DETAILED ACTION
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
Claims 5-8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/5/2025.
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 outer peripheral surface is further formed a plurality of convex portions and a plurality of concave portions at intervals.” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 § 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.
Claim 9, 13, 17 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “the diameter-expanding tool head further comprises an assembling section” and “and the rear end of the diameter-expanding tool head is located at the assembling section.”. It is unclear how the tool head can comprise an assembling section and be located at the assembling section at the same time. Clarification is required.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “the expanding cone is formed with an outer peripheral surface relative to the axis, and the outer peripheral surface is further formed with a plurality of convex portions and a plurality of concave portions at intervals.” It is unclear how a expanding “cone” have outer peripheral surface formed with convex and concave portions. Examiner notes that it would not be a “cone” if there are convex concave portions. Also, there is no drawing to support this.
Regarding Claim 29, the recitation “expanding… inserting… expanding … ” renders the claim indefinite. The claim is mixed statutory class claim of product and process. The claim is recites the product and what it comprises, but mixed with the process it is completing. The limitation(s) as cited above is/are process limitation(s), not product limitation(s). A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 1318, 97 USPQ2d 1737, 1748-49 (Fed. Cir. 2011). See MPEP 2173.05(p).
All dependent claims of above-mentioned claims inherit all of the limitations of the above-mentioned claims. Thus, the claims are likewise rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 9, 11, 13, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Lehmann (WO 2014176506).
Regarding claim 1, Lehmann discloses a diameter-expanding tool head (Fig. 10- 13), the diameter-expanding tool head defining an axis (longitudinal), the diameter-expanding tool head defining a front end (where 61 is indicated) and a rear end (where 60 is indicated) relative to the axis, the diameter-expanding tool head comprising: an expanding section (section of 61 and 62), the expanding section being formed from the front end toward the rear end relative to the axis, the expanding section being formed with an outer peripheral surface (see Fig. 10-11: outer peripheral surface is the expanding section) relative to the axis, the outer peripheral surface being formed with a plurality of convex portions (62) and a plurality of concave portions (between two 62s are the concave portions – see Fig. 11) disposed at intervals, any one of the concave portions being formed between any two of the convex portions, each of the convex portions having a convex peak (peak of 62), the convex peak of each of the convex portions being a part farthest from the axis, each distance being equal (same diameter reads on this – see Fig. 11), a maximum outer diameter of the expanding section being located at any one of the convex peaks (see Fig. 10-11), the convex peak of each of the convex portions being axially connected relative to the axis to form a diameter-expanding surface (See Fig .10), the diameter-expanding surface spanning each of the concave portions (See Fig .10); and a blocking section (shown below) connected to the expanding section, the blocking section being formed on the rear end relative to the axis, an outer diameter of the blocking section being larger than the maximum outer diameter of the expanding section (see Fig. 11), and a connection between one side surface of the blocking section and the expanding section radially forming a blocking surface (shown below) relative to the axis.
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Regarding claim 2, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein any one of the convex portions and any one of the concave portions are horizontally annularly disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the expanding section from the front end to the rear end of the diameter-expanding tool head to form a horizontal extending direction (horizontal direction shown below), the horizontal extending direction is parallel to the convex portions and the concave portions respectively, an included angle (see below) is formed between the horizontal extending direction and the axis, the included angle is a right angle (angle is 90 degrees), a starting position of the horizontal extending direction is connected to an ending position of the horizontal extending direction, forming of any one of the convex portions and any one of the concave portions in the horizontal extending direction is continuous or discontinuous (See Fig. below).
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Regarding claim 4, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the expanding section is cylindrical (see Fig. 10), the outer peripheral surface is a cylindrical surface, the convex portions do not intersect with one another and are parallel to one another (see Fig. 10-11), the concave portions do not intersect with one another and are parallel to one another (see Fig. 10-11), any one of the convex portions and any one of the concave portions do not intersect with each other and are parallel to each other (see Fig. 10-11), the maximum outer diameters are equal (see Fig. 10-11), the diameter-expanding surface does not intersect with the axis (see Fig. 10-11), the diameter-expanding surface is parallel to the axis, and the diameter-expanding surface is parallel to the outer peripheral surface. (see Fig. 10-11)
As best understood, regarding claim 9, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diameter-expanding tool head further comprises an assembling section (67) connected with the blocking section, the blocking section is further formed with an assembling surface (surface of 67) on another side surface of the blocking section opposite to the blocking surface (blocking surface is in the front end and the surface of 67 is in the rear end), the assembling surface is axially formed (67 is axially formed) with the assembling section relative to the axis, and the rear end of the diameter-expanding tool head is located at the assembling section.
