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 .
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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh (6,003,414) in view of Iwinski et al. (6,851,341).
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Hsieh meets all of the limitations of claim 1, i.e., an operation-free connection structure 1, which is used to connect a driven tool having a polygonal drive hole in which a recessed recess is formed on a wall within the drive hole at least capble of engaging a socket; the connection structure comprising:
an elongated main bar 11, Fig. 9, one axial end of the main bar being defined as a first end distal end, a coupling drive 13 being provided on the main bar in conjunction with the drive hole workpiece/socket extending to the first end such that the coupling drive 13 is axially inserted into the drive hole to rotate the driven tool workpiece/socket; the main bar is axially formed with an elongated chamber therein accommodating rod 2 extending to the first end Fig. 10, and the main bar 11 is axially formed with a first hole 15 and a second hole 12 both connected to the chamber and to a radial periphery of the main bar Fig. 9, respectively, the first hole being 15 located between the second hole 12 and the first end Fig. 9, the first hole 15 being formed in the coupling drive 11;
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a detent lever 2 provided in the chamber, the radial periphery of the detent lever is recessed with a first groove 221 and a second groove 22, the depth of the first groove 221 is smaller than the depth of the second groove 22 along the radial direction of the detent lever Figs. 10, 11; the first groove 221 is located between the first end about 14 and the second groove 22, and the first groove and the second groove are configured along the axial direction of the detent lever Fig. 9;
a steel ball 5 is disposed in the first hole 15, Fig. 9;
a spring 4, wherein the detent lever 2 axially threads the spring, Fig. 10 5 is embedded in the first groove 221 and the other portion thereof protrudes outwardly from the radial surface of the main bar Fig. 10; and
an operating member 3 is provided in the second hole 12, Figs. 9-11, wherein a portion RT portion, Fig. 10 of the operating member 3 protrudes radially outwardly from the main bar and another portion thereof enters into the inner portion of the main bar and abuts against the detent lever @21, Fig. 10, thereby enabling the operating member to force the detent lever to be axially displaced toward the first end;
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wherein, the first hole 15 is an elongated hole, 22, thereby facilitating the free operation of the operating member to accomplish the operation of connecting the coupling drive with the driven tool, except for both ends of the spring press against the detent lever and the steel ball, respectively and for the length of the first hole along the axial direction of the main bar to be greater than the width of the first hole along the lateral direction of the coupling drive. Please note that in the interest of compact prosecution, “both ends of the spring press against the detent lever and the steel ball, respectively” is considered as pressing directly against the lever and the ball.
Iwinski et al. teaches a locking drive tool disclosing several embodiment including one in Fig. 9 in which both ends of spring 107 directly presses against the detent lever 80 and a detent 100 to withdraw or push the detent in locking engagement through a hole 75 having a length along the axial direction of the main bar to be greater than the width of the first hole along the lateral direction of the coupling drive Fig. 7.
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[AltContent: connector]It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to modify the invention of Hsieh with the hole and spring arrangement as taught by Iwinski, e.g., one end of the spring pressing against the steel ball with the other end pressing directly against the detent lever with a hale longer that its width to allow the steel ball to be pressed backward and into the larger hole, for an extension that is of relatively simple and economical construction and for ease of assembly.
Regarding claim 2, PA (prior art, Hsieh modified by Iwinski) meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 1, wherein, a virtual centerline is defined to pass through the spherical center of the steel ball 5, the centerline extending through the first groove and being orthogonal to the first groove annotated Fig. 10.
Regarding claim 3, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 2, wherein, the first groove 221 and the second groove 22 are spherical arc-shaped grooves cooperating with the steel ball Fig. 9.
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[AltContent: arc]Regarding claim 4, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 1, wherein, the main bar Fig. 9 forms a spherical arc surface rim @15 which cooperates with the shape of the steel ball, and the spherical arc surface is located in the direction of the first hole away from the first end annotated partial Fig. 9.
Regarding claim 5, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 1, wherein, the detent lever 2 radially expands an annular flange @21, Fig. 10 located between the second groove and the operating member, with one end of the spring pressing against the annular flange.
Regarding claim 6, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 5, wherein, the main bar is radially formed with a stop portion 31 located within the chamber, and the annular flange is located between the spring 4 and the stop portion 31 so that the stop portion provides a stop effect for the annular flange, thereby limiting the displacement of the detent lever in a direction away from the first end.
Regarding claim 7, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 5, except for the detent lever 2 to be radially formed with a limiting surface which is located between the annular flange and the first end to limit one end of the spring in the direction close to the first end. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to further modify the modified invention of PA by threading the spring around the detent lever instead of placing it in a cutout, thus forming a front stop on the lever (instead of main bar’s shoulder) for an alternative means of achieving the same results, requiring routine experimentations with predictable results.
Regarding claim 8, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the operation-free connection structure according to claim 1, wherein, the detent lever is formed diagonally to a driven surface 31 at one end away from the first end, and the operating member abuts against the driven surface Fig. 11.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bonniot (6,062,112).
PA (prior art, Hsieh modified by Iwinski) as applied to claim 1 above, meets all of the limitations of 9, i.e., wherein, the second hole 12 is an elongated hole formed along the axial direction of the main bar Fig. 9; the operating member 3 is a rod with a length, one side upper side, Fig. 10 of the operating member abuts against the one end 21 of the detent lever 2 in the direction away from the first end, except for the operating member 3 to be connected to a sliding sleeve protruding from the main bar.
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Bonniot teaches a coupling device comprising an operating member 20 connected to a sliding sleeve 35 protruding from the main body e.g., Fig. 8. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to further modify the modified invention of PA with the sliding sleeve as taught by Bonniot to make usage more comfortable and effectively protect the internal mechanism against dirt 04:59-61.
Conclusion
Prior art made of record and not relied upon at this time, are considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Roberts and Chi are cited to show related inventions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HADI SHAKERI whose telephone number is (571)272-4495. The fax phone number for forwarding unofficial documents for discussion purposes only is (571) 273-4495. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
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/Hadi Shakeri/
November 29, 2025 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723