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 Group I, claims 1-14 and 16-20 in the reply filed on 05/06/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 6 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: Line 2 of each claim recites a ‘grove’ in the elongated sleeve in what appears to be a misspelling of ‘groove’. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-7, 9, 12-14, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 20180257189, hereinafter ‘Johnson’) in view of Young (US 20150174669).
Regarding claim 1, Johnson discloses a guide capable of reaming an enlarged portion into a cooling bore of a rotor comprising a cutter guide 120 and a guide lock capable of insertion into an adjacent cooling bore (Paragraph [0028]). Johnson discloses the cutter guide serving to offset the cutter 122 with relation to the existing hole 8, but does not explicitly disclose the cutter guide being inserted into the cooling bore.
Young discloses a similar device, wherein a tool 500 comprises a cutter guide 504 that is inserted into an existing bore and serves to offset the cutter a predetermined amount.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide an extension to the cutter guide of Johnson, as taught by Young, which is inserted into the existing bore, to ensure the cutter is offset with respect to the existing bore and machines an accurate amount of material from the workpiece.
Regarding claim 2, Johnson discloses a mounting plate 106 for mounting the cutter guide and guide lock thereon.
Regarding claim 3, Johnson discloses the cutter guide comprising an elongated sleeve.
Regarding claims 4-6, Johnson, as modified by Young discloses the elongated sleeve comprising a semicircular trough-like shape having an open end and a groove therein (see e.g. Figs. 2 and 5 of Young, the open end being the end opposite the head 502 and the groove being the concave surface 105).
Regarding claim 7, Johnson discloses the cutter guide comprising a sleeve base (the enlarged diameter portion abutting plate 106 as seen in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Johnson discloses the sleeve base comprising a sleeve bearing therein (said sleeve bearing being the smooth inner side of the bore through the sleeve base).
Regarding claim 12, Johnson discloses a reaming tool being positioned within the cutter guide (Paragraph [0017]).
Regarding claim 13, Johnson as modified by Young discloses the enlarged portion comprising a half-moon shape (see e.g. Figs. 2-3 of Young).
Regarding claim 14, neither Johnson nor Young explicitly disclose the percent of a diameter of the bore that is enlarged.
However, modifying the apparatus of Johnson in view of Young to enlarge the bore by 5 to 20 percent would have been an obvious modification one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have made, depending on the overall dimensions of the finished hole that are desired. Additionally, Young discloses a range of thicknesses T of the cutter guide(s) (Fig. 4) which serve to allow an operator to cut various sizes of enlarged portions as desired.
Regarding claim 16, Johnson discloses a guide capable of reaming an enlarged portion into a cooling bore of a rotor comprising a cutter guide 120 and a guide lock capable of insertion into an adjacent cooling bore (Paragraph [0028]). A mounting plate 106 serves to mount the cutter guide and guide lock thereon. Johnson discloses the cutter guide serving to offset the cutter 122 with relation to the existing hole 8, but does not explicitly disclose the cutter guide being inserted into the cooling bore.
Young discloses a similar device, wherein a tool 500 comprises a cutter guide 504 comprising a semicircular shape that is inserted into an existing bore and serves to offset the cutter a predetermined amount.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide an extension to the cutter guide of Johnson, as taught by Young, which is inserted into the existing bore, to ensure the cutter is offset with respect to the existing bore and machines an accurate amount of material from the workpiece.
Regarding claim 17, Johnson discloses the cutter guide comprising an elongated sleeve with an open top end.
Regarding claim 18, Johnson as modified by Young discloses the elongated sleeve comprising a groove thereon (see e.g. Fig. 2 of Young, the groove being the concave surface 105).
Regarding claim 20, Johnson discloses a reaming tool being positioned within the cutter guide (Paragraph [0017]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 20180257189) in view of Young (US 20150174669) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Tsui et al. (US 4804300, hereinafter ‘Tsui’).
Regarding claim 8, neither Johnson nor Young disclose the claimed fitting.
Tsui discloses a similar cutting guide, wherein the sleeve base 42 is provided with a fitting (threads into opening 52) which is capable of fitting in communication with an air hose.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling to modify the apparatus of Johnson in view of Young by adding a fitting as taught by Tsui in order to allow air/coolant to be introduced to the cutter guide to cool the workpiece/tool and to remove chips from the bore as they are formed by the cutting tool.
Claims 10-11 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 20180257189) in view of Young (US 20150174669) as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, further in view of Wang et al. (WO 2015123387, hereinafter ‘Wang’).
Regarding claims 10-11 and 19, neither Johnson nor Young explicitly disclose the structure of the guide lock beyond the ‘pin’ described in Johnson.
Wang discloses a similar drill guide with a guide lock 13 to secure the guide to the workpiece. The guide lock comprises a guide locking sleeve 70 and a guide lock screw 60 positioned within the guide locking sleeve.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to substitute the ‘pin’ of Johnson in view of Young with the guide lock of Wang, to provide a more secure and stable means of locking the guide to the workpiece.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alan Snyder whose telephone number is (571)272-4603. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 7:00a - 5:00p.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil K Singh can be reached at 571-272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Alan Snyder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722
Prosecution Insights