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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-3, 5, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fritsche et al. (US 2008/0145160 A1).
Re Claim 1, Fritsche discloses a collet bush 12 to be inserted into a concentric collet 14 that is attached to a handheld tool driving device (not shown; Pars. 0019 and 0020) in order to position the tool driving device to a workpiece, the tool driving device holding, rotating and feeding a tool, the tool driving device having a holder for holding the tool, and a motor for rotating the holder, the tool driving device having a function 30 to suck chips (Pars. 0019-0021, 0031 and 0034, Figs. 1 and 4), the collet bush 12 having: a tapered cylindrical outer surface for expanding the concentric collet 14 (Par. 0020); a cylindrical inner surface forming a through hole for slidably fitting the tool; and a flow path for taking in air used for sucking the chips inside the collet bush 12 (Pars. 0020-0024 and 0031-0039, Figs. 1-4).
Re Claim 2, Fritsche discloses the flow path includes at least one through hole formed between the outer surface and the inner surface (See figures 1 and 4).
Re Claim 3, Fritsche discloses an end portion, on a distal side of the collet bush 12, of the at least one through hole is widened by chamfering a periphery of the end portion of the at least one through hole (See figures 1 and 4).
Re Claim 5, Fritsche discloses the tool driving device comprising: the collet bush 12 according to claim 1; and the concentric collet 14 (Pars. 0020-0023, Figs. 1 and 4).
Re Claim 8, Fritsche discloses the tool driving device comprising: the collet bush 12 according to claim 2; and the concentric collet 14 (Pars. 0020-0023, Figs. 1 and 4).
Re Claim 9, Fritsche discloses the tool driving device comprising: the collet bush 12 according to claim 3; and the concentric collet 14 (Pars. 0020-0023, Figs. 1 and 4).
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) 4, 6, 7 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fritsche et al. (US 2008/0145160 A1), in view of (JP S63-64415, herein referenced by the English Machine Translation).
Re Claims 4, 6 and 7, Fritsche does not explicitly disclose a buffer material having recesses in a central axis direction of the collet bush, the buffer material being attached to an annular end face, on a distal side, of the collet bush, the flow path including the recesses.
S63-64415 discloses a collet bush 1; said collet bush having: a tapered cylindrical outer surface (See figures 2 and ); a cylindrical inner surface forming a through hole for slidably fitting the tool A; and a flow path for taking in air used for sucking chips inside the collet bush 1 (See figure 4); the collet bush 1 further comprising: a buffer material 2 having recesses 2b in a central axis direction of the collet bush 1, the buffer material 2 being attached to an annular end face, on a distal side, of the collet bush 1, the flow path including the recesses 2b (Description; Pages 1-2, Figs. 1-4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the Invention of Fritsche by providing a buffer material having recesses in a central axis direction of the collet bush, as disclosed by S63-64415, for the benefit of more easily collecting debris or chips formed during drilling applications.
Re Claims 10-12, the combination as applied to claims 4, 6 and 7 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the tool driving device comprising: the collet bush 12 according to claims 4, 6 and 7; and the concentric collet 14 (See Fritsche, Pars. 0020-0023, Figs. 1 and 4).
Conclusion
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/BAYAN SALONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726