding table which comprises multiple discrete positions; p.2: “conventional Welding tables usually have over a grid of 16 mm or 28 mm diameter holes mm”] via the first protruding peg element [p. 2: “characterized in that that in the device and in the rods at one or both Longitudinal bolts can be inserted to Device or rods in the holes of a welding table to be able to plug in”];
a handle assembly having a bottom end with a second protruding peg element [i.e., a drawbar with a corresponding pin element],
wherein the handle assembly is configured to be mounted at any of the multiple discrete positions on the top portion of the welding table via the second protruding peg element [p. 1: “The Device is used to build the protective curtain by means of the adapter bolt stuck in a hole in the welding table, the protective curtain can then manually to the desired length be pulled out. Now the drawbar is also in a hole plugged in, thus creating a protective wall.”]; and
an arc shading curtain mounted between an internal portion of the housing and the handle assembly [i.e., welding foil 10 mounted between a clamping tube 11 and the drawbar],
wherein the roller assembly is configured to apply a rolling action to automatically retract the arc shading curtain into the housing [p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain kept rolled up in a housing… characterized in that that the curtain by means of an integrated spring device in the device can be recovered automatically”], and
wherein the apparatus is configured to be portable by a human user [p. 2: “the device can also be used on other tables”, i.e. it is not permanently fixed in place and therefore can be moved by a human via any known means capable of moving the apparatus].
However, although Woehrle discloses the handle assembly mounted to the arc shading curtain, Woehrle does not disclose the method of fastening utilized, specifically, Woehrle does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the handle assembly comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain.
Dwarka, in the same field of endeavor [i.e., a flexible curtain configured to be unrolled from a roller assembly; fig. 1D; para. 0004: “The curtain and the plurality of rails can be attached to a roller that upon rotation raises and lowers the curtain and the plurality of rails.”] teaches an assembly mounted to the curtain [e.g., horizontal elements 171-175] comprises two halves and is configured in a conventional fastening arrangement with the curtain [i.e., securing/supporting a corresponding length of the curtain sandwiched therebetween; para. 0036: “One should appreciate that different levels of rigidity are required based on the details of a specific installation. In some examples, little rigidity is required and thin members (e.g. metal members 108A-B may be used to sandwich the curtain 120 between them). Shown at 108A and 108B are two metal members applied to opposing sides of a curtain 120. The metal bands can be constructed to facilitate operation of the assembly, in one example, by having widths of 0.020 inches ( +/-0.009 inches). In other examples, different width and/or heights can be employed.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Woehrle, with a reasonable expectation of success, by applying the connection method of Dwarka to the handle assembly such that the handle assembly comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain, since Dwarka teaches this not only would secure the handle assembly to the curtain, but would also allow for facilitating operation of the curtain and adapting to, e.g., a given flexibility/rigidity of the curtain.
Regarding claim 2, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the apparatus is configured to stop the rolling action by the handle assembly meeting the housing when the arc shading curtain is fully retracted.
In this case, in view of Woehrle disclosing that, in a retracted state [p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain kept rolled up in a housing”], and against the automatic retracting force [p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain by means of an integrated spring device in the device can be recovered automatically”], the drawbar is manually pulled out to create the protective wall [p. 1: “The Device is used to build the protective curtain by means of the adapter bolt stuck in a hole in the welding table, the protective curtain can then manually to the desired length be pulled out. Now the drawbar is also in a hole plugged in, thus creating a protective wall.”], a PHOSITA would recognize that, in the fully retracted state, it would be desirable to limit the retraction so as to leave the drawbar in a desirable position. Thus, selecting a given method of limiting the retraction would have flown naturally to one of ordinary skill in the art as necessitated by the specific requirements of a given application. It appears that the claimed invention would perform equally well with retraction limited so as to, for example, minimize storage space, as taught by Woehrle [p. 1: “The Device takes, in contrast to conventional partitions, hardly any storage space available.”].
Regarding claim 3, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the first protruding peg element is interchangeable with at least one other peg element such that the roller assembly can be compatible with at least two different types of welding tables having different hole sizes at any of the multiple discrete positions on top portions of the respective welding tables [p. 2: “conventional Welding tables usually have over a grid of 16 mm or 28 mm diameter holes mm. To protect the curtain on all popular models of welding tables to use, the plug pin is interchangeable.”].
Regarding claim 4, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the second protruding peg element is interchangeable with at least one other peg element such that the handle assembly can be compatible with at least two different types of welding tables having different hole sizes at any of the multiple discrete positions on top portions of the respective welding tables [p. 2: “conventional Welding tables usually have over a grid of 16 mm or 28 mm diameter holes mm. To protect the curtain on all popular models of welding tables to use, the plug pin is interchangeable.”].