Regarding claim 11, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blocking section is further formed with a blocking edge (edge of the blocking surface shown below), the blocking surface of the blocking section is axially formed with the blocking edge at a peripheral edge relative to the axis (see below).
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Regarding claim 13, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blocking section is further formed with an expanding cone (shown below), the blocking surface is formed with the expanding cone at a connection between the expanding section and the blocking section, the expanding cone expands outward in a tapering manner from the expanding section toward the blocking section from narrow to wide relative to the axis, the expanding cone is formed with an outer peripheral surface relative to the axis, and the outer peripheral surface is further formed with a plurality of convex portions and a plurality of concave portions at intervals.
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As best understood, regarding claim 17, Lehmann discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, the diameter-expanding tool head expanding a diameter of a body (part of the intended use: capable of being used with a body as claimed below) to be expanded provided with a channel, inserting the expanding section of the diameter-expanding tool head rotatably into the channel of the body to be expanded, so that the expanding section of the diameter-expanding tool head being in discontinuous contact with the channel of the body to be expanded through the convex portions and the concave portions, expanding a diameter of at least a part of the body to be expanded to form a diameter-expanded channel, and an inner wall surface of the diameter-expanded channel being flush with the diameter-expanding surface of the expanding section.
Alternatively, claim(s) 1, 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Shi (Tw 202144682).
Regarding claim 1, Shi discloses a diameter-expanding tool head (Fig. 2-1. Examiner notes that this tool head would be capable of expanding the correct sized tube or pipe or etc), the diameter-expanding tool head defining an axis (longitudinal), the diameter-expanding tool head defining a front end (where 23 is indicated) and a rear end (where 10 is indicated) relative to the axis, the diameter-expanding tool head comprising: an expanding section (21), the expanding section being formed from the front end toward the rear end relative to the axis, the expanding section being formed with an outer peripheral surface (outer peripheral surface of 21) relative to the axis, the outer peripheral surface being formed with a plurality of convex portions (30) and a plurality of concave portions (between 30 in the axial direction is the concave portions) disposed at intervals, any one of the concave portions being formed between any two of the convex portions, each of the convex portions having a convex peak (peak of 30), the convex peak of each of the convex portions being a part farthest from the axis, each distance being equal (same outer diameter reads on this), a maximum outer diameter of the expanding section being located at any one of the convex peaks, the convex peak of each of the convex portions being axially connected relative to the axis to form a diameter-expanding surface, the diameter-expanding surface spanning each of the concave portions; and a blocking section (section of 12) connected to the expanding section, the blocking section being formed on the rear end relative to the axis, an outer diameter of the blocking section being larger than the maximum outer diameter of the expanding section (see Fig. 2-1), and a connection between one side surface of the blocking section and the expanding section radially forming a blocking surface (surface of 12) relative to the axis.
Regarding claim 3, Shi discloses the diameter-expanding tool head as claimed in claim 1, wherein any one of the convex portions and any one of the concave portions are obliquely spirally disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the expanding section from the front end to the rear end of the diameter-expanding tool head to form an oblique extending direction (see Fig. 2-1 below), the oblique extending direction is parallel to the convex portions and the concave portions respectively, an included angle (angle between two lines below) is formed between the oblique extending direction and the axis, the included angle is a non-right angle, a starting position of the oblique extending direction is not connected with an ending position of the oblique extending direction, the starting position is located at or near the front end, and the ending position is located at or near the rear end, forming of any one of the convex portions and any one of the concave portions in the oblique extending direction is continuous or discontinuous. (see Fig. below)
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY YEONJIN KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-1866. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Templeton can be reached on (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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/BOBBY YEONJIN KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 3725