Regarding claim 5, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
further comprising at least one curtain post having a third protruding peg element [p. 2: “By the insertion of one or more other rods, the Protective wall can also be guided around corners… such Rods are part of the equipment of the device”], wherein the at least one curtain post is configured to be mounted at any of the multiple discrete positions on the top portion of the welding table via the third protruding peg element [p. 2: “conventional Welding tables usually have over a grid of 16 mm or 28 mm diameter holes mm. To protect the curtain on all popular models of welding tables to use, the plug pin is interchangeable.”; see also fig. 2, showing a curtain post 1 and different sized peg elements in 2/3].
Regarding claim 8, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the roller assembly further includes a rotatable inner shaft located within the internal portion of the housing [i.e., winding tube 5] and has an opposite side of the arc shading curtain mounted thereto [see fig. 1, showing the curtain 10 mounted to clamping tube 11, and via support tube 2, coupled to winding tube 5].
Regarding claim 9, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the arc shading curtain comprises a flexible material, and wherein the arc shading curtain is configured to mitigate arc flash through the arc shading curtain [i.e., a material of the protective curtain is capable of being kept rolled up in the housing before being pulled out to a desired length].
Regarding claim 10, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the roller assembly further includes at least two rotor spring elements to provide the rolling action [i.e., clock spring 9 and mainspring 12].
Regarding claim 19,
Woehrle teaches:
An apparatus for blocking arc flash in an arc welding environment [p. 2: “The Protective wall is primarily used as glare protection for welding work thought, as well as protection against welding spatter or flying sparks for grinding or flex work.”], the apparatus comprising:
a roller assembly [fig. 1; including: a rotatable inner shaft: winding tube 5; and rotor spring elements: clock spring 9 and mainspring 12; p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain kept rolled up in a housing… characterized in that that the curtain by means of an integrated spring device in the device can be recovered automatically.”] having a housing [coverings 4 and 5] and a bottom portion [baseplate 1] with a first protruding peg element [pins 7 and 8];
a handle assembly having a bottom end with a second protruding peg element [i.e., a drawbar with a corresponding pin element; p. 1: “The Device is used to build the protective curtain by means of the adapter bolt stuck in a hole in the welding table, the protective curtain can then manually to the desired length be pulled out. Now the drawbar is also in a hole plugged in, thus creating a protective wall.”];
an arc shading curtain mounted between an internal portion of the housing and the handle assembly [i.e., welding foil 10 mounted between a clamping tube 11 and the drawbar]; and
a curtain post configured to be employed by a user to set up the arc shading curtain in any of multiple possible angled configurations on a top portion of a welding table [p. 2: “conventional Welding tables usually have over a grid of 16 mm or 28 mm diameter holes mm. To protect the curtain on all popular models of welding tables to use, the plug pin is interchangeable.”] with the arc shading curtain partially extended or fully extended from the housing via pulling of the handle assembly [p. 2: “By the insertion of one or more other rods, the Protective wall can also be guided around corners… such Rods are part of the equipment of the device”],
wherein the roller assembly is configured to apply a rolling action to automatically retract the arc shading curtain into the housing [p. 2: “characterized in that that the curtain kept rolled up in a housing… characterized in that that the curtain by means of an integrated spring device in the device can be recovered automatically”], and
wherein the apparatus is configured to be portable by a human user [p. 2: “the device can also be used on other tables”], and
wherein the roller assembly further includes a rotatable inner shaft located within the internal portion of the housing [i.e., winding tube 5] and has a first side of the arc shading curtain mounted thereto [see fig. 1, showing the curtain 10 mounted to clamping tube 11, and via support tube 2, coupled to winding tube 5],
However, although Woehrle discloses the roller assembly mounted to the arc shading curtain, Woehrle does not disclose the method of fastening utilized, specifically, Woehrle does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the rotatable inner shaft comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain.
Dwarka, in the same field of endeavor [i.e., a flexible curtain configured to be unrolled from a roller assembly; fig. 1D; para. 0004: “The curtain and the plurality of rails can be attached to a roller that upon rotation raises and lowers the curtain and the plurality of rails.”] teaches an assembly mounted to the curtain [e.g., horizontal elements 171-175] comprises two halves and is configured in a conventional fastening arrangement with the curtain [i.e., securing/supporting a corresponding length of the curtain sandwiched therebetween; para. 0036: “One should appreciate that different levels of rigidity are required based on the details of a specific installation. In some examples, little rigidity is required and thin members (e.g. metal members 108A-B may be used to sandwich the curtain 120 between them). Shown at 108A and 108B are two metal members applied to opposing sides of a curtain 120. The metal bands can be constructed to facilitate operation of the assembly, in one example, by having widths of 0.020 inches ( +/-0.009 inches). In other examples, different width and/or heights can be employed.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Woehrle, with a reasonable expectation of success, by applying the connection method of Dwarka to the roller assembly such that the rotatable inner shaft comprises two halves configured to sandwich a side of the arc shading curtain, since Dwarka teaches this not only would secure the handle assembly to the curtain, but would also allow for facilitating operation of the curtain and adapting to, e.g., a given flexibility/rigidity of the curtain.
Regarding claim 20, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 19,
Woehrle further discloses:
wherein the roller assembly is configured to be mounted at any of multiple discrete positions on the top portion of the welding table via the first protruding peg element, and wherein the handle assembly is configured to be mounted at any of the multiple discrete positions on the top portion of the welding table via the second protruding peg element [p. 1: “The Device is used to build the protective curtain by means of the adapter bolt stuck in a hole in the welding table, the protective curtain can then manually to the desired length be pulled out. Now the drawbar is also in a hole plugged in, thus creating a protective wall.”].
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woehrle (DE 202010004494 U1) in view of Dwarka (US 20110094689 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Goodspeed (US 1497012 A).
Regarding claim 6, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Woehrle does not disclose any material of the housing, and explicitly does not disclose:
wherein the housing is made of at least one of aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or a plastic.
Goodspeed, in the same field of endeavor [Title: Automatic Arc-welding Shield], teaches that aluminum is particularly suited as a material for use in a shield in an arc welding application [p. 1, lines 14-20: “The invention relates to protective apparatus and more particularly to shields designed to be employed in connection with apparatus in the use of which it is necessary or desirable to protect the attendants or workmen from effects incidental to the operation of the apparatus”] due to its lightness and noncombustibility [p. 1, lines 80-85: “Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates a casing or frame, preferably of opaque noncombustible material such, for example, as a metal, aluminum being particularly suitable because of its lightness, within which are housed the moving parts of the shield.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Woehrle, by having the housing be made of aluminum, since Goodspeed teaches that aluminum is a suitable material for components in a welding application.
Regarding claim 7, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Woehrle does not disclose any material of the handle assembly, and explicitly does not disclose:
wherein the handle assembly is made of at least one of aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or a plastic.
Goodspeed, in the same field of endeavor [Title: Automatic Arc-welding Shield], teaches that aluminum is particularly suited as a material for use in a shield in an arc welding application [p. 1, lines 14-20: “The invention relates to protective apparatus and more particularly to shields designed to be employed in connection with apparatus in the use of which it is necessary or desirable to protect the attendants or workmen from effects incidental to the operation of the apparatus”] due to its lightness and noncombustibility [p. 1, lines 80-85: “Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates a casing or frame, preferably of opaque noncombustible material such, for example, as a metal, aluminum being particularly suitable because of its lightness, within which are housed the moving parts of the shield.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Woehrle, by having the handle assembly be made of aluminum, since Goodspeed teaches that aluminum is a suitable material for components in a welding application.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woehrle (DE 202010004494 U1) in view of Dwarka (US 20110094689 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wong (US 9896117 B1).
Regarding claim 21, Woehrle in view of Dwarka discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Woehrle does not disclose any additional conventional tooling, and explicitly does not disclose:
wherein the apparatus further comprises tooling configured to mount to the welding table such that the tooling supports and positions the arc shading curtain away from an edge of the welding table.
Wong, in the same field of endeavor [i.e., a welding table and tooling; p. 12, col. 1: “A welding table is a known art, providing a "work bench" for working on metal objects, as well as for welding metal parts, or performing other tooling activities.”], teaches tooling configured to mount to the welding table such that the tooling supports and positions additional tools or objects away from an edge of the welding table [figs. 4-6; p. 13, col. 3: “The end-platform 62 may contain a plurality of holes or grooves, allowing additional tools or 5 objects to be secured by screws or other suitable means.”].
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Woehrle by including tooling configured to mount to the welding table such that the tooling supports and positions the arc shading curtain away from an edge of the welding table as suggested by Wong, since Wong teaches this would make the apparatus more versatile and easier to use [p. 12, col. 1: “Present invention sought to create certain advantage and convenience by providing improvement over a traditional welding table, making it more versatile and easier for use, with more adaptable functionalities.”].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
JP 2012129001 A – see fig. 2, showing a curtain mounted in a slit 2a formed by two halves of a rotatable shaft
US 20090242146 A1 – see figs. 4-5, showing a rotatable inner shaft comprising two halves, allowing for modularity [paras. 0025-32], and an alternative fastening method along the length of the shaft [fixing means 20; paras. 0033-35]
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE J EVANGELISTA whose telephone number is (571)272-6093. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edward F Landrum can be reached at (571) 272-5567. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THEODORE J EVANGELISTA/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 /EDWARD F LANDRUM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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